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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-05-22 Public Comment - K. Thane - Public Comment for 6-7-22 City Commission MeetingFrom:Kevin Thane To:Agenda Subject:Public Comment for 6/7/22 City Commission Meeting Date:Sunday, June 5, 2022 10:09:45 PM Attachments:Public Comment for 6-7-22 Commission Meeting.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. Attached is Public Comment for the City Commission Meeting scheduled for June 7, 2022. Thanks, Kevin Thane3432 S 29th Ave Bozeman, MT 59718 Commissioners: I am writing to submit Public Comment relating to Action Item H2, Ordinance 2111, Departures for Housing Creation. I recommend that you consider implementing the section dealing with ADUs as code changes, rather than Departures. Doing so would allow the three suggested items able to be incorporated by right, rather than requiring an administrative approval to incorporate them. My rationale is as follows: 1. The three items listed under the heading of Accessory Dwelling Units on page 4 of proposed Ordinance 2111 are not departures. City Planner Chris Saunders stated in the April 18, 2022 Community Development Advisory Board Meeting, when describing the use of departures, [Recording time 1:32:20 of the archived meeting] “If you can come up with an alternate method [emphasis added] that still meets the same, quote, intent and function, we’re going to be open to that conversation.” The three ADU items listed in proposed Ordinance 2111 are 1) Removing the requirement for 1,000 square feet of additional lot area when putting an ADU on a lot; 2) Allowing up to 1 internal and one external ADU per lot; and 3) Redefining the allowable size of an ADU. None of these three items require a method to accomplish them. Either the City does or does not allow them. It may be beneficial to listen to Planner Sanders complete discussion of what a departure is which runs from recording time 1:31:15 to 1:33:50 of the April 18, 2022 Community Development Advisory Board Meeting. 2. As stated in Legislative Finding number 5 of proposed Ordinance 2111, “The City undertook a public process to review and consider possible revisions to City zoning regulations with the intent to remove potential barriers [emphasis added] and to encourage the creation of additional housing and especially housing which accomplishes community aspirations identified in the growth policy and the Community Housing Action Plan.” Requiring a request for a Departure to be filed and approved adds an unnecessary barrier requiring an Administrative step that consequently adds costs in time and money to both the entity that must request the Departure as well as the City staff that must process, consider and rule upon the Departure request. It is cogent to note that the Community Housing Action Plan specifically calls for the removal of regulatory barriers that impair community housing development. 3. Section 2.C.1 of the proposed Ordinance requires that for a departure to be approved, “The departure will result in at least one more home than would otherwise be possible”. Changing the ADU size to allow for a size greater than 600 square feet would not result in one more home than would otherwise be possible. If an ADU greater than 600 square feet could be built then so could an ADU less than 600 square feet. As a result, building an ADU greater than 600 square feet could not be approved as a departure. 4. Section 2.C.2 of the proposed Ordinance requires that for a departure to be approved, “The purpose of the standard can still be accomplished if the departure is granted. If followed, this section would prohibit all of the ADU departures listed as a part of the proposed ordinance from being accomplished. As an example, the current standard in Bozeman Municipal Code 38.360.040 states that, ”In no case may an ADU be larger than 600 square feet or have more than a single bedroom.” How can the purpose of the standard (limiting the ADU to 600 square feet) still be accomplished if the departure allows for a size larger than 600 square feet? 5. The three items were recommended to be code changes (as opposed to Departures) by Clarion Associates, the consulting firm hired by the city to provide direction on affordable housing. Clarion developed the Bozeman Code Audit to Create and Preserve and Housing. Part of their recommendation was to SIMPLIFY and streamline the permitting process. Their report states, ”Changes to the UDC substantive regulations to make the production and preservation of affordable housing a regulatory priority should be supported by changes to the review and approval procedure to ensure that both small “a” affordable and capital “A” affordable projects move from design to construction smoothly and predictably.” In the case of the three ADU items included in proposed Ordinance 2111 there should be no need to seek administrative approval. In summary, in order to best facilitate and encourage what could be affordable housing, please direct the City Manager to implement the ADU changes proposed as departures in proposed Ordinance 2111 as changes to the municipal code to provide by right 1) That no additional lot area be required to construct an ADU on a City lot, 2)That up to 1 internal and 1 detached ADU be allowed per lot, and 3) That the ADU size be controlled by the language in the proposed ADU size section of Proposed Ordinance 2111. Note: I believe that the first sentence in this section should read, ADU size is allowed to be above 600 feet… rather than Minimum size is allowed to be above 600 feet … Thank you for your consideration of these suggestions. Kevin Thane 3432 S 29th Avenue Bozeman, MT 59718