HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-20-24 Public Comment - D. Carty - Affordable Housing Ordinance, Aug 20 City Commission MeetingFrom:Daniel Carty
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Affordable Housing Ordinance, Aug 20 City Commission Meeting
Date:Tuesday, August 20, 2024 6:04:44 AM
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Tue, Aug 20, 2024; 6:05am
To: Bozeman City Commission
Subject: City Commission Meeting, Aug 20, Agenda Item K.1: Affordable Housing
Ordinance Work Session
I am writing to offer the following suggestions with regard to the City’s review of its
Affordable Housing Ordinance (AHO).
First: Immediately pause the existing AHO. Such a pause would (a) prevent any
developments not already in the AHO pipeline from being proposed under this ordinance
and thus would (b) allow the City ample time to consider repealing or amending this
ordinance.
Second: Repeal the existing AHO in its entirety, and rewrite it from scratch—with public
input—as part of the proposed UDC update.
Third: In a new AHO, do not include deep incentives because experience has taught us
that such incentives are giveaways of public resources (e.g., parking) to the private sector
and provide little or no public benefits in return. (Perhaps the City's PDZ process can be
used as a replacement for deep incentives.) In addition, any shallow AHO incentives
provided to developers should be adopted only after robust public engagement and
guaranteed protection of the historical character of Bozeman’s existing downtown
neighborhoods and Bozeman’s historical sense of place. Specifically, in a new AHO,
(a) Adopt a multi-variate definition of rental affordability that would—at a minimum—include
variables such as (i) Gallatin County AMI of 60% or less, (ii) Bozeman median hourly wage
for renters (e.g., Bozeman Economic and Market Update Report 2023, Table 3, page 6,
and given 2,080 work hours per year = 40 work hours per week X 52 weeks per year
(https://www.bozeman.net/home/showpublisheddocument/13746/638446301551230000),
(iii) applicant's proposed rent per square foot per unit, and (iv) number of hours an
individual must work to make monthly or yearly rent at various hourly wages given 2,080
work hours per year. Require this definition of rental affordability to be updated annually;
(b) Require all affordable units to be deed-restricted in perpetuity with options for renters to
own (i.e., give renters options to build equity), and require all affordable units to be built to
the same size and quality as market-rate units; and
(c) Require all projects built under the AHO to be environmentally responsible/sustainable
and include a plan for in-perpetuity land stewardship. As a city, we can no longer afford to
continue to cut down all the existing trees on a parcel, bulldoze it flat, and build high-rises
from sidewalk to sidewalk, thus creating more and more heat islands within City limits.
Fourth, and last: With regard to reviews of individual projects proposed under an AHO,
(a) Eliminate the administrative-review only process in favor of full-and-fair public hearings
—including written and oral public comment—in front of the Community Development
Board and City Commission;
(b) Allow the City Commission to say “No” to any individual project; and
(c) During a public hearing, require the applicant to present first (as in a thesis defense),
followed by City staff presenting an objective, critical review of the project and citing a
project’s strengths and weaknesses with regard to all development criteria, all applicable
City codes (especially gray areas and conflicting codes), and all City Plans (not just the
Bozeman Community Plan 2020 aka Growth Policy).
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Daniel Carty
213 N. 3rd Ave
Bozeman, MT 59715
dgc12@hotmail.com