HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-05-23 Public Comment - K. Belton - RE_ OBJECTION to UDC zoning proposal that decreases density of laborers and residents CDBFrom:Kate Belton
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]RE: OBJECTION to UDC zoning proposal that decreases density of laborers and residents
Date:Tuesday, October 3, 2023 1:50:29 PM
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Dear Community Development Board,
I am writing in opposition of the UDC proposal for Bozeman.
As a city, we are tasked to solve existing problems, predict and mitigate future issues, and
create a thoughtful plan for the future.
This involves supporting the people who live and work here.
In 2019, the Downtown Bozeman Improvement plan struck me by how thoughtfullyresearched it was, with consideration of and input from the people who live and work here.
In contrast, my understanding is that the UDC was created with limited input from the peoplewho live and work here.
People who live and work here includes but is not limited to: construction workers, nurses,teachers, hospital employees, custodians, arborists, city workers, retail and service employees
(at places such as Kenyon Noble, Ace Hardware, Town and Country, Target, either postoffice, Eagle Tire, Tom's Alignment, the Cannery, Backcountry Burger, Ale Works, Loaf and
Jug, Costco, Safeway, Albertsons, Aleworks, the Bozone, Pacific Steel, BridgerBrewing, O'Reilly Autoparts, etc), gas station attendants, mechanics, farmers, ranchers, truck
drivers, grocers, professors, landscapers, physical therapists, non-profit workers, etc.
The reality in Bozeman as of 2023 is that buying a home or finding a stable long term rentalfor people who live and work here is extremely difficult or impossible (financially).
The UDC proposal increases density in units of housing without addressing people who liveand work here. In doing so, the proposal overburdens an already under-resourced workforce and city infrastructure, while decreasing housing for people who live and work here.
This not only creates an issue for all people who live and visit here; it does not work.
In fact, the result is fewer people who work and live here, thereby decreasing average
density.
One example of decreasing density (of people) while increasing housing density:
An old home downtown is a rental property; four bedrooms, two and a half bath. Insidelives a mechanic at Speedy Lube, a server at Aleworks, a couple who works at Bridger
Bowl in the winters and landscapes in the summer, and an MSU career counselor.
This home is knocked down, a developer purchases the property, and four units go up,
on the market for $1.5 million dollars each. The new owners include: a couple with ahome in the YC; a couple with a home in New York; a commercial property investor
from Chicago who travels frequently; and an investor who uses the property as acorporate write-off.*
It is unclear where the renters of the former home live now.
It is also unclear who fills the jobs in the event that the renter(s) leaves the community.
(*These people are unlikely to fill these jobs.)
An important question: Can you have a functioning city without homes to live in for thepeople who make it function? .....
Here are some functional jobs that require people (based in homes):
plowing snowtree care
emergency responseteaching
cleaning offices and hotels and homesbuilding offices and hotels and homes
delivering mailmanaging parking
repairing streetsfixing sewers
stocking shelvesopening grocery stores
driving trucks and busescaring for elderly
hospitality
There is so much to be considered in a proposal of this magnitude, that all of the necessary
considerations cannot be written in a single email — nor in several hundred emails. Instead, afeasibility study as to the efficacy of this rezoning for an economically viable Bozeman isparamount before a next draft is presented.
Thank you for your time working to create a viable solution to the current and future issuesfacing Bozeman.
Kate Belton