BOZEMAN, Mont.- Neighbors of Bozeman High School will be able to share their concerns regarding the building of a new $7 million football stadium.
On Monday, the School District will present the city with the master plan for the new Van Winkle application with proposed exemptions. The district is asking for seven exemptions regarding landscaping, parking lot, and off-site parking.
The city is not allowed to take action on the site plan because the district is under the control of the state. However, they are required by state law to hold a public hearing for people to express their opinions whenever land does not meet zoning standards.
Michael Koster is a neighbor of the high school and has owned two properties on North 11th Ave. since 2000. He says over the years as the city has grown, it has become more and more dangerous to cross the street because both 11th and 15th are used as drop off zones. He said he wants the best for the high school and doesn’t oppose putting in a stadium but wishes the Bozeman School District would have worked with the neighbors on a plan they all could agree on.
“I am just concerned for the overall community and I just feel it should not be an adversarial relationship between the community members and the high school,” said Koster. “Everything they do there should benefit everybody. It should benefit the whole community because the high school is part of the community and we are paying for it.”
Other neighbors have signed petitions worried about an increase in traffic and noise.
The school plans on building the new stadium in two phases. The first phase is to move the current fields and build the new 3,200-person stadium. The second phase is for making road improvements on North 15th and West Beall Street by installing a roundabout.
