The BCPOA board is pleased to welcome Drew Seessel as a new director, representing the Jackson Creek area.
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Base Area Auction
If you’ve been skiing at Bridger, you’ve probably seen that Bridger Canyon Partners’ remaining piece of the Base Area is up for auction on March 20th.
The web link leads to http://www.conciergeauctions.com/auctions/crosscut-ranch-bozeman-montana-59715/ which lists the property as, “Ideal for use as a gentleman’s ranch, with development & conservation opportunities, over four commercial acres, 2 creeks and direct access to the Bridger and Bangtail mountains with ski-in ability and ski-out potential, the property is a great balance of open meadows, diverse plant life and abundant wildlife. Previously offered for $16M. Selling to the highest bidder on March 20th.”
The 259 acre parcel represents about ¾ of Bridger Canyon Partners’ original holdings. The remainder – a parcel south and east of the parking lot – was sold to Bridger Bowl. $16M would be a bit over $60,000 an acre, which would be well above the price paid by BB, but similar to the price paid in the transfer of 14 acres for Bridger Pines’ sewer system.
We can certainly hope for a conservation-minded buyer, without ambitions for a 500+ unit development. Could we also dream of a way to put much of the property into a land trust or similar mechanism, preserving the headwaters of Bridger Creek while continuing access to recreation?
Some history on the last Base Area development attempt is here. (Apologies for broken links – this is not fully migrated from BCPOA’s old web site.)
2013 General Meeting
Slides from the General Meeting are here.
With overwhelming approval of the membership and board, BCPOA will pursue an appeal of the Petty CUPs and variances. An amendment to the initial complaint will be filed soon. The initial complaint will likely be followed by briefs within a month or two and a court hearing for summary judgment some time later. Because some points of the case are constitutional, BCPOA hopes to recover some litigation costs.
Concerning the interchange about Bridger Pines’ sewage lagoon dewatering, see Gallatin County’s report, Bridger Pines Site Visit 092012. An excerpt:
Discussion & Summary: Again, I did not find evidence of a ‘dam breach’ or massive sewage leak. I was also unable to tell if the existing pump discharge is more than normal for this historically leaking lagoon. But there is water from the pond reaching Bridger Creek after flowing down slope and through meadows a distance of about 1/3 rd mile.
See also the Fire department issues post.
Variance Hearing
This Thursday, April 11, there will be a Planning & Zoning Commission hearing for a variance to enable conversion of two barns to residential use. The variance is required because the structures lie well inside the 100-foot setback from Bridger Creek. This makes the structures, which predate zoning, nonconforming, and therefore it is not permissible to substantially alter them and change their use.
Sadly, this is another tale of “build first and ask for forgiveness.” Construction commenced without permits, in spite of written notice from the Planning Department that permits were required. The Commission has again failed to take any meaningful enforcement action. This is hard to understand, because the Commission has recently taken enforcement action against other landowners for less serious violations, and is ignoring the very precedent that it spent our tax dollars to set in the MT Supreme Court in the Theken barn case.
This is the second time this variance has come up for review; the first was in January. BCPOA unanimously opposed the variance then, and now. Testimony from the January hearing is in BCPOA comment Petty CUP 2013-01-09.
The plain language of the zoning states that a variance may be granted only when, due to special circumstances of the property, strict application of the zoning deprives a landowner of privileges that others enjoy. In this case, there is no such deprivation, because the property has several acres of buildable land outside of setbacks. Therefore the letter of the law should prevail and the stream setback should be respected.
If you wish to express your opinion on this matter, you can attend Thursday’s hearing, or send a brief note to the Bridger Canyon Planning & Zoning Commission regarding the Petty Variance, at planning@gallatin.mt.gov.
The following memo details problems with permitting and enforcement of the project to date:
BCPOA-Petty 2013-04-09 Exhibits 1-10
BCPOA-Petty 2013-04-09 Exhibit 11 Theken decision
Testimony for the upcoming hearing will be posted here as it becomes available.
BCPOA-Petty 2013-04-09
BCPOA-Petty 2013-04-09 Exhibits 1-10
BCPOA-Petty 2013-04-09 Exhibit 11 Theken decision
BCPOA comment Petty variance 2013-04-11
BCPOA comment Petty variance 2013-04-22
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Possible Cell Tower Appearance
Update: Atlas Towers’ renditions are at http://zoning.posterous.com/atlas-cell-tower-mockups
Here are some very rough renderings of cell towers at locations currently under discussion. Bear in mind that these are probably worst-case, as tower heights are likely to be lower. The renderings do not represent tree cover, which would reduce the appearance of height, though neither location offers dense tree cover. A stealth tower design and smaller antenna arrays could also reduce the visual impact.
