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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-10-22 Correspondence - Letter to Governor's Housing Task Force Dear Chair Dorrington, August 10, 2022 Thank you for chairing the Governor’s Housing task force and taking on the monumental task of tackling the affordable housing issues that face our Montana communities. As you may or may not know, affordable housing has been a priority of the Bozeman City Commission for many decades. I am writing to share with you and members of your committee various policies we have tried over the years and some new approaches we are contemplating for the future. Since 1972, when the Affordable Housing topic was first identified in the city’s Master Plan, we have been working on solutions to address the issue. Over the years, we have engaged various stakeholders in collaboration with the city, looking for innovative ideas to tackle what has now become a wicked problem in Bozeman and across the state. In 2015 the city adopted Ordinance 1922. The ordinance set goals and criteria for the voluntary development of affordable homes within two years. Before the adoption of the ordinance, there were conversations with the development community asking for their input on what incentives they would need to build affordable housing. The following incentives were suggested and included in the ordinance.  Impact Fee Subsidy  Down payment Assistance  Waiver of subdivision pre-application  Reduction of parkland  Reduced minimum lot size  Concurrent infrastructure housing construction  Expedited review for affordable housing  Reduced parking requirements Despite the incentives, the goals were not met. The commission extended the target dates (Ordinance 1954), but by July 2017, the objectives had still not been met, and the Inclusionary Zoning requirements in the ordinance became mandatory. The bottom line is that we tried an incentive program, and no one took advantage of it. Between 2017 and 2019, when we mandated our Inclusionary Zoning policy, we had affordable housing coming out of the ground. When the legislature voted to make it illegal, we had 20 units built and over 50 projects in the pipeline. Since then, we have continued to look for ways to work with the many stakeholders in our community to address this issue. In 2019 we developed a Community Housing Needs Assessment. Based on that assessment, we developed a Community Housing Action Plan detailing strategies, actions, and timelines to address the housing needs in our community. More recently, we underwent a Code Audit to conform to the new legislation around affordable housing, replacing mandatory requirements and creating an incentive-based program. Based on recommendations in the audit, we have made changes to policies around Accessory Dwelling Units, eliminated the Planned Unit Development Process (PUDs), replaced it with a Planned Development Zone, and changed our policies around Departures to create more affordable units. In the coming weeks, we will continue to amend our Unified Development Code policies on Affordable Housing to match a more incentive-based approach. We have also appropriated $1.25 million in our community housing fund budget for affordable housing development. I would also like to share the 2021 Gallatin County Regional Housing Study, which provides an overview of community needs, the housing market, and the current local economy in the Gallatin Valley. As the governor stated in the first meeting of the housing task force, “there is no silver bullet.” We agree that regulatory tools should be continually evaluated; however, no single strategy will solve this issue. We need to look broadly, including housing preservation, building partnerships, and sources for additional funding. Page sixteen (16) of the study identifies strategies to address housing needs across various income levels in the valley. Specifically, the study states, “The capital gap to produce below-market housing units highlights the need for a reliable and significant pool of funds to help subsidize the production of housing units priced below market.” In my comments on July 21st, I proposed reconsidering some of the pre-emptions around housing to reimagine whether they might work now in this crisis. Inclusionary zoning and excise taxes come to mind. Additionally, it might be worth looking into short-term rentals. Specifically, passing a bill requiring short-term rental listing platforms like Airbnb and VRBO to report all short-term rental listings advertised on their platforms. This would enable cities to better monitor compliance of active short-term rentals and ensure requirements are being met. The issue of affordable housing is no longer just an issue in Bozeman or Missoula. Montana has been discovered, and many of our smaller rural communities are feeling the pressures of rapid development, changing the landscape and the character of these communities forever. We recognize that this is a massive undertaking for the committee. We offer these plans and reports in the spirit of sharing and cooperation but caution the committee in trying to find a top- down approach to this crisis to fit every municipality. We all value the ability to find community-driven solutions to our challenges. Please let me know if you have any questions about what I have provided. We hope you consider us a partner in this effort and look forward to working together as we continue this conversation. Respectfully, Cyndy Andrus, Mayor Bozeman, Montana (406) 600-0987