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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-27-2020 Public Comment - M. Brown - Support of Bridger View Burlington Associates in Community Development 21 April 2020 City of Bozeman Planning Board 121 North Rouse Avenue Bozeman MT 59715 Dear Members of the Bozeman Planning Board: I am writing this letter to encourage your support for the Bridger View Redevelopment Planned Unit Development (PUD) that you will be considering at your schedule meeting on May 5. I am stating my strong support for this mixed-income, compact, sustainable new neighborhood both as a resident of the Bozeman area, as I live on Sypes Canyon Road and my grandchildren go to Bozeman schools. I also strongly support this project because a community land trust will be utilized as the mechanism to keep the affordably priced homes in the Bridger View Redevelopment affordable forever – and, as Partner in Burlington Associates, I have, over the past 40 years, seen again and again the transformative impact of community land trusts in the communities in which they operate. As you know, 90+ limited-income families were displaced when the Bridger View Mobile Home Park was closed in 2007 to make room for a high-end single-family home subdivision. Fortunately for Bozeman, The Trust for Public Land purchased the property in 2012 with funding that included $4.5 million from a voter-approved Parks & Trails bond measure and with the intention to create public park. And, in 2019, the remarkable Story Mill Community Park, managed by the Bozeman Parks & Recreation department, opened to community use. From the outset, however, the 8-acre parcel at the corner of Bridger Drive and Story Mill Road, immediately east of the park, was set aside to redress the loss of the mobile home park by returning modest homes to the site, many of which would remain permanently affordable. The Bridger View Redevelopment is planned as a new, mixed-income neighborhood of modest, energy-efficient, sustainably, built owner-occupied homes. The compact and innovative site plan for the Bridger View Redevelopment calls for smaller lots and smaller roads, making the neighborhood more conducive to walking and biking and interaction between neighbors, just like many older, established neighborhoods in Bozeman. Once completed, this new neighborhood – and its 62 homeowner households – will have immediate access to the Story Mill Community Park and the new path to the “M” and easy access to local hiking and biking trails and all of the many outstanding amenities that Bozeman has to offer. The Bridger View Redevelopment is deliberately planned as a mixed-income community. Of the 62 owner-occupied homes to be built, 31 homes (1-bedroom, 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom homes) will be mixed throughout the neighborhood and made affordable to “missing middle-income” households who earn too much to qualify for federal and state assistance programs but still cannot afford to 2 purchase and own a home of their own in Bozeman. The other 31 homes will be sold to other households at market-rate prices. The homes made affordable to “missing middle-income” households (between 80% to 120% of local area median income) will be kept affordable and available to households in these income ranges permanently by the currently-being-established Headwaters Community Housing Trust. As a community land trust, the Headwaters Community Housing Trust will ensure that these homes are initially marketed and sold to “missing middle-income” households; that homeowner households have access to resources and services they may need; and that, upon resale, these homes will be resold, again and again, at prices affordable to future “missing middle-income” households. A Homeowner’s Association will be implemented for the entire Bridger View Redevelopment neighborhood to ensure that homes are well cared for and that sufficient financial reserves are set aside for maintenance of the common areas and private infrastructure (roads, sidewalks, etc.) as well as for future reconstruction and replacement, when and as needed. The Headwaters Community Housing Trust will work closely with the Homeowner’s Association to monitor and ensure the ongoing availability of these financial reserves. As we all know so well, Bozeman faces an urgent and growing shortage of housing that is affordable to households in a broad range of incomes. While it will not, in and of itself, solve this housing crisis, the new Bridger View Redevelopment community will be a shining example of how livable, mixed- income neighborhoods can be created and sustained in Bozeman – and the Headwaters Community Housing Trust will ensure that 31 of these homes remain affordable and available to working households for generations to come. We all benefit by a new community like this in Bozeman. For these reasons, I strongly encourage support approval of the Bridger View Redevelopment PUD by the Planning Board and, eventually, by the Bozeman City Commission. Should you wish to discuss this project, or the Headwaters Community Housing Trust further, please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience. Thank you for your consideration and for your support for this remarkable new community that is so sorely needed in this community. Sincerely, Michael Brown mbrown@burlingtonassociates.com 320.363.0912.