HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-16-23 Public Comment - M. Kaveney - UDC comments for CD Advisory Board mtng. 10_16_23From:Marcia Kaveney
To:Agenda; Terry Cunningham; Jennifer Madgic; Christopher Coburn; Cyndy Andrus
Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDC comments for CD Advisory Board mtng. 10/16/23
Date:Monday, October 16, 2023 11:48:52 AM
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Dear Community Development Advisory Board-
I understand there is a change in procedure for the UDC deadlines, but would like to take this
email to do two things.
First, thank you. Thank you for your patience in listening and taking public comments intoaccount during your discussions. I do feel heard and I appreciate that.
Second, in case you do continue with public comment and a discussion tonight, I would like to
stress the following codes and concerns be addressed in light of the recent Sustainabilityrequest to strengthen language to protect water, trees, and sensitive lands as well as urban
agriculture (per the SB workplan).
1. Please request that the escape clause of "to the extent possible" be removed fromBMC 38.410.010. B. Natural Environment be removed.
At the Sustainability Board (SB) meeting on 10/11/23, Mr. Saunders put forward the
argument that the remaining text implies that nothing at all can be disturbed, however Idisagree and would put forth the argument that an applicant can still apply for variances and/or
deviations that would allow for certain reasonable exceptions.
The elimination of the escape clause gives the control back to the city for how much damagethey would allow and would go a long way to bridging the growing gap between preserving
sensitive lands, habitat, and urban forest and compact development. I believe we canhave compact development and land protections if we push for compromise.
For example Legends II followed the components of the above code and had the property been
zoned R3 instead of R1, it would have allowed at least 3 x as many people with the same lotconfiguration and land protection. In my observations, none of the lots on which homes were
built were disturbed from road construction. As a similar property, Canyon Gate could'vebeen pushed to locate their higher density buildings on the existing open high ground instead
of where the trees were and allow the medium density to fold around the low lying tree groves,thereby reducing grading needs and destruction and preserving many of the existing groves.
The loveliest part of Legends I trail is when it dips into a low lying area in the midst of treesallowing for a full forest immersion experience.
2. Please request that the following text be added to Article 6 Natural Resource Protection:
Division 38.630. Municipal Water Regulations. (drinking water, etc.)Division 38.640. Urban Forest Regulations. and new:Division 38.650. Urban Agriculture Regulations.
This last request comes from the SB discussion on 10/11/23 regarding urban agriculture. One
type of agriculture that was not discussed and brought to my attention after the meeting is thegrowing fruit forest within city limits as well as the many hundreds of gardens and even
unmanaged but productive plants such as rhubarb. Buying organic or local fruit from the storeor even farmers markets can be expensive and therefore not accessible to all. However, the
historic part of Bozeman in particular has an expansive urban orchard of apple, plum, and peartrees, and an extensive urban rhubarb (a vegetable but used like fruit) patch along alleyways
and garage setbacks. This fruit is shared freely among many neighbors every year and will belost if setbacks and yard or open space requirements are minimized during code updates. I.e.
My children attended Hawthorne for a span of 11 years and during that time, I supplied theirclasses and others with literally hundreds of pounds of free plums over the course of those
years.
I'm sure there are other codes such as transition zones, setback requirements, and landscapingrequirements that directly affect the opportunity to grow one's own food- an equity issue as
well as a cultural issue- and I hope you will request that those be improved to allow for thecontinued local production of food. Compact development focused only on the build
environment will likely set us back in this area.
Thank you again for your much appreciated time and consideration of my comments.
Marcia Kaveney