HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-23-24 Public Comment - A. Sweeney, Better Bozeman Coalition - UDC engagementFrom:Alison with BBC
To:Bozeman Public Comment; Takami Clark
Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDC engagement
Date:Monday, September 23, 2024 9:57:40 AM
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Hello Commissioners and Director Clark,
Thank you Director Clark for your work on the second phase of engagement for the UDC
rewrite. I hope when you bring this before the Commissioners again on October 1st that youreally elevate in-person informal events with the public and the Commissioners.
As the chair of the Better Bozeman coalition I want to thank Commissioner Madgic and
Deputy Mayor Morrison for meeting with our group in person to go over our NeighborhoodFriendly Unified Development Code report. I would like to request an in-person informal
meeting with Mayor Cunningham and Commissioners Fischer and Bode, in whatevercombination works best for them to go over our report. Everyone benefits from the ability to
have a back and forth conversation, ask questions, and share concerns. Our members workedtirelessly to draft the content of that report, and we offer solutions rather than just complaints.
We are a solutions based organization!
Residents are looking for fundamental changes to several provisions of the draft UDC,not just changes to the proposed R-A district! The zoning districts on the map must bealtered and we want to be a part of that decision making process.
Commissioner Madgic suggested we wipe the slate clean because the direction of the previous
draft was given under a different body of Commissioners. I believe this is nearer to the markof what the public is looking for, rather than just minor tweaks to fine tune the current draft.
The format is ok. The images need to be more honest. But the content of the current draft is aproblem. Mixed use can be great (with guard rails) and form based code is great. But there
are other fundamental flaws in the direction and content of the current draft UDC.
Please also include follow-up meetings with our organization and Commissioners oncechanges have been made to the draft in order to review once again before formal public
hearings. The goal is to avoid a repeat of last fall's Community Development Advisory BoardMeetings in which the board was subject to hours of angry resident testimony. People didn'tjust want more time to understand proposed changes. They didn't agree with theproposed changes! This must be acknowledged.
Thank you,
Alison Sweeney
ChairBetter Bozeman Coalition