HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-20-24 Public Comment - L. Semones - Affordable Housing OrdinanceFrom:Linda Semones
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:David Fine
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Affordable Housing Ordinance
Date:Sunday, August 18, 2024 10:50:46 AM
Attachments:Affordable Housing Ordinance.docx
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Please distribute my public comment to the commissioners and Mr. Fine. Thank you. Linda
Semones
August 18, 2024
Dear Mayor Cunningham and Respected City Commissioners,
I am sorry this is arriving so late for the meeting on Tuesday, but I have been out of town for
2 weeks and have been watching the videos of the Community Development Board and the
Economic Vitality Board to inform myself about the latest ideas concerning the Affordable
Housing Ordinance. As you know, I am a member of the Historic Preservation Board. However, I
am writing this letter as a private citizen. Mr. Fine has shown himself to be open and fair in his
presentations and I thank him for helping lead such open and informative discussions. I would
like to make public comment as follows:
1. I agree with the statement that a one size fits all Affordable Housing Ordinance should
be left in the dust. The deep incentives need to be repealed and replaced.
2. The acceptance of new developments under this ordinance should be paused by the
Commission until the ordinance is refined.
3. Proper public engagement is the only way forward to finding a compromise path to
affordable housing in all areas of the city. Each area is different and needs development
to be tailored accordingly.
4. The PDZ process should be used as a model in the new ordinance for all incentives.
5. Affordable housing units should be permanent, not expiring after 30 years.
We are all paying for development in so many ways. The idea that one neighborhood should
sustain the consequences of height, traffic congestion and parking problems for the whole city
is already happening. Every time another small home is scraped by a developer and a large
luxury development goes up, downtown land appreciates and taxes go up again on long time
homeowners who cannot afford any more. We are being asked to support the needed increase
to police and fire on the next election ballot. There is no general objection to building affordable
housing downtown or anywhere else. But, as I heard in the Community Development Board
discussion, it needs to be place -sensitive. This is the very least concession to neighborhoods
that needs to be made, since the neighborhoods have borne considerable change,
development, and large expenses and still support the construction of affordable housing.
Back during Covid, the city residents participated in a process called “a Seat at the Table.” I
was honored to have ex-Mayor Cyndy Andrus at my discussion. Then, the discussion centered
around gentle density, 4 plexes designed for young working adults who needed homes. At that
time, my statement to our ex-Mayor was that materials should not be compromised, and design
standards should be maintained. I thank Mr. Fine for including those concerns in his discussion.
But no one at that time ever conceived of a development like the Guthrie being crammed into a
neighborhood of small mid-century homes with a neighborhood school one block away. This
scenario is why development by right needs to be tempered and adjusted to include
placemaking and public involvement in the process. It may slow construction down slightly, but
only slightly. Developers will be able to adjust just as neighborhood residents are adjusting.
Again, I thank Mr. Fine for his clear, deep, and understandable presentations. I thank the
Economic Vitality Board and the Community Development Board for their expression of diverse
points of view in civil and informative discussions. And I ask you to consider my point of view as
well.
Thank you,
Linda Semones 404 S Church Ave Bozeman MT