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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-17-17 Public Comment - R. Canfield - UDC UpdateFrom:The Canfields To:Agenda Subject:Fwd: Public Comment for UDC Update Date:Wednesday, August 16, 2017 5:36:50 PM Attachments:BPAG position UDC ADUs.pdf Historic Alley Tour (480p).m4v Dear Ms. Crough, Please distribute this June 20th, 2017 message "Public Comment for the UDC update” andattached files to the full agenda@bozeman.net distribution list, not just the three gentlemen to whom it was previously distributed. Thank you, Richard C Canfield(406) 579-9095 Begin forwarded message: From: The Canfields <dickanddeb@canfields.org> Subject: Public Comment for UDC UpdateDate: June 20, 2017 at 11:26:55 AM MDT To: Agenda <agenda@bozeman.net>Cc: BPAG <BPAG@bozeman-history.net> Dear Ms. Crough, Please distribute the attached files to Marty Matsen, Chris Saunders, and Tom Rogers. Thank you, Richard C Canfield(406) 579-9095 FINAL DRAFT: BPAG position UDC ADUs 1 June 20, 2017 To: Martin Matsen, Community Development Director Chris Saunders, Community Development Policy & Planning Director Tom Rogers, Community Development Planner III From: Bozeman Preservation Advocacy Group (BPAG@bozeman-history.net) Re: ADUs in Bozeman's May 8, 2017 draft UDC Update The May 8, 2017 draft UDC update introduces a new dimension to Accessory Dwelling Units1: second (Accessory) homes (Dwelling Units) on lots with alley access, hundreds of which are in our National Register Historic Districts. Historic preservation has long been a successful aspect of city planning in Bozeman. Such wholesale construction of new Alley Dwelling Units will invariably create zones of substandard quality of life, and will futilely sacrifice Bozeman's historic districts forever. The guiding principles for Bozeman infill (Saunders/Thomas Commission Memorandum, September 23, 2013) included "All citizens of the community should receive equivalent levels of services." A walking tour of Bozeman's alleys in the Bon Ton, North Bozeman, and Cooper Park (see http://bozeman-history.net/adu/Alleys.m4v) shows them to be narrow, unpaved, ungraded (and unplowed), lacking sidewalks for pedestrian safety, lacking streetlights for crime prevention, and lacking safe egress from alleys to higher classification roadways. Are such levels of services equivalent to our normal residential neighborhoods? Obviously not. Notwithstanding these attributes, our present alleys provide several practical elements of our quality of life: trash and recycling collection, access to garages and sheds, access to yards and gardens, delivery of cable and telephone services. Are these services important to us? Of course they are. Do we want to move them onto the normal residential streets of our historic districts? No way. ADUs appear in several sections of the draft UDC update: 1. In neighborhoods zoned R-1 and R-S, the draft UDC update limits ADUs to those that are integrated into primary residences2. Where 1 Sec. 38.360.040 - Item D.2.a 2 Table 38.310.030 - Note 9 FINAL DRAFT: BPAG position UDC ADUs 2 an historic district overlies an area zoned R-1 or R-S, this provides a crucial protection for the architectural integrity of the district. 2. In neighborhoods zoned R-1 and R-S, the draft UDC update limits above-garage ADUs to subdivisions with plat approval after January 1, 19973. Where an historic district overlies an area zoned R-1 or R- S, this is another crucial protection for the architectural integrity of the district. 3. On the other hand, the draft UDC update allows detached ADUs on lots with alley access in all R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5, R-O, and REMU districts4. It is essential to recognize that only a small fraction of Bozeman's residential historic districts are zoned R-1, and none are zoned R-S. Primarily, the historic districts are zoned R-2 (Cooper Park, South Tracy / South Black, South Tracy, Lindley Place, North Tracy). The Bon Ton and Cooper Park historic districts include areas zoned R-4. These districts are just as important to Bozeman's historic preservation as Bon Ton! In the spirit of the stated guiding principle for Bozeman infill by providing all Bozeman citizens with equivalent levels of services, while preserving Bozeman as a place with high quality of life and pride in its history, we suggest the following changes to the draft UDC: 1. Reduce the scope of applicability of Sec. 38.360.040.D, which presently includes R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5, R-O, and REMU zoning districts, to R-5, R-O, REMU zoning districts only. 2. Alternatively, create an exception to the draft UDC's Sec. 38.360.040.D for National Register Historic Districts or for subdivisions with plat approval before January 1, 1997. 3. Incorporate these changes into the R-2, R-3, and R-4 columns of the Accessory dwelling units row of Table 38.310.030. 4. Add the R-2, R-3, and R-4 districts to Note 6 of Table 38.310.030, or add to this note a condition permitting ADUs above garages only outside National Register Historic Districts. 3 Table 38.310.030 - Note 6 4 Sec. 38.360.040 - Item D.2.a FINAL DRAFT: BPAG position UDC ADUs 3 Postcript. The Historic Alleys Walking Tour shown at http://bozeman- history.net/adu/Alleys.m4v covered 20-30% of the total length of Bozeman's historic districts alleys -- enough to be representative. Alley widths can measured in various meaningful ways: 1. Physical alley widths defined by measuring the distance between well-defined fixed structures such as utility poles, transformers, garages, sheds, etc., 2. Physical alley widths defined by measuring the distance between well-defined non-fixed structures such as dumpsters, trashcans, household and garden debris, and construction debris. 3. Line-of-sight alley widths defined by visibility from vehicles as low as passenger and police cars to vehicles as high as trash trucks and fire trucks. 4. Line-of-sight and limit-of-visibility alley width defined by structures, but also by less-well-defined live objects such as trees, shrubs, and trellises. 5. Limit-of-visibility (say, where alleys intersect higher classification roadways and sidewalks, or places where children play) are less precisely measured, but very important. Using surveyor’s tape, physical alley widths were measured in many locations along the Historic Alleys Walking Tour. In many locations physical alley widths as small as 13 ft were found. Line of sight and limits of visibility alley widths were often several feet smaller. A wide range of alley width codes are found in other cites. Most alley widths are defined by utility purposes, not alley ADUs. Of the alley widths that are specifically defined for dwelling purposes, those based on the most diagnostically valuable experience are those of Washington, DC. Alley dwelling units were started there when many former slaves moved north after the Civil War. During the intervening 150 years of experience code (and societal) standards have varied considerably. The existing regulations strictly regulate residences on alley lots in all zones. Presently, a single-family alley dwelling is permitted only on an alley lot accessible via a 30-foot wide alley or alley network.