“Bridger Ski” tower
Bridger Bowl, with a 130′ tower just south of the propane tank in A lot. Very rough envelopes of the Saddle Peak lodge and ski patrol building shown for scale.
As seen from Bridger Pines, looking across the base area:
As seen from the entrance off Hwy 86:
“Bridger South” tower
A 150′ tower on the Brunner property, at the bottom of Kelly Canyon. I placed this about halfway upslope on the narrow parcel, though the actual location is not known to me.
From the Schoolhouse:
From Kelly Canyon at the Bridger Woods Rd. turnoff:
Bridger South – Taller
Update: There are conflicting reports about the location of the South tower needed for connectivity. If the tower would have to be tall enough to see over the ridge to the south, it would look more like the following:
Tree cover would conceal the bottom portion of the tower, possibly diminishing the impression of height. But it would be difficult to maintain tree cover with foundations, roads and other site improvements on steep slopes.
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Possible Cell Tower Coverage
Last week, Atlas Towers representative Tierney Rowe met (separately) with Bridger Bowl’s board and BCPOA directors. There is not currently a proposal before the commission, but discussions are progressing. The following coverage maps are one product.
Hi Folks, these are .jpgs which you can download and then zoom into, showing the various types of coverage that the towers currently proposed by Atlas Towers would accomplish.
There are two proposed sites, one at Bridger Bowl called BridgerSki and the other at the Brunners’ property [in Kelly Canyon] called BridgerSouth.
Each individual site has two propagation maps representing coverage by 850 MHZ or 1900 MHZ. Apparently each frequency has pros and cons so they are mixed for best results.
Then there are two “composite” maps that show coverage over the entire Canyon with Bridger Ski and Bridger South coverage mixed, at each frequency. Not sure why we didn’t get a map that shows both frequencies together over the entire canyon.
Remember that these maps are based on a 130′ tower at Bridger Bowl and a 150′ tower at the Brunners. Clearly, the taller the tower, the better the coverage. I understand from several sources that the BB Board is not considering the 130′ tower and wants to see something in the 60′ range. And I think it fair to say that an 150′ tall tower at the Brunners would elicit considerable local concern.
That being said, when you look at these propagation maps keep in mind this is a best possible scenario which is based on tower heights that are very unlikely to happen. [In particular, the 130′ tower at Bridger Bowl was a no-go with the board.] Hence, coverage will be less complete than what is shown. See Tierney’s comment below about tower height.*
Kent Madin
* “The primary goal is good coverage and tower height directly correlates to the quality and density of coverage in these locations where terrain issues place limitations on signal transmission.”
Composite coverage maps at 850 and 1900 MHz. Click to enlarge.
Update: Overlays of the coverage map with zoning district boundaries (blue), parcel lines (yellow) and structures (orange dots).
850MHz:
1900MHz:
Bridger Canyon Natural History Evening, March 29
To the Residents of Bridger Canyon,
A number of people, in conjunction with the the Bridger Canyon Historic Preservation Association and the Montana Outdoor Science School (MOSS), have volunteered their time and expertise to enjoy and explore with Bridger Canyon residents an evening of “Bridger Canyon Natural History”. We would like to enhance this presentation with a display of photos or photos of artwork (no originals) from YOU, BC residents, which depict unusual/interesting natural history features of Bridger Canyon – geologic or water formations, birds, animals, plants both common and rare, etc.
This community event for Bridger Canyon residents will be at the Fire Station MARCH 29th, 7pm. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please send them at your earliest convenience to:
Kathrin Olson-Rutz at : olsonrutz (at) netzero.net.
She will print 8 1/2X 11″ copies for the display. (You may also mail or deliver 8 ½ X 11” photos to MOSS, located at the Fish Hatchery). Please provide a few words that describe your contribution (what, general location, when) along with your name and contact information (email and phone number). This information will be printed out along with your photo to accompany your contribution. Feel free to provide several photos. We will display as many as we reasonably can. (No copyrighted material please.)
This spring, we would like to take the pictures we have printed out and assemble them into several “Bridger Canyon natural history notebooks” to be kept at the MOSS facility. These notebooks will be available to MOSS students and Bridger Canyon residents to identify and learn about Bridger Canyon plants, animals, water and geology. Residents are welcome to submit additional information specific to Bridger Canyon for these notebooks and can do so through MOSS.
For those unfamiliar with MOSS, it is dedicated to help children gain meaningful appreciation of the natural world around them through various educational projects (K-12 and some adult classes). MOSS takes the classroom to the field with trips to National Forest lands in Bridger Canyon, as well as to some private lands onto which they have been specifically invited for learning opportunities.
