HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-12-23 Public Comment - M. Osman - UDC proposalFrom:Michelle Osman
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDC proposal
Date:Friday, October 13, 2023 11:22:44 AM
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Dear City Commission and Board of Advisors,
Please slow down the UDC zoning proposal.
We, the citizens of Bozeman, would like a chance to give constructive feedback on the
proposal. At present we are panicked and giving our time and mental facilities to getting the
word out to our neighbors about this proposal. You have had over a year to work on this,
while we have had two months. I don’t mean to point fingers but this proposal feels like a
continuation of the re-zoning which gave all of the northern main street neighborhoods to
Andy Holloran. He is currently our town’s Voldemort, but let’s say his name. Let’s not forget
that Black and Olive and the re-zoning that allowed for it, was passed with small print and the
ire of the community. And now, once again communication has been severely lacking. Give
us reason to trust your judgement by slowing this down.
As Chris Saunders pointed out, the zoning proposal has many linked components. Unit
amounts are the one most of us have been scared by, however as an example, the size of the
structure you would allow for in RA is far too big. All it takes is a brief perusall of Zillow to see
that most of the homes and multi-family units in RS, R1, R2 and R3 are less than 4000 square
feet. How does any 10,000 square foot building, even with a pitched roof not change the
nature of the neighborhood? I understand that the idea of eight units under 10,000 square
feet was meant as the motivation to build small, more affordable units, but we know that the
reality will be two 5,000 square foot units that sell for $2,00,000.
The reason we are asking you to slow this down is so that you don’t simply change RA
and leave the folks in R3 and R4 with the brunt of this proposal. Parts of the Bonton Historic
district are currently zoned R4. How does that make any sense?
On the matter of out of state companies being paid to design the future of our town, I
think many of us wonder if the money wouldn’t be better spent buying land within city limits
or which could be annexed onto city limits, that could eventually have medium and low-
income housing built on it.
All this is to say, give us a chance to add our ideas and voices to the UDC proposal. We
did not vote you in to be told that you know what is best for us. The anger that you are no
doubt feeling from the community comes from our disbelief and disappointment that once
again we are afraid that we will voice our opinions and be ignored. Slow this down. Add some
town halls. Give us an online forum to submit ideas for our neighborhoods. We have until
2026 to comply with the legislature. During the time that remains we need to come up with a
solid and detailed plan for the continued growth of the city of Bozeman. The current UDC is a
band-aid which will be exploited by developers. I cannot say it enough, please, please please,
slow this down.
Those of you on the board of advisors, thank you for volunteering your time. Those of
you on the commission, earn our trust back, please.
In good faith,
Michelle Osman
-- Michelle Osman
419 North 5th AveBozeman Mt. 59715
(406) 579 3992www.michelleosman.com