HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-22-17 Public Comment - E. Campbell - Short Term Rentals1
Clerk Temp
From:Elsa Campbell <elsa@montanawoodlands.com>
Sent:Thursday, June 22, 2017 2:14 PM
To:Agenda
Subject:Regarding short-term rentals public comment
Categories:Public Comment
Dear commissioners,
I am writing in my public comment, as a personal crisis does not allow me to
be at the meeting in person. I am writing in regards to the short-term rental
situation you're reviewing in Bozeman.
As a longtime local, I strongly oppose restrictions or districts creating an elite
class of rentals leaving a disenfranchised group that can't get a return on their
investment. This seems to resemble strongly the illegal process of regulatory
taking.
Short term rentals provide long time locals the ability to supplement the ever
increasing cost of living in Bozeman. These rentals bring job opportunities as
well as protect from improper use of rentals when there are cleaning people or
rental companies coming in every week as is the case with short-term rentals.
When compared to month-to month renters such as students who make messes
that you as a whole don't have control to clean up. Short-term rentals opposers
mentioned things like noise, however there are noise ordinances that are
already in place to protect against that.
My widowed mother-in-law has included her goals of using her home as a
short-term rental as a large part of making her retirement work. When she
bought her home and calculated this as part of my income in good faith, it is
unfair and damaging to change it at this later date.
The way things sit her property is labeled R1 and Type 1 which means she
could only rent rooms while remaining on my property. I do not think it a safe
option for an elderly single woman and don't think the city should require such
a life style for her to conduct occasional business to supplement her
retirement.
2
Please continue to allow property owners to make decisions on how they want
to use their property in regards to short-term rentals. Bozeman has a strong
community of proud owners and between their respect for their assets and
desire for good ratings and I see this only as an inspiration to bring money to
our locale and help increase the quality and content of the sometimes costly to
maintain historical homes in the Bozeman area. With the ability of renters to
be rated on the popular sites, the concerns raised by the opposition seem less
about rowdy renters, and more about increasing property owners in certain
zones freedoms while reducing property owners freedoms in other zones. This
kind of discrimination is not the American way nor should it be the Bozeman
way.
Sincerely,
Elsa Campbell
141 old Timber way
Bozeman, MT 59718