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Home My WebLink About03-28-22 Correspondence - Frontier Institute - Zoning AtlasFrom:Tanner Avery To:Agenda Subject:[WARNING: ATTACHMENT UNSCANNED]Letter to Bozeman City Commission - Frontier Institute Date:Monday, March 28, 2022 12:26:20 PM Attachments:FI Atlas Letter - Bozeman.docx.pdf Montana Zoning Atlas PPT - Bozeman.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Greetings, I am sending you a letter to the Bozeman City Commission and slides to accompany the letteron our recent report on affordable housing in Bozeman. We would be happy to sit down and answer any questions the Commission may have on our report. Please let me know if you have any questions or if we can be of assistance in any way. Best, Tanner -- March 28, 2022 Bozeman City Commission RE: Montana Zoning Atlas Dear Commissioners, I am reaching out to let city councilors know about a new report on affordable housing in Montana published by Frontier Institute, a Helena-based think tank which I lead. Our report, the Montana Zoning Atlas, is an interactive resource which demonstrates how strict zoning regulations exclude low and middle-income residents and worsen Montana’s housing shortage. Accompanying this letter are slides providing an overview of the report, its findings and our proposed reforms. I hope that you may find the Montana Zoning Atlas a useful resource. I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with the council to provide an in-depth presentation of our findings. The Montana Zoning Atlas examines the use of Single Family Zoning and Minimum Lot Areas – two common types of exclusionary zoning regulations – within the city limits of Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell, Whitefish, Billings and Helena. Here is a summary of our key findings: ●Over 70% of primary residential areas in Montana’s most in-demand communities either outright prohibit or penalize affordable multi-family housing development. ●Multi-family housing is prohibited in over 50% of Bozeman due to a combination of Exclusionary Single-Family Zoning and Minimum Lot Areas. ●Missoula is overall the least welcoming city examined in the Montana Zoning Atlas. Multi-family housing is prohibited in over 75% of residential areas in Missoula due to a combination of Exclusionary Single-Family Zoning and Minimum Lot Areas. ●The most welcoming city examined is Helena, which permits more affordable duplexes and townhomes in 100% of primary residential areas and does not impose Minimum Lot Areas. ●The Montana Zoning Atlas demonstrates the need for communities to reduce or eliminate Exclusionary Single-Family Zoning practices and Minimum Lot Area Requirements. Please reach out any time if you have any questions or would like to know more. Thank you, Kendall Cotton President & CEO The Montana Zoning Atlas uses a parcel-level analysis to evaluate how Montana’s most in-demand communities treat affordable types of housing. Cities evaluated: Bozeman • Missoula • Kalispell • Whitefish • Billings • Helena WWW.frontierinstitute.org/atlas Key Points Over 70% of primary residential areas in Montana’s most in-demand communities either outright prohibit or penalize affordable multi-family housing development. Among all the cities assessed in the Montana Zoning Atlas report, two-family housing is welcomed without Minimum Lot Area penalties on just 29% of primary residential land, while 3+ housing is welcomed on only 8%. The Montana Zoning Atlas demonstrates the need for communities to reduce or eliminate Exclusionary Single-Family Zoning practices and Minimum Lot Area Requirements. Policymakers should enact Pro-Housing Reforms to make Montana cities a more welcoming place for low and middle-income residents. Exclusionary Zoning Exclusionary zoning practices restrict the types of homes allowed in a particular neighborhood, often separating single-family homes from multi-family homes like duplexes and triplexes, which are more affordable by design. Types of Exclusionary Zoning Evaluated Single Family Zoning Exclusionary Single-Family Zoning can either outright prohibit multi-family homes or penalize them by conditioning approval on public hearings, special requirements or a long and costly discretionary permit process. Minimum Lot Areas Minimum Lot Areas effectively prohibit multi-family development when the lot area required exceeds the dimensions of existing lots, creating de facto Single-Family Zoning. Minimum Lot Areas can also penalize multi- family housing by requiring larger and more expensive lots for each additional unit added to a building. How regulations Exclude Bozeman is a prime example of how strict local zoning regulations exclude low and middle-income residents and worsen Montana’s housing shortage. Exclusionary Zoning in Bozeman The pink areas indicate where 2+ family homes are prohibited in Bozeman due to Exclusionary Zoning. Over 50% of primary residential areas in the City. Single-Family Zoning in Bozeman Only 49% of residential zones in Bozeman welcome more affordable duplexes or townhomes via an explicit "by-right" zoning designation. Single-Family Zoning in Bozeman Even less welcome 3+ unit development via an explicit "by- right" zoning designation. Minimum Lot Areas in Bozeman Minimum Lot Areas effectively prohibit multi-family development when the lot size required exceeds the dimensions of existing lots. This creates De-Facto Single-Family Zoning (Pink Areas). Minimum Lot Areas in Bozeman When Minimum Lot Areas are added on top of Exclusionary Zoning practices, this leaves only 49% of primary residential areas in Bozeman that permit affordable multi-family development. Minimum Lot Areas in Bozeman When Minimum Lot Area Penalties are accounted for, this leaves 0% of primary residential areas in Bozeman that welcome affordable multi-family development. 2+ family homes are prohibited in over 75% of primary residential areas due to Single Family Zoning and Minimum Lot Areas. Missoula 2+ family homes are prohibited in over 50% of primary residential areas due to Single Family Zoning and Minimum Lot Areas. Bozeman 2+ family homes are prohibited in over 54% of primary residential areas due to Single Family Zoning and Minimum Lot Areas. Kalispell 2+ family homes are prohibited in over 57% of primary residential areas due to Single Family Zoning and Minimum Lot Areas. Billings 2+ family homes are permitted in 100% of primary residential areas and the City Helena does not impose Minimum Lot Areas. Helena Pro-Housing Reforms #1: Restore the Right to Build Housing Our proposal: Expand areas in Montana’s cities wheremulti-family housing is permitted by-right. #2: Eliminate Minimum Lot Areas Our Proposal: Eliminate Minimum Lot Areas Expand areas in Montana’s cities where multi-family housing is permitted by-right. Reform city zoning codes to restore landowners’ right to build two-to-four family housing in zones which currently only permit single-family. Local Officials Should: Make another attempt at passing HB 134 from 2021. This bill would have given all landowners in cities 5,000+ the right to build two family homes and landowners in cities 50,000+ the right to build two-to-four family homes in zones which currently only permit single-family. State Lawmakers Should: Eliminate Minimum Lot Areas Eliminate additional lot area requirements for multi-family housing. Cities should determine one standard Minimum Lot Area Requirement (ideally below 5,000 sq ft) to be imposed equally for all types of homes, or follow the City of Helena's lead by eliminating Minimum Lot Areas Entirely. Local Officials Should: Consider prohibiting Minimum Lot Areas greater than 1/8 of an acre (approx. 5500 sq ft) and Minimum Lot Widths greater than 40 ft. in municipal areas already connected to water and sewer. State Lawmakers Should: Montana Zoning Atlas In The News "We challenge city and county officials to take a hard look at the study to see what can be done locally to encourage the medium-density housing that would produce the homes we need for the families who want to live here. Then work to rewrite zoning codes, as necessary, to make it easier for denser housing to be developed." Daily Inter Lake Editorial: "Still the study raises points worth considering: that the cities’ zoning policies mandate single-family dwellings on too much land area. Those policies cover 50% of all available land in Bozeman and 75% in Missoula. That means multiple-family dwellings — more affordable apartments, condos and townhouses — cannot be built on a lot of available land." Bozeman Daily Chronicle Editorial: To see all the cities evaluated go to: WWW.frontierinstitute.org/atlas