HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-15-18 Public Comment - J. DiMarco - Strategic PlanFrom:Chuck Winn
To:Agenda
Subject:Fwd: Strategic Plan Comment Form
Date:Monday, April 16, 2018 4:31:10 AM
Begin forwarded message:
From: <webadmin@bozeman.net>Date: April 15, 2018 at 10:59:11 PM EDT
To: <cwinn@bozeman.net>Subject: Strategic Plan Comment Form
A new entry to a form/survey has been submitted.
Form Name:Strategic Plan Comment Form
Date & Time:04/15/2018 8:59 PM
Response #:53
Submitter ID:6185
IP address:172.24.96.111
Time to complete:17 min. , 54 sec.
Survey Details
Page 1
We want to hear from you!
First Name Jerry
Last Name DiMarco
Email dimarco@montana.edu
Questions or Comments
In 1. Engaged Community are the words, “innovation and best practices”. Innovation
involves something new and unknown, best practices involves something that is known to
work. How do you decide whether to stick with a best practice or try something unknown?
Innovation appears to have top billing, which is unsettling.
In 1.1 Outreach, I don’t know what is meant by “strengthen and innovate”, but the delivery
of information needs to be more timely so we can walk into a meeting prepared instead of
scrambling to keep up.
In 1.2 Community Engagement, I would suggest changing the phrase “inviting input” to
“soliciting input”. Stakeholders will always be there because they are directly affected, but
members of the community can’t always be there to give input, so their input may need to
be solicited in some instances.
In 1.4 Business and Institutional Partnerships there are no goals. Shouldn’t there at least be
safeguards to protect against corruption and undue influence from special interest groups?
In 2 Innovative Economy, “grow” is the 2nd word. Elsewhere is the word sustainable. How
long can we grow? At what point is our population no longer sustainable? Various
population experts say the world is overpopulated by anywhere from a factor of 2+ to a
factor of 15. Is our population already over the sustainable level? I think it is better to state
that we will adapt our economy to whatever we must do to achieve a sustainable economy.
What does “leverage our natural amenities” mean? Are we going to be advertising them?
Should we be doing that when we cannot manage our current rate of growth, and the
increased demand for homes is killing affordability?
In 2.1 Business Growth, how will business be welcomed and supported? Will they be given
tax relief, shifting the costs on us? Will they be given planning exemptions, reducing the
effectiveness of our planning effort? I would like to see some specifics about what our city
government will do or not do.
The sentence in 2.4 does not read right, “innovation, and the economic development,…”.
In 2.4 a), instead use tourism dollars to help with the affordability problem.
In 4 Well-Planned City, I would like to suggest, “…improve our community’s quality of life for
all…”, and “…as we proactively manage growth for a livable, affordable, more connected city
built around neighborhoods”.
Since 4.1 a) is about Sustainable Growth Principles, don’t we need baseline data for our
environment and natural resources, and a restoration plan for natural systems that have
been degraded?
Doesn’t a streamlined review process work against appropriate planning? We want the
Planning Dept to have the time (and resources) to get the planning right.
In 4.2 High Quality Urban Approach, the focus on neighborhoods should also include
neighborhoods as the building blocks of the city, to help maintain the small town feel and
livability.
Since 4.2 c) is specific about types of parking, what about using ground floor parking under a
building to maximize the building size on the lot?
In 4.2 d), historic preservation is overdone. It is a major factor in our housing affordability
problem. We should not spend more resources on it. The districts should be significantly
downsized or eliminated so their effect on housing costs is minimized.
Also needed under this topic:
4.5 b) 5. Undertake a study of all contributing causes of high housing costs in Bozeman. Use
the results to enact code that will make housing more affordable.
4.6 Comprehensive Land Use Plan - Work to establish a county wide (state wide)
comprehensive land use planning process, so we can stop urban sprawl and preserve
agricultural land.
In 5.2 b), change “Music Venue” to “Performance Venue in town”.
In 6 Sustainable Environment, I would suggest, “…clean air, water, soil,…”. Soil must not only
be protected, but also regenerated since the things we do to our soil deplete it of minerals.
In 6.1 a), we should not just manage water supplies, we should also work to restore
depleted supplies to historic levels.
In 6.2 a), the study should also help us determine all local sources of our air pollution. There
should be another provision to enact code to improve air quality in all seasons.
Why is there no section for energy sustainability? We need more emphasis on energy such
as:
6.6 Renewable Energy - Change subdivision and commercial development layouts to have
predominantly east-west roads to facilitate home and commercial building use of both
passive and active solar installations. Indoor installations of active solar should be
encouraged to reduce maintenance and protect them from storm damage.
Another obvious provision that should be in this category is:
6.7 Sustainable Population - Undertake a study to determine the sustainable population in
the county. Use the results of the study in all future planning efforts.
7 High Performance Organization. It seems to me there ought to be a goal or objective to
always incorporate the Vision and Values in all actions. Likewise for always soliciting input
from the community.
7.1 b) Create a culture of innovation. What about best practices? How will you keep a rein
on innovation?
Thank you,
City Of Bozeman
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