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HomeMy WebLinkAbout002 Cover Letter PUDP & PPdocument 4515 Valley Commons Drive #201, Bozeman Montana 59718 P: 406.585.4161 F: 406.585.6919 www.bechtlearchitects.com February 17, 2023 Chris Saunders, AICP – Community Development Manager City of Bozeman Community Development 20 East Olive Bozeman, Montana, 59771 RE: Shady Glen PUD – PUD Preliminary Plan Review (PUDP) and Subdivision Preliminary Plat (PP) Dear Mr. Saunders, On behalf of the Owner, Bridger Center LLC, the design team of Bechtle Architects, Morrison Maierle and Design 5 are submitting the following application materials for Shady Glen. The proposed Planned Unit Development (PUD) and Major Subdivision consists of 16 Residential homesites; affordable homes will be provided, voluntarily, on two of the homesites. The Planned Unit Development Preliminary Plan application and the Subdivision Preliminary Plat application are being submitted concurrently under this cover letter, for review and approval. The property is located in the Northeast part of the City near Bridger Creek Golf Course, Northwest of the intersection of Bridger Drive (Montana Highway 86) and Birdie Drive. The property is currently zoned R-1. The property is bounded by commercial development accessed off Commercial Drive to the South, The Links residential development accessed off Birdie Drive to the East, by City of Bozeman Glen Lake Rotary Park to the west, and Bridger Creek Golf Course to the North. The proposal for the property consists of developing the 11.87-acre site which consists of historic upland fallow hayfields and wetlands. The project looks to develop the hayfields into sixteen R-1 Residential lots, with affordable homes voluntarily provided on two of them, and the associated infrastructure. In addition, the project looks to preserve approximately 7.13 acres of prime riparian habitat and wetlands. The property borders the City’s Glen Lake Rotary Park to the west, Bridger Center industrial area to the south, The Links Condominiums and Village Greens Townhouses to the east, and Bridger Creek Homeowners Association Park and Bridger Creek Golf Course to the north. Historically, access has been a cumbersome issue for the property. Through the course of development of adjacent properties, this property has been left essentially landlocked both in terms of access and utilities. Over the past fifteen years this property has been presented to the City and County officials numerous times and undergone numerous discussions and layout changes to address many of the access issues. With the help of the City and the adjoining developer, the access and utility issues have been resolved to the best possible extent. This property has been previously reviewed for a Preliminary PUD and Preliminary Plat Application under the name Bridger Meadows, application numbers 20350 and 20351. This current submittal is under the name of Shady Glen. The name change was required due to the discovery of an existing subdivision in Gallatin County named Bridger Meadows. It is not a change in name only. Substantial changes have been made to address concerns voiced during the Bridger Meadows review process. These are summarized below: Shady Glen – Cover Letter PUD Preliminary Plan Review and Subdivision Preliminary Plat Application August 22, 2022 Page 2 1. Reintroduction of affordable homes: The area between the east boundary and the emergency access (previously Bridger Meadows Lot 16) was replaced with two affordable home lots (Lots 15 and 16) on which we will provide, voluntarily, two affordable homes as a duplex condominium similar to the buildings at The Links Condominiums. The two affordable homes were our original intent for this area; however, after our submittal, as a result of new legislation eliminating the affordable housing requirement and at the request of City Planning, they were replaced with a single family lot. At that time, we were under the impression that without the existence of the affordable housing ordinance, R-1 zoning would not allow townhomes. We have now come to the understanding, that we are allowed to provide the affordable housing voluntarily in a PUD. We have done so in this application, to voluntarily help achieve the City’s stated goal of increasing affordable homes and to create an even more exceptional neighborhood of benefit to all. 2. Removal of unnecessary parking adjacent to the Village Greens Townhouses: After consulting with the City Engineering and Fire Departments, it was determined that, since there were no lots on the east side of Shady Glen Lane, the east side parking lane could be eliminated and the street narrowed in this area. It was agreed that there are no safety or parking issues associated with this change. Changes #3, 4 and 5 below follow as a direct result of this change. The purpose of this change is to address the issue of parking and headlight glare into the Village Greens Townhouses adjacent to Shady Glen Lane. We further propose to lessen visual impact by planting a visual barrier between the street and the Village Greens Townhouses west of the trail. 