HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-28-19 Public Comment - C. Lange - Affordable HousingFrom: agenda@bozeman.net
To: Agenda
Subject: Thank you for your public comment.
Date: Thursday, February 28, 2019 1:04:30 PM
A new entry to a form/survey has been submitted.
Form Name: Public Comment Form
Date & Time: 02/28/2019 1:04 PM
Response #: 179
Submitter ID: 15750
IP address: 172.24.96.111
Time to complete: 35 min. , 21 sec.
Survey Details
Page 1
Public comment may be submitted via the form below, or by any of the following options.
Public comment may also be given at any public meeting.
Email:
agenda@bozeman.net
Mail to:
Attn: City Commission
PO Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771
In-person delivery to:
Attn: City Commission
City Clerk's Office
City Hall, Suite 202
121 N. Rouse Ave.
Bozeman, MT
First Name Connie
Last Name Lange
Email Address connielange712@gmail.com
Phone Number 586-0984
Comments
Dear Mayor Andrus and commissioners,
In last Sunday's Chronicle, "Out of Reach," Jeff Kraus is quoted, "How do we keep what we have?" referring
to the loss of affordable housing as trailer park residents are being displaced to make room for luxury
condos. One cost-effective way to help keep the middle- and low-income housing stock is to keep building
permits for remodels and rebuilds to the established height variance and to limit expansions to no more
than 5% of the original footprint.
The trend for smaller houses being turned into huge houses, 3000 sq. ft. or more, permanently eliminates a
modest-priced home, drives up the cost of the remodeled house and affects the neighboring home values.
The latter has added unnecessarily to the tax burden of many long-time Bozeman residents, who bought
their home based on its affordability at the time. Their income hasn't increased, but their tax burden is
forcing many out, with few options of places to go.
Please take some time when you are out and about to drive through neighborhoods around Beall and
Bogart Parks. North and South Tracy, Black, Bozeman, Wallace and Dell Place will give you a idea of what is
permanently being handed over to the wealthy and forcing low- and middle-income people out. Many
residents, including myself, fear their little homes will be sandwiched between huge luxury dwellings. And
that is happening already.
Our two adult children and their spouses all have good-paying jobs, savings accounts, retirement accounts
and no debt. And yet they cannot afford to buy a house in the town they were born and raised in. Many of
the houses they once hoped to buy no longer exist. They've been replaced by million-dollar homes that are
often second or third homes for the owner.
To limit the extent to which an existing house can be enlarged won't solve the problem on its own. It will
however, prevent people from overbuilding and thus eliminating the likelihood for those of modest
resources from ever hoping to buy that piece of property. Far more than eight homes have been lost
through large, luxury remodels. Building permits to rein in the excess is a useful tool for keeping what we
have.
Sincerely,
Connie Lange
Thank you,
City Of Bozeman
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