BCPOA - Base Area Development

Update: while public comment is closed for now (see status), there will be many additional opportunities to influence the proposed development. BCPOA still needs your help! Showing up for the May 15 hearing is the most important thing you can do right now.

1) Familiarize yourself with the issues by obtaining and reviewing Bridger Canyon’s three most important zoning and planning documents:

. If you prefer print, all three are available for about $12 from Speedy Print, located just west of the Courthouse on W. Main Street. Here on BCPOA's site you can also read documents outlining our stand, including “BCPOA’s Top Ten Concerns” (in brief and a fuller discussion of the issues) and BCPOA’s expanded analysis of the proposed Planned Unit Development’s (PUD) compliance with Bridger Canyon’s planning documents and zoning regulations. For a complete copy of the PUD application (a 3 binder set), contact Deb Stratford at 522-7215 or via email.

2) Host a short informational meeting with a group of your neighbors and members of BCPOA’s Development Committee and board. BCPOA board and Development Committee members will be happy to facilitate the meetings, presenting an overview of the development, providing resources, outlining BCPOA’s concerns, and answering questions. Contact Kate Vargas at 586-0549 or via email for additional information about setting up a meeting.

3) Attend a BCPOA Development Committee meeting and offer to volunteer your time and talent on any number of projects, such as organizing a petition to be signed by concerned citizens, encouraging and collecting residents’ letters to the Zoning Commission, making copies and distributing information to property owners, or working on an issue of personal concern whether it be ground water, the proposed waste water treatment facility, streams, wetlands, bird or other animal habitat, or traffic. Contact Kate Vargas at 586-0549 or

for more information.

4) Attend the April 12th Bridger Canyon Zoning Commission hearing on the proposed Bridger Mountain Village PUD at the County Courthouse, 311 W. Main, 3rd floor Community Room. (It could be an all day affair so clear your calendar.) As the date is subject to change, check our calendar or contact Deb Stratford (522-7215 or

) to confirm.

6) Write a letter stating your concerns about the development to: Bridger Canyon Planning and Zoning Commission, Attention: Planning Department, Room 208, 311 W. Main, Bozeman, MT 59715. For sample letters, see Sample 1 or Sample 2, or contact Kate Vargas at 586-0549. So we may keep an accurate count, please copy Kate on any letters sent directly to the County.

7) Write a

. Send correspondence outlining your concerns to the attention of the editor via fax at 587-7995, email at citydesk@dailychronicle.com, or mail to P.O. Box 1190, Bozeman, MT 59771.

8)    Talk to your neighbors or people in the greater Bozeman community about the developers’ plans, your concerns, their concerns, and possible ideas for assisting BCPOA’s Development Committee address the identified issues.

9)    Talk with friends who might have specialized knowledge and ask for their help regarding particular areas of concern, such as wastewater treatment, underground aquifers, watercourses, wetlands, wildlife, traffic, and other areas important in evaluating the proposed development.

10)    Help cover the cost of legal representation, technical study peer reviews, and expert opinions by donating money to BCPOA (send your check ASAP). Expert testimony (including presentation of peer reviewed studies) on technical issues carries greater weight with the Commission than does lay opinion. We anticipate that BCPOA will need upwards of $10,000 to adequately peer review BCP’s studies concerning the proposed sewer system, community water system (impact on quality and availability), traffic, wildlife, and wildlife habitat. Please designate the purpose of your donation in the memo section of your check, make it payable to BCPOA, and send it to: BCPOA Treasurer, P.O. Box 10514, Bozeman, MT 59719-0514.

Hearing Information

Directions to the Hearing room: The hearing will take place at on the third floor of the County Courthouse (311 West Main Street). After entering the building, take the stairs to the third floor. The hearing will be in the community room with the double doors. The elevator is on the first floor of the courthouse near the front door.

Signing up to speak: The sign up sheet will be on a table directly as you enter the community room. Try to get there before 9am so you can sign up at your leisure and also get a good seat. (Kate Vargas spoke with Randy Johnson of the Planning Department who said that although you must sign in to testify, you may be able even if you arrive later than 9 am. Sometimes they pick up the sign in sheets early and sometimes they don't. Try to come as close to 9am as possible but don't stay away just because you'll be later...we'll find a way to make sure you're heard.)

Parking: Parking is somewhat limited in the courthouse parking lot as is disability parking. Disability parking is located in the parking lot and on Main Street in front of the courthouse.

Testifying: You will have a minimum of 3 minutes to talk. First you will identify yourself with name and address. Then speak from your heart. You may speak from a written letter or script or use notes. If you speak from written testimony, we advise you to submit your document after you've spoken. Try to stick to one important objection or subject that speaks to your way of life and your love of the canyon.

Transportation: Call Candace Hamlin (585-7222), Mary Martha Bahn (586-0304 or 587-5229), Jerry or Sharon Erickson (587-4085) if you have further questions (directions, etc.) or need to arrange for a ride.

Letters

Please DO NOT MAIL your letters. At this point, we advise that you deliver them directly to the Planning Department, room 208 located on the second floor of the County Courthouse at 311 West Main Street in Bozeman. There is not time for your mailed letters to reach the Commission in time before the Hearing. Kate Vargas will be attending the Women's Club meeting on Wednesday and can pick up your letters at that time and deliver them on your behalf. You may also bring your letter to the hearing, and it will be entered into the public record at that time. Update: you can fax your letter to the Planning Dept. at 406 582 3135, or email it to randy.johnson@gallatin.mt.gov (it might be a good idea to ask for confirmation of receipt).

Most importantly, remember to write from your heart. Bridger Canyon is your home and the Commissioners are interested in knowing what the residents of the district think about the proposed project. Will it provide our district with benefits significant enough to warrant the exceptional density bonus allowed if the developers are granted the privilege (not a right) of a PUD. The underlying zoning only allows for 9 homes on BCP's property. Elsewhere in the canyon, PUDs allow for one house per twenty acres. If approved, BCP will be allowed 75 single family homes and 452 overnight accommodations in an area of less than 350 acres. To obtain such an extraordinary density bonus, the developers must prove that their project will provide significant benefits to our district that would not be available with the underlying zoning of one home per forty acres. A PUD is supposed to benefit the district; if it doesn't, then it is just an attempt to skirt the one in forty zoning regulation.

Bridger Canyon Property Owners’ Association

Base Area Development - 10 Things You Can Do to Help

Hearing Information

Letters