HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-04-20 Public Comment - L. Barnard - Affordable housingFrom:Larry Barnard
To:Agenda
Subject:Affordable housing
Date:Friday, September 4, 2020 12:36:11 AM
Regarding supporting and planning and implementing affordable housing in Bozeman I would
like to suggest we pursue effective and creative ways to finance and incentivise those housingprovision solutions. This process needs to begin with the root causes of the affordable housing
shortage. Of course, the causes are tricky to define but it can be easily inferred that thepersistent and relentless development and re-development of the core of Bozeman has been a
major contributor to the situation of lack of such housing. One aspect of this is theabsorption of the real estate in old town Bozeman which has historically provided affordable
housing and the subsequent "high-end" development that follows. In many ways, perceived orreal, this development is allowed without paying its fair share of impacts. Parking is one
obvious example, infrastructure is another. Higher tax rate acceleration on existing housing isa more subtle cost to the residents with long or short term histories surrounding the new
developments. What is to be done? Get creative. Stand up to the tsunami of developers and their impacts by
creating taxes, fees, consequences for their self centered actions. The city of Bozeman hasresources in-house, resources at MSU, resources in local think tanks and resources among the
citizens to figure this out. If the city of Bozeman continues playing innocent and actingcomplicent with these outside forces there will be a tax revolt backlash which will not solve
these problems and will create other serious problems. I don't see anything particularly new orcreative being suggested. The same old approach hasn't worked in the past and won't now. We
have to allow imminent development only on our terms.Thank you
Larry Barnard439 North Grand Ave.
Bozeman, Mt.barnebozeman@gmail.com