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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-09-24 Public Comment - M. Egge - Guthrie 7_9_24From:Mark Egge To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Guthrie 7/9/24 Date:Monday, July 8, 2024 10:51:41 PM Attachments:2024.07.08 Guthrie Egge Comment.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. Mr. Mayor, Mr. Deputy Mayor, and Commissioners— Regarding the Guthrie project, I’ve heard a number of concerns expressed by community members that seem to be misinformed or pretextual. I’d like to address a few of these concerns here. Traffic If you zoom out, from a traffic standpoint, Midtown is exactly where we should be building new housing. Building dense housing in walkable areaslike Midtown is ultimately how we reduce long-term traffic and congestion. ACS Census Data from 2022 shows that 22% of Midtown residents already walk, bike, or take Streamline to get to work, compared to 3% or less in areas on the western and southern edges of town. As for the overall impact, as the Sanderson Stewart traffic analysis states succinctly, “the Guthrie development will generate a minimal volume of new traffic demand for area streets and intersections.” The traffic studyforecasts 349 daily car trips to be generated by the building residents, dispersed across 24 hours and six streets/directions. (For reference, MDT estimated 29,652 trips per day on 19th Avenue near Safeway, and some 8000 additional dwelling units are currently in the medium-term forecastfor South 19th Avenue.) It’s worth noting that if the Guthrie was located more toward the outskirts of town, Sanderson Stewart’s total estimated trips would be closer to 425 car trips per day since residents would be car dependent for most trips. Some have expressed concerns about an increase in traffic near Wittier Elementary School. The data does not substantiate this concern. Sanderson Stewart estimates that 96 of the Guthrie’s 349 daily trips wouldhappen during the morning or evening peak hours (roughly coinciding with drop off and pick up) and that only eight of these vehicles might pass Whittier elementary school. According to 2023 MDT data, 8,210 vehicles drive down Rouse Avenue every day in front of Hawthorne Elementary—apparently without issue. Even if the traffic volume were of greater magnitude, traffic engineering treatments (such as traffic calming or improving crosswalks) are the sensible way to deal with traffic safety concerns, rather than displacing growth to other parts of town. Parking According to recent Census Data (ACS 2021 5-Year estimates), Midtownhouseholds own an average of 1.3 vehicles per household. If this holds true for the Guthrie (a conservative assumption—renters and lower income households tend to own fewer vehicles), the 111-dwelling building would generate on-street parking demand of some 107 vehicles net of its 37 off-street parking spaces. This evening, I calculated available parking spaces and counted current occupancy. Of the 385 on-street parking spaces within a two-block walk ofthe Guthrie, 109 were occupied and 276 were unoccupied. These blocks would easily absorb 107 additional vehicles and still only be 56% occupied. The City has adopted an 85% parking occupancy standard where peak period occupancy below 85% indicates that on-street parking (a publicresource managed by the City for the benefit of its residents) is underutilized. (I’ve attached my results in the PDF version of this comment.) It is also worth noting that the Guthrie and surrounding areas are within the Downtown Parking Management zone, where Parking Benefit Zone permit zones can be created by resident petition which would guarantee them priority access to on-street parking. One might expect that neighborsprincipally concerned with parking (rather than a pretextual objection to the building and its future residents) to be petitioning for a permit district to be created, rather than against new homes for community members. Affordability Some commenters that “affordable at 80% of AMI” rents are too high to be considered “affordable” or worthy of density bonus incentives. Let's consider that more closely. A household with two members each working full time and making $17.50 / hour earns 80% of AMI. A quick scan of the classifieds on Craigslist failed to turn up any jobs offering less than $19 / hour. This doesn't mean wedon't need subsidized housing. While rent-restricted Guthrie units may be set based on 80% of AMI (per the terms of Bozeman’s Affordable Housing Ordinance), these units will beof benefit to any household earning 60% of AMI or more. While there are hundreds of new subsidized units under development using a combination of the City’s shallow incentives and LIHTC funding, HUD rules for LIHTC rules dictate that a household earning more than 60% of AMI (e.g. a singleperson earning $23 / hour) would earn too much to be eligible for any of these subsidized units. In the absence of projects like the Guthrie, market rate rents would be the only available option for households earning more. For example, a first-year Bozeman School District teacher salary of$46,813 per year exceeds the $45,780 LIHTC 1-person household maximum for a LIHTC-subsidized unit, but would clearly be far better off renting a subsidized unit affordable at 80% of AMI than a market rate unit. On a related note, some have pointed out that you can get a market rate rental on the outskirts of town (or in Belgrade or Livingston, for that matter) for the same price as a subsidized unit in the Guthrie. For instance, studio and one-bedroom units in the Madison Apartments,located at Oak and Cottonwood Streets, are priced roughly in line with 80% of