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Let us help find an alternative to selling library land

By Jeff Ball, Guest Columnist

A groundswell is building against the proposed sale of nearly eight of the 14 acres -- roughly two-thirds -- of the land we all recently bought with library bond money.


 These 14 acres are a jewel situated in a unique and irreplaceable location in the city's core. They are contiguous to Lindley and Burke parks and the cemetery and proximate to Bogert Park. The library could be the hub of the conceptual Main Street to the Mountains parks and trails. This is not just any 14 acres; we must work hard to preserve it for this and future generations!

Library Board members and city commissioners have said they don't want to sell. Then why sell? The city owns other lands it could sell. It could sell density development rights to developers. There are dozens of alternatives to selling. Once sold, this gem is gone forever; a few will get use and enjoyment, the rest of us will be shut out, forever.

The taxpayers of Bozeman bought the land through the library bond issue. The bond-passage campaign envisioned the acquisition of a library site, park and open space, and other public uses. Citizen input, solicited by the city and library, toward future use of the site mirrored the idea. The CMC Heartland lands were for sale for years, yet no developer would take on the cleanup of the site. Only through public will did the city take on the risk, to gain the reward: a spectacular library site, park and trails and land for other public uses. A polling of bond supporters bears this out: We were securing a public good, in perpetuity. We bought the library's marvelous vision of the potential of this site as a public good. We want to make that vision a reality.

As stakeholders in these lands, we seek recognition of our standing, and time. We need time to fund-raise the $700,000 shortfall, time to explore and present alternatives to the sale, time to develop land-use plans. Standing? Taxpayers bought and own it: it's our land. There are many talented, respected people in this community with a broad array of experience and knowledge who have offered to help. City Commission and Library Board: let us help you! We want this to succeed, and be the best outcome for all of us.

The four parcels proposed for sale contain existing trail and open space lands presently heavily used by park and recreation enthusiasts daily, including the parking area at the base of Peet's Hill. All of the lands lying north of an eastward projection of Story Street are not formal, dedicated parklands. The Chris Boyd bench, the former ski jump, the north end overlook, the connector trails to Lindley adjacent to the Cemetery, the Mill Creek ditch, the former rail bed. These lands are now owned by the city.

Is high-density development appropriate next to the cemetery, Burke Park and Lindley Park? We asked the hospital to roughly master-plan buffers to respect Burke Park. Shouldn't we ask the same of ourselves? We've seen hillslope/hilltop development in southern California. Is that what we want on these lands which are adjacent to three significant contiguous community open spaces? Do we want the eradication of riparian wildlife habitat and the permanent loss of what is in all of our hands as trails, open space and publicly held lands for future municipal uses? These municipal uses could even generate future revenue for parks and/or library!

I'm confident the community can come together, to craft many plausible solutions, other than a sale, to help the library and city address their very legitimate concerns. This is not an either/or proposition, as some have suggested.

Delaying the sale and allowing time has no downside; if we fail, we could always sell the land in the future, and could ask more money for less land. Don't act in haste, and repent in leisure. The sale of these lands should be a last resort and the very last dollars into the library project. Please speak and listen to the Park and Recreation Advisory Board, city commissioners and the Library Board at their joint work session on this subject at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 31, on the third floor of the County Courthouse at 311 W. Main. Urge them to allow us to achieve this project in it's entirety: library, parks, trails and open space.

Jeff Ball, who lives adjacent to the site, is helping a community-based group try to assist the city and library to explore alternatives to the proposed land sale. He has served on the Pedestrian Traffic Safety Committee, Board of Adjustment, Park and Recreation Advisory Board, and was just appointed to the Bicycle Advisory Board.

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