HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-26-21 Public Comment - C. Lange - Development Code Input and Ideas J%0J a i I Susan Riggs <sriggs@groundprint.com>
Code Audit Comment Submission
1 message
webadmin@bozeman.net<webadmin@bozeman.net> Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 1:19 PM
To: sriggs@groundprint.com
A new entry to a form/survey has been submitted.
Form Name: Affordable Housing: Development Code Input and Ideas
Date&Time: 04/26/2021 1:19 PM
Response#: 3
Submitter ID: 37561
IP address: 97.121.250.120
Time to complete: 7 min.,57 sec.
Survey Details
Page 1
Affordable Housing: Development Code Input and Ideas
1. Contact Info
First Name Connie
Last Name Lange
Email Address connielange7l2@gmaii.com
2. View Unified Development Code
Topic Housing preservation
Code Section(If Known) Not answered
Describe Your Idea or Comment Here
I wish to address housing preservation as an imperative here. First and foremost protect and preserve mobile home parks. Mobile home parks
are providing the infill and affordability that is the City's chief priority.The negative impact on these residents is far greater than on any other
group that is being priced out of housing.Create protective zones to ensure that no more of our lowest income housing is destroyed to make
room for unaffordable condos.The destruction of the Bridger View Trailer Park that displaced more than 90 low income residents is a stain on
our city's history.The pleas of the elderly gentleman who refused to leave his home because he had nowhere else to go still haunts me.The
affordable housing that is currently being built at the Story Mill Park is a nod to those displaced residents—once our neighbors, but still,those
people would likely not be able to afford them,especially when compared to what was taken away from them.
For as long as Bozeman has been experiencing growing pains,City planners and commissioners have spoken of a second priority to maintain
the character of Bozeman's core neighborhoods. I have not seen any action that backs this up. Housing stock once provided for a wide range of
income levels.And the social/economic character of the core was inclusive. I understand the forces that are altering the structural and social
character of the city. However,it is imperative to preserve the architectural character of the core in order to maintain its social character.
Homes in contributory districts do not have the same protective ordinances that those in the history districts enjoy. Houses are turning over to
people who can afford to pay cash and over the asking price for small and medium size houses and then make incongruous changes to the
properties.These changes destroy the character of the neighborhoods in the following ways: Expansions far exceed the size of the original
house,thus forever eliminating its affordability.(At some point the market will experience a downturn.)These over-sized,million-dollar
remodels are structurally out of step with the character of the neighborhood,yet they do not contribute to infill or density, particularly when
the owners are part-time residents. I have spent quite a bit of time on the City's website trying to find the ordinances that outline rooflines
without success. However,rooflines that are 15 ft. higher than typical two-story houses are certainly not within the historical heights and
character of the neighborhood.Over-sized roofline and footprint expansions are depriving neighboring homeowners of privacy,sunlight and
view where it may have once existed.Architectural styles destined to be seen as passing fads are replacing the mix of traditional architectural
styles. Neighbors to these remodels experience increased property taxes while experiencing a diminished quality of life.
It makes no sense to take small and medium houses permanently out reach for median income earners and convert them to million-dollar
homes.This exacerbates the problem. Establish(or enforce)size-limiting ordinance and protective zoning on height,footprint and setback that
preserve the inventory of small and medium houses and the economic,architectural and social character of the core neighborhoods.
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Thank you,
City Of Bozeman
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