AMI. Leaving aside the fact that all of the studio and one-bedroom units in The Madison are full, this implication of equivalency in terms of affordability is misleading. This location has a Walkscore of 9 out of 100(Per Walkscore.com, “This area is considered a car-dependent area and most errands will require a car”). The Guthrie location offers a Walk Score of 90 (Per Walkscore.com: “Walker’s Paradise: Daily errands do not require a car”). After housing, transportation is the largest expense for most households. Planners often look at both housing and transportation costs to determine a household’s cost burden. New data from the Bureau of Transportationstatistics indicates that the average household in Bozeman spends $11,300 per year on transportation, or about 19% of household income. Households that spend less on housing tend to spend more on transportation (and everyone bears the cost of their increased travel onour roads, both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion). For the same rent, a one-vehicle household in a walkable area is far less cost burdened than a two-vehicle household in a car- dependent area. Finally, some have commented on the dignity of living in a smaller apartment. It strikes me as privileged and out of touch to assume that one can’t live with dignity in less than 500 square feet. Is living in a largerhome with roommates more “dignified” than having a small unitexclusively? The City’s Community Plan and various housing plans all point to a needfor more housing generally, and especially below market rate housing.Small units consume less land and are more energy efficient. Centrally located housing uses existing infrastructure and provides its residents with transportation options. The Guthrie isn’t for everyone—but you can becertain that it will meet the needs of some community members—theircircumstances, their time of life, their finances, and their desired lifestyle. Of course, as a quasi-judicial matter, your approval of the Guthrie doesnot depend on its merits but rather its compliance with our adopted codes.That said, this is a topic that has animated much community interest and attention. In your deliberations I urge you to highlight and communicate the reasons why this type of housing is a benefit to the community andaligns with the community’s growth plan and housing needs. Thank you for your consideration. Mark Egge, AICP 1548 S Grand Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 8 July 2024 Mr. Mayor, Mr. Deputy Mayor, and Commissioners— Regarding the Guthrie project, I’ve heard a number of concerns expressed by community members that seem to be misinformed or pretextual. I’d like to address a few of these concerns here. TraJic If you zoom out, from a traJic standpoint, Midtown is exactly where we should be building new housing. Building dense housing in walkable areas like Midtown is ultimately how we reduce long-term traJic and congestion. ACS Census Data from 2022 shows that 22% of Midtown residents walk, bike, or take Streamline to get to work, compared to 3% or less in areas on the western and southern edges of town. As for the overall impact, as the Sanderson Stewart traJic analysis states succinctly, “the Guthrie development will generate a minimal volume of new traJic demand for area streets and intersections.” The traJic study forecasts 349 daily car trips to be generated by the building residents, dispersed across 24 hours and six streets/directions. (For reference, MDT estimated 29,652 trips per day on 19th Avenue near Safeway, and some 8000 additional dwelling units are currently in the medium-term forecast for South 19th Avenue.) It’s worth noting that if the Guthrie was located more toward the outskirts of town, Sanderson Stewart’s total estimated trips would be closer to 425 car trips per day since residents would be car dependent for most trips. Some have expressed concerns about an increase in traJic near Wittier Elementary School. The data does not substantiate this concern. Sanderson Stewart estimates that 96 of the Guthrie’s 349 daily trips would happen during the morning or evening peak hours (roughly coinciding with drop oJ and pick up) and that only eight of these vehicles might pass Whittier elementary school. According to 2023 MDT data, 8,210 vehicles drive down Rouse Avenue every day in front of Hawthorne Elementary—apparently without issue. Even if the traJic volume were of greater magnitude, traJic engineering treatments (such as traJic calming or improving crosswalks) are the sensible way to deal with traJic safety concerns, rather than displacing growth to other parts of town. Parking According to recent Census Data (ACS 2021 5-Year estimates), Midtown households own an average of 1.3 vehicles per household. If this holds true for the Guthrie (a conservative assumption—renters and lower income households tend to own fewer vehicles), the 111- dwelling building would generate on-street parking demand of some 107 vehicles net of its 37 oJ-street parking spaces. This evening, I calculated available parking spaces and counted current occupancy. Of the 385 on-street parking spaces within a two-block walk of the Guthrie, 109 were occupied and 276 were unoccupied. These blocks would easily absorb 107 additional vehicles and still only be 56% occupied. The City has adopted an 85% parking occupancy standard where peak period occupancy below 85% indicates that on street parking (a public resource managed by the City for the benefit of its residents) is underutilized. (I’ve attached my results in the PDF version of this comment.) It is also worth noting that the Guthrie and surrounding areas are within the Downtown Parking Management zone, where Parking