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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-20-24 Public Comment - B. Rydell - UDC revisions and Historic PreservationFrom:Robert Rydell To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDC revisions and Historic Preservation Date:Friday, September 20, 2024 10:41:35 AM 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. Dear City Commissioners: I am writing to follow-up on your working meeting about the UDC revisions and to add my voice to those who advocate making historic preservation a top priority in your plans. Let me cut to the chase: the proposed Affordable Housings Overlay along with its emphasis on historic preservation must play a vital role in the new UDC. Let’s begin with first principles. Specifically, can we all take a moment to reflect on this very simple question: what is “progress?” Are we for it? Are we against it? Bringing this question closer to home: Is more densification “progress” if it means undermining the neighborhoods where it occurs? It’s easy to call the question, “what is progress?” It is harder to answer. Let me give you my answer. Progress is a positive value we attach to change. Is growth necessarily progress? Not necessarily. In the context of community planning and development, is the erasure of older buildings and historic neighborhoods in the interest of building more housing, even so-called affordable housing, “progress?” What about historic preservation? Doesn’t it get in the way of “progress?” Not if you accept my definition of progress as a positive value we attach to change. In the present context, what kind of change are we talking about? Might it be that we need to change the way our city is developing and give more attention to what “positive change” might look like in light of recent downtown developments (both those that have taken place and those that are proposed) that resulted in or will result in dramatic changes to neighborhoods? Might we agree that we can make real progress (again, think in terms of a “positive value affixed to change”) if we think of development in terms of quality, that is how it will affect neighborhoods and the community as a whole, especially residents who are already here as well as those who will be here in the future. And that’s exactly what historic preservation is all about. In so doing, historic preservation as envisioned by those promoting the Affordable Housing Overlay can help us think hard about the meaning of progress in our community. In conclusion, I urge you to give the Affordable Housing Overlay proposal your serious attention given the amount of work that has gone into it. Sincerely, Bob Rydell 622 South Grand Ave.