HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-17-24 Public Comment - L. Platt - UDC RewriteFrom:Logan
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDC Rewrite
Date:Monday, September 16, 2024 9:33:02 PM
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Hello Commission,
My name is Logan Platt. I live on S Black Ave. I am writing to request that you draft an
Affordable Housing Overlay Zone in conjunction with our neighborhoods in the UDCRewrite. I urge the Commission to prioritize the protection of Naturally Occurring Affordable
Housing. Density alone will not guarantee affordability. I fear that Upzoning the City willaccelerate the gentrification that we are already seeing and continue to displace the working
people of our community. If we give away free density, no parking restrictions, etc. we willnot have anything to bargain with to actually get affordable housing. We have seen older units
and homes get scraped and re-developed into Luxury homes. We gained density, but lostaffordability. If the zoning reflects what is already built, we can leverage higher density tied to
100% affordability. If we give density and other metrics to boost developer profit are given byright, then we have nothing to incentivize Affordable Housing and Real Estate Investors can
continue to use our housing crisis for their returns. Through the Montana Code Annotated, wecannot use inclusionary zoning or demand affordability, but we can incentivize affordability. I
suggest doing this in areas where housing already exists through an Affordable HousingOverlay Zone, which is completely within our rights as a Municipality. I also strongly suggest
that we look further into the legality of bonding as it relates to the Montgomery County SocialHousing Model. I do not see the current solutions being offered resulting in a solving of our
housing crisis. We must either build the housing ourselves, and/or put in place the properguardrails to ensure that the housing our community needs is built.
I also find it essential that the UDC and Overlay both are developed through extensive Public
Outreach. The Ordinance passed with zero public input. Hence, why there were over 300public comments for the Guthrie Project, most of the comments were negative. The
neighborhoods have to be involved in crafting zoning, density incentives, and designregulations if we want to have an expedited process for project approval. The people of
Bozeman deserve to have a say in what our City looks like. It should not be left solely in thehands of Real Estate Investors and Out of State Developers.