HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-17-23 Public Comment - J. Robinson - HOAs Bozeman City Commission
121 N Rouse Ave
Bozeman, MT 59718
Jonathan Robinson
Gallatin High School
% Ms. Warn
4455 Annie St.
Bozeman MT; 59718
Dear Bozeman City Commission,
Have you ever wanted to host a nice barbecue in your neighborhood but then the HOA knocks on your door
and shuts it down? Hi, I am currently a Junior at Gallatin High School in Bozeman Montana, and that is what
has personally happened to me. According to my HOA, it was because it was a "liability" they did not want to
deal with. I find this to be a very lame excuse on their part.
HOAs are put in place to keep neighborhoods in check. Which is fine and all but we need to have more
structure put into place. I have talked to other people in my neighborhood about their experience with the HOA
and they were all different. One said they were allowed to host barbecues while others have said they aren't
allowed to. But it isn't just the structure of the HOA that is causing problems. It's the strictness of their rules
causing problems for the people of bozeman. According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, HOAs are banning in
home daycares. For people who can't afford an actual daycare this is a huge problem because how are they
going to be able to work and take care of their children. With how high house prices are in Bozeman, people
can't afford to not work. So these in house daycares are very important and should be allowed.
I have also found a forum online called Tentongravity.com. An anonymous Bozeman resident was talking about
his experience with the HOA on said forum.They go into detail about how he lives on a gravel road and how
because their HOA refuses to maintain the roads until people start paying. They say this wouldn't be such a big
deal if the road hasn't become so populated due to Bozeman growing. Everybody in the comments of this
forum post seems to agree with the poster about the HOA.
Some of the stuff the HOAs in Bozeman have been doing is downright illegal. For many low income families
clothes lines are a must. There are only 19 states that have banned clothes lines according to sightline.org but
Montana is not one of them. Yet HOAs have been banning people from using Clotheslines according to the
Bozeman Daily Chronicle. As you know housing and housing prices are a huge issue in Bozeman. If people
have to spend money on stuff like drying machines it takes away the money they could use that goes towards
rent and other housing utilities.
Finally I just want to talk about the lack of initiative of the HOA more specifically in my neighborhood. I can't
speak on the behalf of other neighborhood HOAs but with mine it's become pretty bad. First off you they won't
let us park in the street even though there is nothing saying we can't. Parking is a very huge issue in my
neighborhood. Most if not all people in my neighborhood have 2 or more cars which makes parking super
difficult especially because of how small our driveways in the neighborhood are. So most people resort to
parking on the street. Which seems like a reasonable solution yet people still get letters saying not to park on
the road. Which I find very stupid.
If these issues could possibly be addressed it would make many people in different neighborhood people more
open to the HOA. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read this letter.
Sincerely