HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-14-23 Public Comment - A. Kociolek - Type 2 Short Term Rental Ban_Cap DiscussionFrom:Angela Kociolek
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment about Type 2 Short Term Rental Ban/Cap Discussion
Date:Friday, August 11, 2023 1:20:47 PM
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Dear City Commissioners,
I watched with great interest your August 8, 2023 work session and listened to the
public comments on Short Term Rentals (STRs). I am left deeply concerned and
fearful that a ban or a cap on Type 2 STRs will limit someone like me from being able
to live in my home and grow old in Bozeman.
My husband and I were fortunate enough to buy our 1,200 sq ft home in 2001, at the
age of 31, when prices were reasonable. Good financial decisions allowed us to make
a down payment, get rid of PMI, and refinance for better interest rates twice. Our
home is the smallest on the block. It, and the land it sits on, represents our largestasset.
We made the decision to pay off early and just when we started to celebrate not
having to pay a mortgage, our taxes increased by 33%, our insurance went up, andthere seems to be an endless stream of additional school bonds, tax assessments,
etc. etc. Soon, with these cost-of-living increases, we’ll be paying close to what we
had been paying when we still had a mortgage.
My husband and I are self-employed. We don’t have a safety net beyond life
insurance policies until our son reaches adulthood, IRAs, and our own savings. We
have no great inheritances on the horizon, no family estate to bank on. We will need
to make it on our own.
The option of building an ADU in our backyard and/or renovating our basement to
become short- or long-term rentals is one of the hopes I’ve held on to. According to
the Short Term Rentals Map (2017) accessed via bozeman.maps.arcgis.com, ourhome allows for Type 1 or Type 2 STRs. Now I’m hearing that we might lose this
right.
If the Commission bans or caps Type 2 STRs (as they are currently defined) you mayactually increase the risk of homelessness and unaffordability for people like us.
I ask you to please take the following reasonable actions:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Keep Type 1 and Type 2 STRs.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Consider changing Type 1 to include ADUs.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->Do not raise the cost of STR registration by
more than 10%.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4. <!--[endif]-->Do offer autorenewal so licenses do not lapse
unintentionally.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->5. <!--[endif]-->Require an STR license, fire code inspection
and all necessary listings to be sure no entity is taking advantage of the
system.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->6. <!--[endif]-->Enforce all rules – with penalties, if
necessary.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->7. <!--[endif]-->Accept AirBNB’s assistance.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->8. <!--[endif]-->Assist Bozeman Tenants United (BTU) in
addressing their main complaints about mold, spiders, flooding, lack of heat,
etc. through other legal means pertaining to landlord laws. [Do not buy into
BTU’s scapegoating of local STR owners for their substandard housingchoices. Local STR owners are also trying to make a living in Bozeman.]
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9. <!--[endif]-->Educate BTU leaders that third floor
apartments are the new reality in Bozeman given it’s higher density/build up,
not out model.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->10. <!--[endif]-->Focus your energy on real causes of the lack
of affordable housing. Limit ostentatious luxury condos (50% larger than our
home) like the forthcoming ‘Hotel Bozeman and Residences’ and space-
hogging downtown hotels like the AC Hotel where whenever I walk by, the
first floor is empty. This misuse of prime real estate is astounding in a City that
clamours we need more affordable housing.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->11. <!--[endif]-->Please heed the advice of the HRDC
representative and preserve the affordable housing fund. Do not use it for the
one-time incentive subsidy BTU is demanding. Such a subsidy is a ludicrous
idea that would cost us tax payers (regular home owners like us), again! But if
you do it, be sure to vet your recipients well and require a contract that they
will actually live here full-time for a period of ten years or more.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->12. <!--[endif]-->Please think of tenants and primary
homeowners as equally deserving of a break. Spend your time regulating
developers that seem to have no care for existing conditions and
neighborhoods.
Living here on North Tracy Avenue, I fear for my family’s future in Bozeman. The
ominous march of gentrification making its way northward has got me asking how
much would I sell out for? This makes me so sad. I fell in love with Bozeman in1995 when I came to MSU’s Graduate Program in Conservation Biology. It’s been
home ever since and where I choose to raise my son, serve my community and,
hopefully, live out my days. But my future feels so unstable because I am afraid
we won’t be able to afford to live here.
Please do not take away our private property right to leverage our equity. Please
allow us to diversify our retirement cashflow with a potential rental income. Keep
Type 1 and 2 STRs and enforce the program so no bad actors can takeadvantage of the system.
Thank you for listening,
Angie Kociolek
620 N Tracy Ave.
Bozeman, MT 59715