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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Board - 05-03-2016 Minutes Zoning Commission and City Planning Board Tuesday, May 03, 2016 6:00 PM City Commission Chamber – 121 N. Rouse Ave. A. Call meeting to order Paul Spitler – Planning Board Laura Waterton – Planning Board Brianne Dugan – Planning Board Jordan Zignego – Planning and Zoning Paul Neubauer – Planning Board Eric Garberg – Zoning Commission Jerry Pape – Planning Board George Thompson – Planning and Zoning Henry Happel – Planning Board Chris Saunders- City Staff Chris Mehl – Planning Board/Commission Liason B. Changes to the Agenda – No Changes to the Agenda C. Public Comment – No Public Comment D. Action Items - None E. FYI/Discussion 1. Cottage Housing Work Session: Conduct work session with staff to hear presentation on cottage housing, review conceptual language for a possible ordinance revising zoning standards to facilitate cottage housing, and provide feedback. Chris Saunders begins presentation on Cottage Housing, noting that it is a work session and will still be changing. (There was an error with the voice recording. Presentation had already begun before realizing there was not voice recording. Paused presentation and did roll call and then restarted presentation). 06:35:11 PM (00:30:41) Chris Saunders concludes presentation on Cottage Housing. Paul Neubauer questions if the board will see the final version of the document before it goes to the commission. Mr. Saunders responds that they will, however that timeline has not been established yet. 06:36:14 PM (00:31:44) Henry Happel questions who maintains and owns the common area in a cottage development. Mr. Saunders responds that it is owned by all of the home owners. Mr. Garberg questions if this is part of a larger creative housing ordinance. Mr. Saunders responds that this is a part of it that will tackle things specifically related to cottage housing. 06:37:18 PM (00:32:48) Laura Waterton states that these cottage housing homes typically cost more. She wants to know if that is a design problem or a demand issue. Mr. Saunders states that part of it is supply and demand. In addition, those that are done are well done and well-crafted and create a pleasant living experience. He states that there is an affordable housing requirement attached to this ordinance which will require some affordable units. 06:38:27 PM (00:33:57) Ms. Waterton states that we need to think more about the sharing of the common open space. If that common open space is being shared by a $200k and $600k home, then it can create challenges. 06:39:07 PM (00:34:37) Jerry Pape comments that this process is essentially a PUD process. He questions why we are calling this cottage housing if it is so similar to a PUD. Mr. Saunders states that it does share a lot with the PUD process, but this takes a lot of bargaining out of the PUD process. In addition, it does not have the performance points component. In addition, it allows for individual home ownership. Mr. Pape compares it to a separated townhome. Mr. Pape compares it to cookie-cutter planning – allows for quick approval if individuals follow the rules. Mr. Pape questions the limitations on size with regards to parking and garages. Mr. Saunders responds that there are limits. Mr. Pape responds that Montanans have a lot of “stuff”, and he suggests we consider where to store all the outdoor stuff if there are limits on garages. Mr. Pape suggests that we indicate that landscape in front of home be maintained in the same way that the open space is, to keep up with the cohesion of the look. 06:45:50 PM (00:41:20) Mr. Pape comments on utility access and that it should be brought into the center of the units to make distribution more affordable. Mr. Pape comments that we need to consider the size of the unit and the ability to actually live there. While 600 sq ft is a “livable space”, he questions the ability to put beds, etc. in them. He comments that these need to be resalable in the future. Much like 6 and 7 bedroom homes are outdated, will these homes be outdated and how will they serve the future. 06:48:38 PM (00:44:08) George Thompson comments how the City can enforce using garages for parking vs storage. Mr. Thompson questions the necessity for one parking space per cottage. He questions whether all homes need to have garages, or if only the higher priced homes can. Which leads him into a larger question of how to make some affordable while still meeting the same design requirements as the higher priced homes. 06:50:39 PM (00:46:09) Mr. Saunders indicates that not all homes have to have garages – you just have to have parking. 06:52:21 PM (00:47:51) Mr. Thompson feels the requirement for all homes (whether 600sq ft or 3,000 sqft) to provide the same amount of parkland is disproportionate. Mr. Saunders indicates that the parkland is for the people in the homes, not for the homes, and will likely be provided offsite, not as part of the cottage housing development. 06:53:32 PM (00:49:02) Paul Spitler comments that he appreciates what was presented. He commented that he questions affordability of the project. In addition, he questions how this differs from a condominium. Mr. Saunders responds that a condominium can be anything. The biggest difference between cottage housing and condos is that for a condo you only own the interior space of your home and share the land. Where with cottage housing, you own the property your home is on. This is beneficial for lending. In addition, the review process for a condo is different. Finally, there is no limit on the size of a condo. 