Benefit Zone permit zones can be created by resident petition which would guarantee them priority access to on-street parking. One might expect that neighbors principally concerned with parking (rather than a pretextual objection to the building and its future residents) to be petitioning for a permit district to be created, rather than against new homes for community members. AJordability Some commenters that “aJordable at 80% of AMI” rents are too high to be considered “aJordable” or worthy of density bonus incentives. Let's consider that more closely. A household with two members each working full time and making $17.50 / hour earns 80% of AMI. A quick scan of the classifieds on Craigslist failed to turn up any jobs oJering less than $19 / hour. This doesn't mean we don't need subsidized housing. While rent-restricted Guthrie units may be set based on 80% of AMI (per the terms of Bozeman’s AJordable Housing Ordinance), these units will be of benefit to any household earning 60% of AMI or more. While there are hundreds of new subsidized units under development using a combination of the City’s shallow incentives and LIHTC funding, HUD rules for LIHTC rules dictate that a household earning more than 60% of AMI (e.g. a single person earning $23 / hour) would earn too much to be eligible for any of these subsidized units. In the absence of projects like the Guthrie, market rate rents would be the only available option for households earning more. For example, a first-year Bozeman School District teacher salary of $46,813 per year exceeds the $45,780 LIHTC 1-person household maximum for a LIHTC-subsidized unit, but would clearly be far better oJ renting a subsidized unit aJordable at 80% of AMI than a market rate unit. On a related note, some have pointed out that you can get a market rate rental on the outskirts of town (or in Belgrade or Livingston, for that matter) for the same price as a subsidized unit in the Guthrie. For instance, studio and one-bedroom units in the Madison Apartments, located at Oak and Cottonwood Streets, are priced roughly in line with 80% of AMI. Leaving aside the fact that all of the studio and one-bedroom units in The Madison are full, this implication of equivalency in terms of aJordability is misleading. This location has a Walkscore of 9 out of 100 (Per Walkscore.com, “This area is considered a car-dependent area and most errands will require a car”). The Guthrie location oJers a Walk Score of 90 (Per Walkscore.com: “Walker’s Paradise: Daily errands do not require a car”). After housing, transportation is the largest expense for most households. Planners often look at both housing and transportation costs to determine a household’s cost burden. New data from the Bureau of Transportation statistics indicates that the average household in Bozeman spends $11,300 per year on transportation, or about 19% of household income. Households that spend less on housing tend to spend more on transportation (and everyone bears the cost of their increased travel on our roads, both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and traJic congestion). For the same rent, a one-vehicle household in a walkable area is far less cost burdened than a two-vehicle household in a car dependent area. Finally, some have commented on the dignity of living in a smaller apartment. It strikes me as privileged and out of touch to assume that one can’t live with dignity in less than 500 square feet. Is living in a larger home with roommates more “dignified” than having a small unit exclusively? The City’s Community Plan and various housing plans all point to a need for more housing generally, and especially below market rate housing. Small units consume less land and are more energy eJicient. Centrally located housing uses existing infrastructure and provides its residents with transportation options. The Guthrie isn’t for everyone—but you can be certain that it will meet the needs of some community members—their circumstances, their time of life, their finances, and their desired lifestyle. Of course, as a quasi-judicial matter, your approval of the Guthrie does not depend on its merits but rather its compliance with our adopted codes. That said, this is at topic that has animated much community interest and attention. In your deliberations I urge you to highlight and communicate the reasons why this type of housing is a benefit to the community and aligns with the community’s growth plan and housing needs. Mark Egge, AICP 1548 S Grand Ave Bozeman, MT 59715 Parking Evaluation 7/8/2024 6 - 7 pm, Monday July 8 2024 Block Description Curb Side Length (ft) Curb Cuts Spaces Vehicles Trailers Boats Notes 1 N 6th 400 Block West 400 3 15 7 Minus two spaces due to fire hydrant 2 N 6th 400 Block East 482 5 19 9 3 N 5th 400 Block West 480 5 19 6 1 4 N 5th 400 Block East 485 3 21 6 5 N 4th 400 Block West 490 7 18 6 6 N 4th 400 Block East 490 4 20 4 7 W Villard 500 - 600 Block North 225 3 8 3 1 8 W Villard 400 Block North 260 3 10 1 1 9 W Villard 300 Block North 250 3 9 3 10 W Villard 500 - 600 Block South 245 0 12 2 1 11 W Villard 300 - 400 Block South 580 7 22 5 1 12 N 5th 300 Block West 260 1 12 3 13 N 5th 300 Block East 240 2 10 0 1 14 N 3rd 300 Block West 260 3 0 0 closed due to construction 15 W Beall 500 - 600 Block North 500 2 23 2 1 16 W Beall 300 - 400 Block North 550 6 22 5 1 17 W Beall 500 - 600 Block South 530 7 20 4 18 W Beall 300 - 400 Block South 585 7 22 5 19 N 5th 200 Block West 175 1 7 4 20 N 5th 200 Block East 178 1 8 2 21 W Lamme St 500 - 600 Block North 542 6 21 10 22 W Lamme St 300 - 400 Block North 580 7 22 8 23 W Lamme St 500 - 600 Block South 530 3 23 3 24 W Lamme St 300 - 400 Block South 580 7 22 4 1 Total 385 102 7 2