HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-18-23 Public Comment - D. Kaveney - Canyon Gate 22264 comments -- for 4_18 commission meetingFrom:Dan Kaveney
To:Terry Cunningham; Cyndy Andrus; I-Ho Pomeroy; Christopher Coburn; Jennifer Madgic; Agenda
Subject:Canyon Gate 22264 comments -- for 4/18 commission meeting
Date:Tuesday, April 18, 2023 8:09:24 AM
Attachments:Canyon Gate 22264.pdf
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Thanks in advance for reading.
Cheers.
Dan
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Dan Kaveney
18 April 2023
Dear Commissioners,
I am wri7ng about your review of Canyon Gate preliminary plat 22264. I know there has been a
large hue and cry about this development, and you’re probably sick of it. . This leIer will ask
you to consider adding a few restric7ons and clarifica7ons to the B-2M and R-5 sec7ons of
Canyon Gate when you approve the preliminary plat Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
My concerns center on the B-2M and R-5 sec7ons of the project. I believe the B-2M and R-5
zoning designa7ons lack sufficient restric7on to ensure congruence with surrounding areas
and/or to minimize nega7ve impact of new developments on exis7ng local residents. Many
neighborhood concerns con7nue to center on what the B-2M and R-5 zoning designa1ons
allow rather than what the developer actually proposes to do. This will con7nue to be a
significant source of conflict between the neighborhood, the developer, and the city un7l
greater restric7ons are in place. While the neighbors appreciate the height and building size
restric7ons you and the developer added during the annexa7on process, adding a few more
restric7ons and clarifica7ons to the general B-2M and R-5 allowances would resolve a great deal
of conflict and reassure everyone that Canyon Gate will make a posi7ve impact on our housing
shortage for local residents (nobody cares if there’s a shortage of investment proper7es for non-
residents to use as short-term rentals), will help minimize Canyon Gate’s incongruence with
surrounding land uses, and will diminish its nega7ve impacts on the immediate area
surrounding the development.
1) Prohibit type 3 short-term rentals from the B-2M sec1ons of Canyon Gate, and clarify
and confirm that type 3 short-term rentals will not be allowed in the R-5 sec1on of the
development. The development won’t alleviate our housing shortage unless the new
homes built go to locals who plan to use them as their primary residences (I’m sure
you’re familiar with the ample evidence for this – see reference sec7on at the end of this
leIer for a few examples). There is a drama7c na7onwide trend toward individuals and
corpora7ons buying homes intended for use primarily as short-term rentals (again, see
references below). This is very destruc7ve to neighborhoods and to the crea7on of
affordable housing. If that happens in Canyon Gate it will greatly diminish or eliminate its
poten7al to address our housing shortage and will be at odds with our efforts to create a
quality neighborhood where people know each other and are friendly to one another.
You can avoid this nega7ve outcome by simply disallowing type 3 short-term rentals
now, as a condi7on of approval.
2) Prohibit frac1onal ownership schemes such as Pacaso when approving the preliminary
plat. Same problem as type 3 short-term rentals but using another vehicle to
accomplish the same undesirable ends. Nip this problem in the bud by disallowing
frac7onal ownership schemes now.
3) Prohibit hotels from Canyon Gate. Overnight tourism is an inappropriate land use for
this area and would be greatly destruc7ve to our efforts to maintain a quality, neighborly
part of town. Furthermore, since Canyon Gate proposes to use exis7ng parkland, en7rely
paid for by locals and maintained for locals to use, crowding that parkland with tourists
would be unfair to area residents and detrimental to Bozeman in general. This shouldn’t
be problema7c because Mr. Holloran says he has no plans for a hotel, nor does he think
it would be a good place for one. You can easily avoid this poten7al problem and
reassure concerned neighbors without affec7ng Mr. Holloran’s plans by disallowing
hotels from the Canyon Gate development.
Ac7ng on these three simple sugges7ons would allow you to avoid a great deal of conflict
without materially impac7ng the developer’s plans for Canyon Gate. It would make it more
likely that the development might posi7vely impacts the city’s housing shortage and would
help alleviate neighborhood concerns surrounding the permissiveness of B2-M and R5
zoning. It will diminish the percep7on that you as a commission are unresponsive to
legi7mate ci7zen concerns about rampant development in Bozeman. Everyone wins if you
take these simple ac7ons. Why not do it if there are no losers?
Sincerely,
Dan Kaveney
Bozeman, MT
References
There are many, many publica7ons about this. I chose the four below because they are on-
point, succinct, and don’t seem to have a poli7cal ax to grind.
The “AirBnb Effect” On an Already High Cost, Shrinking Housing Market.
hIps://travelnoire.com/the-airbnb-effect-on-an-already-high-cost-shrinking-housing-
market?item=2
The Effect of Short Term Rentals on the Housing Market and Affordability in Salida, CO.
hIps://mccmee7ngspublic.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/salidaco-meet-
66476d94b19f4f68929dd9b05c9fa48b/ITEM-AIachment-001-
ca0b4a2bb790441a93a1b0a496f3cdbf.pdf
Are Short Term Rentals ContribuCng to the Housing Crisis? hIps://granicus.com/blog/are-
short-term-vaca7on-rentals-contribu7ng-to-the-housing-crisis/
Report Demonstrates Short Term Rentals Are ExacerbaCng Puerto Rico’s Housing Crisis.
hIps://nlihc.org/resource/report-demonstrates-short-term-rentals-are-exacerba7ng-
puerto-ricos-housing-crisis