HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-17-24 Public Comment - A. Sangroniz - UDC Work Session Public Comment- Amaia SangronizFrom:Amaia Sangroniz
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDC Work Session Public Comment- Amaia Sangroniz
Date:Tuesday, September 17, 2024 9:05:00 AM
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Commissioners, thanks for taking time to read and hear public comment. Also, thanks to
those of you that attended the Affordable Housing Overlay presentation, given by myself
and Alison Sweeny at the Bozeman Public Library last week. If you were unable to see the
presentation in person, the full presentation was recorded and can be found here:
https://youtu.be/rOXJozSO_mw?si=eS58eyt9k4YwTn8n\
I’m writing today to ask that direction be given to staff to investigate and apply an affordable
housing overlay zone in the UDC rewrite. An affordable housing overlay zone (AHOZ)
works as an added zoning layer on top of base zoning, with the goal of preserving existing
affordable housing and requiring any redevelopment that adds additional density beyond
what’s allowed in the base zone, be affordable. As you are all well aware, Montana State
Code restricts the action municipalities are allowed to take to develop affordable housing.
We cannot do inclusionary zoning, but we can provide an incentive to build affordable units
through added density bonuses through a zoning overlay. The City of Bozeman has the
ability to act as a zoning authority, both regarding base zoning and an overlay district.
Giving away density and upzoning existing residential zones without an affordability
requirement, which is what is currently proposed in the UDC, gives us nothing to leverage
to require or incentivize affordable housing in exchange for added density. The intention for
an affordable housing overlay zone would be to preserve naturally occurring affordable
housing, and increase supply of new housing if a parcel is redeveloped to add density. We
can keep the existing affordable housing ordinance if that feels important or useful to the
commission and community members, but we need more tools. An overlay zone on top of
base zoning is a legal tool being used by cities across the nation, and we can add it as a
tool to our (limited) toolbox to address the housing crisis. We cannot keep displacing our
working class community members to build luxury units. Please consider implementing an
affordable housing overlay zone in the new Unified Development Code.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please feel free to reach out if you have
additional questions or would like resources regarding an AHOZ. My email is
sangronizamaia@gmail.com.
Yours in community,
Amaia Sangroniz