06:56:44 PM (00:52:14) Mr. Spitler questions is the city will be incentivizing this process. Mr. Saunders states that the incentives include a quicker review and increased density (aka more homes to sell). He feels that the incentive will be the potential to make money – if someone thinks this will be profitable, they will do it. In addition, there will be incentives that come along with the affordable housing portion of the project. 06:58:15 PM (00:53:45) Mr. Spitler questions the incentives for condos and apartments are the same as what will be available for cottage housing, or if the city is incentivizing one over the other. Mr. Saunders responds that the City does occasionally support affordable housing projects, but the City does not typically provide direct funding for rental housing as they would for individual ownership homes. Mr. Spitler questions if condos are considered ownership. Wendy Thomas responds that under the current affordable housing policy, single family and townhomes are the only type of home that count towards the affordable housing goals and that condos do not qualify. 07:01:14 PM (00:56:44) Brianne Dugan states that she hears a lot of people interested in different building options. She questioned if when researching cottage housing if the city had seen examples that included affordable housing. Mr. Saunders stated that he personally has not seen examples. Ms. Thomas responds that she does not have a specific cottage housing example, but cities all over the country and requiring affordable housing with development and this program is not different from many of those programs. She states that she would be willing to contact other communities to see how affordability applies to cottage housing specifically. Ms. Dugan states there is a stated goal for high quality design standards and questions what will require that. Mr. Saunders stated that many of the requirements with regards to roof pitch, porches, windows, etc are required to achieve those design goals, without requiring a specific design. 07:04:12 PM (00:59:42) Mr. Pape comments that it’s much harder to get a mortgage on a condo instead of a single family home. However, he continues to state that there are a lot of condos being sold well within the affordable range. Condos are a good place to start when looking for a first home. 07:08:25 PM (01:03:55) Paul Spitler opens the meeting up for public comment. Public Comment - Luke Howard comments there is concern with the max building height that is not exactly realistic. He also comments about the floor area requirements. He suggests the open area should be counted as parkland. He suggests, if not counting the open space, the commission should allow cash-in-lieu of parkland for these houses. He questions the measure of density. He suggests changes to the “reasonable and proper” text that sounds vague. He also suggests amendments to the basement requirements and the parking and storage issues. He suggests that instead of saying storage cannot happen in the garage, we should explore text like “storage cannot interfere with parking”. Finally, with regards to walkways, he feels 5’ wide walkways may be excessive. They suggest 3-4’. 07:15:02 PM (01:10:32) Public Comment - Trevor McSpadden – comments that cottage housing is a great tool for affordable housing and infill. He is concerned about how to implement this to fulfill both of those needs. He states that we should be find a way to tackle both, but not necessarily with the same tool. He implies that perhaps the city should work to allow for the density of these units without necessarily utilizing this process (allowing smaller lots and smaller footprints) 07:19:30 PM (01:15:00) Public Comment - Justin Trivet – comments that he has seen some beautiful cottage homes, but he cannot necessarily do some of that in Bozeman if he is tied to the affordability. He feels this is a good solution for the large lots that have been plotted and unused. 07:21:34 PM (01:17:04) Close Public Comment Henry Happel comments that he appreciates that Chris Saunders will speak with bankers to determine availability for financing. He states that he knows cottage housing is offered around the country and asks if what is being proposed is pretty typical for what is happening elsewhere. In addition, he questions what some of the biggest challenges have been presented by other communities with regards to this type pf housing. Mr. Saunders states that each system has its own set of quirks. He states that he has not heard one reoccurring problem. Mr. Saunders also indicates that the city has tried to craft the ordinance to be specific to Bozeman and not necessarily mirror what another community is doing. He indicates that it would be hard to say how the proposed ordinance would match up to other communities. 07:24:37 PM (01:20:07) Mr. Happel questions if it will be the developer’s responsibility to describe the requirements surrounding the common ownership of the open space. Mr. Saunders stated that the city has standards in place today for Home Owner Associates. He stated that the city would review the proposal to be sure it operated effectively. He states that attorneys do review them. There is some consistency in the way they operate, but they do not all operate the same. Further discussion surrounding HOA’s. 07:27:38 PM (01:23:08) Henry Happel questions the restrictions on porch size. Mr. Saunders states that they would be permitted to have extra-large porches if they wanted. Mr. Happel questions the restriction on the size of the home. It is indicated that the square foot of the home may not increase. Mr. Saunders states that yes that is accurate. Mr. Happel questions if there should be flexibility. Mr. Saunders states that anyone can come back and ask for a modification. He points out that the reason the restriction is there, because they homes will be in tight proximity to one another – increasing square footage can mess up the planned development. 