HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-18-23 Public Comment - M. Egge - Resolution No. 5556_ Belonging in Bozeman PlanFrom:Mark Egge
To:Agenda
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Resolution No. 5556: Belonging in Bozeman Plan
Date:Sunday, December 17, 2023 8:47:05 PM
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Madam Mayor, Mr. Deputy Mayor, and Commissioners—
The goals and strategies identified in the Belonging in Bozeman Equity andInclusion Plan are laudable and deserve your support.
I appreciate that housing is the first topic listed in the plan. I would like to
enter a few suggestions that I believe would strengthen the plan:
1. City ordinance prohibits more than four unrelated people from living in
the same single-household dwelling. It's plain that the purpose of this law
is to keep college students out of the lawyers-and-professorsneighborhoods near campus, but harms more than just students. This
ordinance punishes residents who choose alternatives to nuclear-family
norms. Montana Fair Housing sued the City of Bozeman over this rule in
2009 as discriminatory (see: Mont. Fair Hous., Inc. v. City of Bozeman).While the district court upheld the legality of Bozeman's ordinance, the
ordinance is clearly contrary to the aims of being an equitable, diverse,
and inclusive city (for more, see this CityLab piece: "Why Are Zoning Laws
Defining What Constitutes a Family?").
Under Housing Goal 2 ("Reduce displacement of residents who work and
go to school in Bozeman but cannot afford to live in Bozeman") I urge you
to add an additional strategy: "Lift prohibitions on unrelated persons livingtogether."
2. Under Bozeman's current code, multifamily housing is banned in half of
Bozeman's residential areas (see: the Montana Zoning Atlas), effectivelydenying access to these neighborhoods to anyone who cannot afford a
single-family home. Those who have the means to own or rent can live in
any neighborhood they choose, but those who cannot afford a single-
family house are barred from half of Bozeman's residential areas (includingmany of Bozeman's most high-opportunity and amenity-rich
neighborhoods). Single-family zoning that excludes multifamily rentals is
often referred to as exclusionary zoning for this very reason.
Under Housing Goal 2 I urge you to add an additional strategy: "Lift
development-code based prohibitions of multifamily housing from all
residential areas."
3. Third, there's been an alarming amount of anti-renter sentiment
expressed in local political discourse recently. For instance:
A prominent local attorney commented to the Community
Development Board that under the draft code his single-family
neighborhood would be "infested with neighbors," applying the same
language to renters that one would use for rats or cockroaches(see this comment).
Take Back Bozeman distributed talking points re: the Public Housing
Authority petition including "It is unwise and immoral to incentivize
people to remain perma-renters."Public comments on the incompatibility of renters living next to
homeowners, ugly posts on NextDoor, etc.
This cumulatively creates a sense that renters are second class citizens
and do not belong in certain neighborhoods. It would be great to see theplan include tactics to call out and counter anti-renter prejudice. The city
should take action to ensure that renters know that they a) belong in
Bozeman; and, b) are welcome in and belong in all neighborhoods (not
just in dense apartment towers far away from "quiet, graceful residentialneighborhoods").
Thank you, as always, for your leadership and consideration.
Mark Egge
1548 S Grand Ave
Bozeman, MT 59715