HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-02-23 Public Comment - V. Hockett - Please take your time in assessing the need to change the UDCFrom:Vince Hockett
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Please take your time in assessing the need to change the UDC
Date:Monday, October 2, 2023 10:12:59 AM
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I am writing to provide input on the process of revising the UDC in Bozeman. Such re-zoning
efforts are difficult and fraught with obstacles. Thus, I do not want to underestimate the workrequired by elected officials and city staff to get such a project done.
I understand that Montana House Bill SB382 requires cities to implement five strategies for
urban development and have three years to do so. While we are required to do this by law, Ido not believe rushing into it or "getting it done early" is a good plan or a good outcome. Our
sole focus should be to take the time to do what is best for the future of Bozeman. Here are afew reasons I think pausing and taking our time is important.
The most current public review draft of the Bozeman development code states the purpose of
this process/revision in legal terms, like to "promote the public health, safety, and generalwelfare". Those certainly are worthwhile purposes, but they do not help a city truly
understand what the goal of such a process is. With boilerplate purposes like that, we willnever arrive at a common general direction we are taking the city in; and yes, I'd argue a more
strategic understanding of direction is appropriate for code changes. It helps clarify points-of-view when inevitable variations in interpretations come up during project review.
Recently I had a conversation with the manager of the sales office of Homebase's Northside
project that is underway. I shared my dislike for the buildings -- height, set-backs, urbandesign, etc. The response was that Bozeman has been stagnant for a long time and this just
represents necessary change. To me, that was an academic response to a question aboutidentity, Bozeman's identity.
It is common for cities and towns to lose control of their culture and identity, simply because
they have never expressed it; and, if they have, do not require the vision to be incorporatedinto practice.I encourage you to take some time to work on incorporating the identity of
Bozeman we all foresee as an element of the code change. If we were all working towardcreating a long-term vision of Bozeman that was something like "A vibrant community
infused with the spirit of the West, which delivers a mountain lifestyle of active friendlypeople who believe in a casual approach to life, work, and play." Bold statements like this can
be guiding principles when developers show up with projects/buildings that belong in Omaha,St. Louis, or Raleigh, and not Bozeman.
As a citizen this process feels like a rush to get something done, when the reality is we have
many issues, important to the community that continue to go unresolved:
We have failed to create new housing for typical Bozemanites, yet don't
hesitate to approve construction of million dollar condos for part-timevisitors.
We are not addressing the impact of short-term rentals on propertyvalues, rental rates, and other cost factors that impact people who call
Bozeman home.I don't see a community strategy for the unsheltered among us.
Our current development strategy has forced teachers, first respondersand other city employees to move out of Bozeman.
Currently approved high-rise development does not support the spirit ofBozeman, rather it could be in any city in the country.
Property taxes are high, yet our community struggles to fund a pool andother community resources.
These are difficult issues to tackle in an unsettled cultural and political time. I encourage youto act like time is on our side. If we take the time, communicate, and promote dialog we can
arrive at some common understanding of what we want our community to become. Let's notjust go through the machinations of government so we feel like progress is being made -- we
need to identify and talk about where that progress is taking us.
Vince Hockett
Bozeman City