07:31:52 PM (01:27:22) Mr. Happel questions the restriction on cottages that do not face public streets and how they will face public streets if they front the common open space. Mr. Saunders responds that it is possible there will be a blank wall on one of those faces. Mr. Happel states that he likes the ordinance and feels it addresses many things the city is trying to achieve. 07:34:15 PM (01:29:45) Mr. Garberg views this in a positive light. He feels there are a lot of “thou shalt” and may be pretty restrictive. He does not think we need to have side bars with all of the requirements already in place. 07:35:28 PM (01:30:58) Mr. Neubauer comments that affordable housing is a concern, but he agrees that we are adding a lot of requirements that can affect affordability. He feels the city should restrict unit size and instead give more flexibility with design. He feels people should be able to add a basement, even with a high water table. Mr. Neubauer states that there was some contradictory text – section 7a expresses that the minimum porch size is 6x6, while another section indicates 80 sq ft. Mr. Neubauer states that he likes the idea in general, but he finds it contradictory that on one page it states 65% of the homes must border the common area, while on another page, it states 50%. 07:40:09 PM (01:35:39) Mr. Neubauer also comments on the requirement for 40% of the common area to be covered by a tree canopy. He feels that is excessive. Mr. Saunders states this was an effort to avoid the typical points system for landscaping. Mr. Neubauer indicates a section of the ordinance doesn’t make sense to him. Clarification by Eric Garberg and Mr. Saunders. 07:42:56 PM (01:38:26) Mr. Saunders comments that he really appreciates the fine detail by the board, by fixing problems now. It makes it easy to avoid problems in the future. 07:43:32 PM (01:39:02) Mr. Zignego comments that we say we don’t want to have the same cookie cutter style over and over. However, he states that some of the comments in the text seem to be creating the same home to be built over and over. Mr. Saunders responds as to why some items were included. Mr. Zignego comments that he likes the idea, everyone else has voiced any concerns. 07:45:40 PM (01:41:10) Mr. Thompson comments that he supports some of the regulations on the design to avoid a longer review time (aka, the design not being approved). He also appreciates the restrictions with square foot, he seems a lot of medium sized homes being torn down and replaced with much larger and less affordable homes. Mr. Thompson comments that there are components of this that make sense for green field development. However, when he looks at this for downtown, it may not necessarily apply. He feels that perhaps downtown there should be different cottage housing requirements. Mr. Thompson continues discussion regarding tearing down homes and replacing them in the downtown area and how requiring affordable homes will affect pricing. He feels that it may create some issues with neighbor relations. 07:51:56 PM (01:47:26) Jerry Pape comments that the basement portion does concern him. He thinks basements should be encouraged if the water table permits. He also wants to add that there is an artificial scarcity of land within and around Bozeman which is driving up the cost of land and all of the requirements for the cottage housing may increase the land required which will make affordability difficult. 07:55:50 PM (01:51:20) Mr. Saunders states that he appreciates their thoughts on the topic. 07:56:23 PM (01:51:53) RECESS for 5 Minutes 2. 08:02:32 PM (01:58:02) Untapped Potential: Water Conservation as a Source of Additional Water Supply: This presentation will provide background and information about the City of Bozeman’s Water Conservation Program, progress to date and future plans. Learn about simple steps we all can take to make sure Bozeman residents continue to have safe, high quality water supplies for future generations. Presentation beings on Water Conservation by Lain Leoniak 08:08:21 PM (02:03:51) Erik Garberg questions the straight line of water supply. Ms. Leoniak responds that it’s a dry year yield. There is potentially more water available depending on whether it’s a wet or a dry year. Ms. Leoniak continues presentation. 08:32:02 PM (02:27:32) Conclusion of presentation Jerry Pape comments from experience in how water conservation can work. 08:34:18 PM (02:29:48) George Thompson questions if she is suggesting waterless urinals. She stated no, they do not work. Mr. Thompson questions the dynamic between the City and County with regards to water quality. Ms. Leoniak responds that they are working on that, because the City will eventually absorb problems from the county over time. She states those will be dealt with on a case by case basis. Further discussion among the board regarding water supply. 08:38:08 PM (02:33:38) Mr. Spitler questions what the Planning Board can do to help. Ms. Leoniak responds that their awareness alone is helpful. Knowing that water conservation exists and that they are a resource for the board is helpful. She also encourages them to reach out to developers in the community and let them know what programs are available. F. 08:40:19 PM (02:35:49) Adjournment For more information please contact Alicia Kennedy at akennedy@bozeman.net This board generally meets the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7:00pm Committee meetings are open to all members of the public. If you have a disability and require assistance, please contact our Interim ADA coordinator, Chuck Winn at 582-2307 (TDD 582-2301).