HomeMy WebLinkAbout20116 Parking Letter to Planning Director 04-09-20
April 9, 2020
Marty Matsen, AICP
Community Development Director
City of Bozeman
20 E Olive St #202
Bozeman, MT 59715
RE: Blueprint Reuse/Site Plan Parking Letter
Mr. Matsen,
Please accept this letter as part of the Reuse/Site Plan application to allow HRDC’s
Blueprint program to occupy the existing buildings located at 214 and 216 North 15 th
Avenue. The purpose of Blueprint is to provide safe, affordable housing to youth in need
of housing, so they can receive the case management and coaching required to develop
the independent life skills required to transition to adulthood, permanent housing and
ongoing employment. The totally site occupancy is proposed not to exceed 14 people.
There are two separate houses on the site, each serving slightly different populations.
· 214 North 15 th (west portion of the property closest to the street) – this structure
would primarily be used for those under 18 years of age and typically still in
high school. Those participating in this program remain residents of the house
until they have completed their High School Diploma or turn 18, whichever takes
longer. This home is planned to also accommodate an on-site manager.
· 216 North 15th (east portion of the property) – this structure would primarily be
used for those who are no longer in school but are actively engaged in the
workforce. This program is designed to support them (generally for 6-9 months)
after which they are able transition out of the program into stable housing.
Group Living is typically required to provide 1 parking space per person of approved
capacity. With a maximum occupancy of 14 residents, this equates to a requirement of 14
parking spaces. With the nearby new covered bus stop, a 10 percent reduction is available
which decreases the parking requirement to 12.6 spaces.
Section Table 38.540.050-1, Footnote 1 states: “A facility may
request to provide fewer parking spaces if the applicant provides
evidence that some or all residents are prohibited from
operating motor vehicles. Under no condition may less than two
parking spaces be provided. If the use of the facility is altered to
serve a different population who may operate motor vehicles,
then the additional required parking must be provided before
the change in use may occur.”
Additionally, Section 38.540.050.A.1.b states: “Affordable housing. When
calculating the amount of required parking for affordable housing, as defined in
section 38.700.020 of this chapter, if the project is guaranteed for use as affordable
housing for a minimum period of 20 years and the use as affordable housing is
subject to long term monitoring to ensure compliance and continued use as
affordable housing, required parking spaces must be calculated based on number
of bedrooms outlined in Table 38.540.050-1, but may not exceed two spaces per
unit.” The Blueprint program is dedicated to serving youth experiencing
homelessness in our community. Participants in this program fall well below the
threshold for “affordable housing” in the Unified Development Code.
Functionally, the Blueprint program does not need 14 parking spaces. Data from
the last six years shows that a maximum of 25 percent of participants has a license
and a car. Blueprint’s data from the past 6 years shows that approximately 25
percent of participants have both a license and a vehicle. This data would suggest
that the true demand is only 3.5 spaces (13 x 0.25 = 3.25) for participants + 1 house
manager space rounded up to a total of 5 spaces.
In terms of provided parking, there is one 24-foot parallel available space on the
street (outside of required street vision triangles and located directly in front of
the property). Additionally, there is a 3-car garage and room for 2 additional
surface parking spaces for a total of 6 available parking spaces. This additional
space can accommodate a guest. There is also ample room for additional parkingin
the existing driveway and room for 2 additional spaces between the two homes if
needed in the future.
HRDC would like to propose to utilize these sections of the code to allow a
maximum of 14 residents to occupy the site with the 6 parking spaces as proposed.
Thank you for your consideration of our request. Please let us know if you need
any additional information.
Sincerely,
Heather Grenier
President/CEO