3. Increased size of Common Open Space 02: Common Open Space 02 increased in width by 20 feet, and its area increased by over 68 percent, from 0.19 to 0.32 acres. This much larger open space provides a more visible connection between the existing trail along the east boundary and the Shady Glen Wildlife Refuge. The narrower street (#2 above) allowed for increased depth of lots by the existing pond, so they could be narrowed to provide the additional open space width. The additional width combined with moving the previously proposed underground detention facility to the north, both made feasible by #2 above, allowed for much increased preservation of the existing grove of mature trees within the enlarged open space. In addition, although we maintain that block length doesn’t pertain to a cul de sac, the expansion of the open space reduces the length of uninterrupted homes on the west side of Shady Glen to 410 ft. nearly the allowable block length of 400 ft. 4. Addition of a bird blind within Common Open Space 02: A small bird blind, to be designed and installed by the Shady Glen Homeowners Association, will be included near the south end of this public space. A walk through the understory of the existing tree grove (#3 above) will end at a bird blind with views south to the existing pond and waterfowl that are usually present. This is an unobtrusive location for viewing of birds and other abundant wildlife drawn to the pond, without alarming or disturbing them. The tree grove itself provides additional viewing opportunities. This is an amenity within the City of Bozeman that ties in well with bird blinds in the nearby Story Mill Park, but in this case on still water. 5. Increased wetland buffer width: The wetland buffer was increased from a variable width (as low as 16 feet) to a constant 35 feet. One of the major concerns of the Bozeman City Commission was the relaxation to the dimensions of wetland buffer on the plat application. A motion was made to limit the relaxation of the wetland buffer width to a reasonable minimum of 35 feet, a Shady Glen – Cover Letter PUD Preliminary Plan Review and Subdivision Preliminary Plat Application August 22, 2022 Page 3 number proposed as a compromise in order to meet other City goals. The narrowing of the street (#2 above) increases the depth of the lots near the pond. This not only allowed narrowing of several lots (#3 above), but also made it feasible to shift the building envelopes away from the existing pond and wetlands and accommodate a wider buffer. 6. Elimination of one lot on the cul-de-sac: Residential lot lines were re-arranged, and one lot has been eliminated on the cul-de-sac. This was done, in combination with #5 above, to allow a 35-foot wetland buffer in the area of Lot 5 (previous Lot 6). 7. Adding a requirement in the covenants for fencing along the wildlife preserve: This will help to protect wildlife, homeowners and their pets from potentially dangerous interactions. The above changes to the previously proposed Bridger Meadows development demonstrate our commitment to producing a new neighborhood that is superior in the quality of development intended by standard City code including safety, appearance and amenities, while also meeting large-scale planning goals of the City of Bozeman. The Shady Glen PUD has been specifically designed to follow the Bozeman Growth Policy and Community Plan to provide much needed infill and affordable housing, in a safe and efficient fashion and to reflect our strong desire to protect existing wetlands and critical habitat on the site. Although some FEMA approved fill is proposed within the East Gallatin River’s existing floodplain, proposed excavation will bring other areas down below the flood elevation, resulting in a net increase in flood conveyance capacity. These excavated areas will be planted with new wetland vegetation to not only protect, but to expand wetland acreage on the site to double the acreage impacted. The Shady Glen Wildlife Refuge will be the crown jewel of this neighborhood. Prior to Bridger Center LLC annexing the property, the canopy forests and adjoining wetlands were a no-man’s land of homeless camps, parties, campfires and illegal hunting, all without the benefit of local fire protection. Once the neighborhood is developed, the entire region will benefit. The Shady Glen Wildlife Refuge will be well maintained and administered by the Shady Glen Homeowner’s Association, while allowing local environmental and educational groups access, yet protecting and preserving quickly vanishing habitat in the East Gallatin Corridor. As an additional protection for both the wildlife and the residents, the Shady Glen HOA will require fencing along all homesite lot lines adjoining the Shady Glen Wildlife Refuge. In our previous submittal as Bridger Meadows, the DRC approved the emergency access as per UDC 38.400.10.A. 8: 8. Second or emergency access. To facilitate traffic movement, the provision of emergency services and the placement of utility easements, all developments must be provided with a second means of access. If, in the judgment of the development review committee (DRC), a second dedicated right-of-way cannot be provided for reasons of topography or other physical conditions, the developer must provide an emergency access, built to the standards detailed in these regulations. The reason the DRC approved an emergency access instead of a through street to Commercial Drive in the previous Bridger Meadows submittal was two-fold: Shady Glen – Cover Letter PUD Preliminary Plan Review and Subdivision Preliminary Plat Application August 22, 2022 Page 4 1. In 2005, the city unilaterally vacated the portion of the roadway easement which aligned the intersection of Bridger Center Drive and our 60 ft. roadway easement between two warehouses. (Exhibit 2 and 2A). The current intersection would not meet code and would create a situation like the previous misaligned intersection at Peach and Rouse, which the city has recently corrected at great expense. 