I hope you find this of interest! For more information, contact Ellen Trygstad (582-7624) eltjupiter (at) earthlink.net Thank you!
To the Residents of Bridger Canyon,
UPCOMING EVENT! A number of people, in conjunction with the the Bridger Canyon Historic Preservation Association and the Montana Outdoor Science School (MOSS), have volunteered their time and expertise to enjoy and explore with Bridger Canyon residents an evening of “Bridger Canyon Natural History”. We would like to enhance this presentation with a display of photos or photos of artwork (no originals) from YOU, BC residents, which depict unusual/interesting natural history features of Bridger Canyon – geologic or water formations, birds, animals, plants both common and rare, etc.
This community event for Bridger Canyon residents will be at the Fire Station MARCH 29th, 7pm. If you have photos you’d like to contribute, please send them at your earliest convenience to:
Kathrin Olson-Rutz at : olsonrutz@netzero.net.
She will print 8 1/2X 11″ copies for the display. (You may also mail or deliver 8 ½ X 11” photos to MOSS, located at the Fish Hatchery). Please provide a few words that describe your contribution (what, general location, when) along with your name and contact information (email and phone number). This information will be printed out along with your photo to accompany your contribution. Feel free to provide several photos. We will display as many as we reasonably can. (No copyrighted material please.)
This spring, we would like to take the pictures we have printed out and assemble them into several “Bridger Canyon natural history notebooks” to be kept at the MOSS facility. These notebooks will be available to MOSS students and Bridger Canyon residents to identify and learn about Bridger Canyon plants, animals, water and geology. Residents are welcome to submit additional information specific to Bridger Canyon for these notebooks and can do so through MOSS.
For those unfamiliar with MOSS, it is dedicated to help children gain meaningful appreciation of the natural world around them through various educational projects (K-12 and some adult classes). MOSS takes the classroom to the field with trips to National Forest lands in Bridger Canyon, as well as to some private lands onto which they have been specifically invited for learning opportunities.
I hope you find this of interest! For more information, contact Ellen Trygstad (582-7624) eltjupiter@earthlink.net Thank you!
2013 Newsletter & Dues Notice
The 2013 BCPOA Newsletter is available here now!
Dues are due too. Look for a form in your mailbox with the newsletter, or use the Annual Dues Notice 2013. Your membership and contribution helps keep Bridger Canyon beautiful, and is leveraged by many volunteer hours.
Commissioner Murdock Resigning
County Commissioner Bill Murdock will be resigning next month. He will surely be missed in Bridger Canyon. He has often been a lonely voice on the commission in favor of the good land use planning that has kept the Canyon beautiful. From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle:
Editorial: Murdock was county’s voice for responsible planning
Posted: Sunday, March 17, 2013 12:15 am
The departure of retiring Gallatin County Commissioner Bill Murdock next month will mark the end of an era. For 16 years, Murdock has been a voice of moderation in what tends to be a conservative office.
County commission elections are dominated by the rural vote, which tends to be quite conservative on land-use and planning issues. And that vote is rarely overcome by the pro-planning faction among the county’s only real urban voters in Bozeman.
Murdock has long battled the headwind of those conservative tendencies. He has contributed heavily to successes in land-use planning and regulation as well as open-space preservation. He has also been a stalwart enforcer of policy in the face of frequent and well-financed challenges from real estate developers.
That influence will be missed.
Murdock’s term doesn’t end until the end of next year. His resignation triggers a process that will name his replacement on the commission – a person that will take the advantage of incumbency into the 2014 election.
law, the remaining two commissioners, Republicans Steve White and Joe Skinner will name Murdock’s successor from a field of three candidates suggested by state GOP leadership because Murdock is also a Republican.
Murdock’s departure and the process for replacing him have the potential to push the commission hard to the right. And that would not bode well for the future of some land-use issues in Gallatin County.
Republican leaders and White and Skinner are urged to consider all the county’s constituents as they appoint Murdock’s replacement. Filling the seat with another advocate for land-use planning and open-space preservation will maintain a healthy balance on the commission and stimulate vigorous debate on these very important issues.
Quality of life is what has drawn many immigrants to Bozeman and Southwest Montana. A big part of that quality of life is the open countryside and expansive views of our rural areas. And the County Commission plays a major role in preserving those amenities.
Choose Murdock’s replacement carefully. Find another powerful voice for smart planning and open-space preservation.
Welcome to BCPOA’s new web site!
Please pardon any debris while we’re under construction.
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