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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-12-23 Public Comment - B. Stroock - Application 21381From:Betty Stroock To:Agenda Subject:[EXTERNAL]Application 21381 Date:Wednesday, October 11, 2023 8:28:00 AM Attachments:Letter - City Commission - Oct 2023.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. City of Bozeman Department of Community Development P.O. Box 1230 Bozeman, MT 59771-1230 October 10, 2023 RE: Application 21381 Dear City Commission, The changes under consideration by the City Commission to entirely repeal and replace Bozeman’s existing UDC (Unified Development Code) and its zoning districts are being done in a manner that is far too hasty, ill-advised, unnecessary and un- democratic. We urge the City Commission to slow the process down. The current time-table for enactment of these changes does a great disservice to our community. We ask that you take the time to soberly and thoroughly evaluate what best serves our community rather than swiftly ramming through radical changes to the city’s land use regulations that will forever alter the character of many neighborhoods. It may well be that significant changes have to be made to Bozeman’s development code, zoning district maps and other land use ordinances in order to bring them into compliance with requirements of the new Montana Land Use Planning Act. The Montana legislature specifically made provisions for cities across our state to have up to three years to enact the changes required. Bozeman thus has until 2026 to make whatever changes may be necessary. There is absolutely no need to hurriedly impose the sweeping changes to our land use ordinances as those currently before the Commission. Bozeman can and ought to take full advantage of the time allowed before making changes that could do great damage to neighborhoods throughout our community. The proposed changes are laid out in a draft document of more than 500 pages of dense reading. Our entire community needs and deserves considerably more time to undertake a measured, deliberative process through which everyone interested can have the opportunity to study, absorb, evaluate and discuss the merits of the proposed changes, and then come to reasonable solutions regarding zoning and other land use changes required for compliance with state statute. Among the objectionable changes proposed under the new development code are the following: 1. All decision making relating to review and approval of new developments will be transferred away from the City Commission (which is accountable to the citizenry) and given instead to an un-elected administrator, with little provision or requirement for public participation. Limiting public input relating to specific developments runs counter to decades of precedent and is detrimental to the public interest. It removes from local citizenry the ability to take part in shaping our own future. 2. Parking space requirements for new developments will be reduced, and in some cases minimum parking may be eliminated entirely. Such reductions will only exacerbate an already difficult problem of vehicle parking in and around many areas of Bozeman. 3. Protections for greenery, trees and open spaces will be weakened. The assumption, apparently implied in the proposed development code changes, is that the solution to Bozeman’s housing crisis will be found through increasing housing density all across our community, and that increased density should be accomplished through construction of higher, multi-unit buildings. Yet this assumption has been proven false. Multiple studies tell us that increasing density alone does not solve the affordable housing problem. Construction of multi-unit multi- story buildings for the wealthy who can afford second homes in Bozeman does little or nothing to alleviate the housing crisis. Such projects have already degraded single family neighborhoods in the core of Bozeman, created urban “canyons” that destroy view-sheds and block welcoming light, fail to honor human scale transitional set-backs and exacerbate already tight parking problems. Since Montana’s legislators gave cities up to three years to bring local land use codes into compliance with the Montana Land Use Planning Act, we fail to understand the rush to repeal and replace existing regulations so quickly. Is it possible the Commission knows the proposed changes will be highly controversial and unpopular? Bozeman can and must do better. Thank you very much, in advance, for your thoughtful consideration. Sincerely, Laura Ziemer, 311 N Plum, Apt.2, Bozeman, MT 59715 Betty Stroock, 1350 Story Mill Road, Bozeman, MT 59715