2. In negotiating for our access easement through the Links Development (which the city did not require in the Links Condominium site plan approval, as required by the BMC), we were assured by city officials that a through street to Commercial Drive was not an issue for them, and we negotiated our Links access easement based on that assurance. At first glance, it appears that a simple solution would be to connect Shady Glen Lane to Boylan Road at the north end of the project. This avenue was pursued by the Applicant on many fronts; however, it was simply not acceptable to the adjacent property owner Bridger Creek HOA, under any circumstances, and the City of Bozeman did not wish to invoke eminent domain. We have created an exceptional PUD and neighborhood by focusing on the requirements of the BMC regulations (UDC), which emphasize PUD performance points, as a means to incentivize and direct designers to focus on what the BMC creators determined are the highest and best needs of Bozeman. We are extremely proud to be able to say that the Shady Glen PUD would likely achieve the highest PUD performance point total (108.42), and the highest ratio of PUD performance points To Relaxations (108.42/6 = 18) in Bozeman’s history! Federal permits have been obtained for proposed impacts to wetlands and to the 100-year floodplain. These include a wetland delineation and 404 permit (Appendix D), and a conditional floodplain fill permit, or CLOMR, from FEMA (Appendix D). Bridger Center LLC has applied for a City of Bozeman floodplain permit, included as Appendix D. Following placement of fill per the CLOMR and floodplain permit, a LOMR-F (final Letter of Map Revision) will be obtained from FEMA. UDC Section 38.220.020 indicates that wetland and floodplain permits must be provided before work begins and/or with Final Plat Application. The Subdivision Team includes: Owner/Applicant: Tom Murphy, Bridger Center, LLC (406-595-1495) Engineer: Mike Hickman, Morrison Maierle (406-922-6829) Architect: Scott Bechtle, Bechtle Architects (406-585-4161) Landscape: Kate Barrett, Design 5 Landscape Architecture (406-587-4873) Legal: Andy Willett, McLean, Younkin, Willett, PLLC (406-581-0027) Alanah Griffith, Griffith & Cummings, PC (406-624-3585) The following information is included in the attached submittal: Binder Number 1 – Shady Glen PUD Preliminary Plan Review o PUD Concept Plan application dated August 22, 2022 o Review Fee, Check in the Amount of $TBD Binder Number 2 - Shady Glen Subdivision Preliminary Plat Application o Subdivision Preliminary Plat Application dated August 22, 2022 o Review Fee, Check in the Amount of $TBD Shady Glen – Cover Letter PUD Preliminary Plan Review and Subdivision Preliminary Plat Application August 22, 2022 Page 5 The proposed improvements for the Shady Glen PUD look to create a “superior quality development.” Our goal is to provide exceptional housing near a unique dedicated riparian wetland referred to throughout the documents as “Shady Glen Wildlife Refuge,” which will provide a neighborhood community amenity that is unlike others within the city of Bozeman. The Shady Glen Wildlife Refuge will greatly expand the ecosystem of the Glen Lake Rotary Club Park by preserving this adjacent wildlife habitat in perpetuity, an expansion that provides true refuge for wildlife in contrast to the dense network of trails within the existing park. Our design will finally resolve access to this once landlocked property, while enhancing public safety by providing a new emergency access not only to Shady Glen but to the neighboring commercial properties which currently have none. Shady Glen will allow public access to existing trail systems, including connectivity to the Bridger Center Commercial area, creating direct pedestrian and bicycle access to and from Story Mill Park. We also recently received a unanimous recommendation from the Community Development Board. Interestingly, many of the members would have preferred a higher density on the site, as did members of the Zoning committee. As a desirable infill project, Shady Glen will increase the City’s tax base by a total of 16 homes with little to no additional infrastructure cost for the City. While at the same time, helping the City in its battle for more affordability by voluntarily providing two affordable homes, which is 12.5% of the entire project. We hope to be the first project approved in Bozeman providing voluntary affordable housing. On behalf of the Owner, we look forward to working with the City to create this unique and exciting opportunity for development that will enhance the neighborhood, local community and local environment. Regards, Scott Bechtle, LEED AP, AIA Mike Hickman, P. E. Principal Sr. Civil Engineer Bechtle Architects Morrison Maierle As a side note, The Links HOA recently voted 12-2 in favor of dropping their lawsuit with Golf Course Partner’s regarding the though street to Shady Glen, and the judge agreed, so it is no longer an issue.