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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-27-24 Public Comment - N. Breeding - comments on UDCFrom:Emily Kiely To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:FW: [EXTERNAL]comments on UDC Date:Monday, December 23, 2024 9:02:06 AM Attachments:UDC Comments 17dec24.docx Emily Kiely | Community Engagement Coordinator City of Bozeman Office: 406-582-2274 | Cell: 406-595-6585 ekiely@bozeman.net she/her/hers Register at Engage Bozeman to stay up to date on City projects! From: Noreen and Roger Breeding <rog7nor@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2024 7:47 PM To: Emily Kiely <ekiely@BOZEMAN.NET> Subject: [EXTERNAL]comments on UDC 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. Emily, I attended the online open house and filled out the survey but I have a lot more to say about the UDC. Please include the comments written here with your other feedback. Thanks, Noreen Breeding UDC Comments I don’t have the time to study a document as long and complex as the UDC, but I did look closely at the zoning map which was described in the open house as being more or less equivalent to the UDC. I found the online zoning map difficult to use because the overlays obscured the street and building details underneath, even when zoomed in. The UDC needs an overhaul starting with zoning. The base map for zoning should be the sensitive lands map. This is so because the highest value for residents of the Gallatin Valley is their proximity to “wild” lands, especially native wildlife, open space, and scenic views of the mountains. Zoning needs to be targeted at retaining habitat and corridors for wildlife and maintaining views and open space. • The zoning is too coarse in general. It needs to focus on neighborhoods and plan for increasing density by the parcel, not by the block. • Do not allow for buildings taller than 3 stories in established residential neighborhoods. • Do not allow single buildings to fill a whole block. • Cluster tall buildings together in several different areas of town, such as along North 7th Ave., away from residential areas with single family homes and apartments and duplexes less than 4 stories tall. • Require construction contractors to severely limit noise and street closures and pavement damage. • Plan neighborhood design rather than let developers do it. • Require that buildings taller than 3 stories not block the sun exposure of adjacent buildings to the north. • Do not loosen parking requirements. • Make more use of outside consultants in urban design and planning. • Borrow ideas from other successful cities, e.g. Banff, Alberta or Cambridge, MA. To handle growth problems, Banff’s Community Plan started by setting aside wildlife corridors and later established its own Housing Corporation to provide affordable housing. Cambridge requires 100% affordable housing units in return for additional density and neighborhoods approve design plans. (This would be legal in Montana now. The health and safety of a community justifies the requirement of affordable housing.) A particularly egregious example to avoid in the future is the cluster of 6+ story, block wide buildings on North Willson Ave. between Mendenhall and Beall. The buildings overshadow the surrounding houses. Construction noise has continued for over 2 years with no end in sight. N. Tracy Ave. and N. Willson Ave. are often closed completely for days on end. Zoning in that area should never have allowed buildings taller than 3 stories or as large as a block. Patrick Condon, a planning and affordable housing expert, presented many good ideas during his talk here on June 19, 2024. He also mentioned other good sources, such as Strong Towns and Victor Dover of Dover, Kohl, and Partners Town Planning. Condon recommended: • No huge, block long housing because buildings that size require global funding. Focus instead on attached townhouses (3 stories), for example. • Densify existing city by parcel not by block in way compatible with surroundings. • Leverage global interest in your land to make additional density affordable. Holloran’s Home Base Partners are part of the global market. Victor Dove’s 5 rules of neighborhood planning are: • focus on the center and edges • limit size to walkable in 5 min. • provide a mix of housing types and land uses • plan walkable streets • provide space for civic services The residential areas between Main St. and MSU contain many multifamily dwellings and ADUs. There is no need to emphasize more density in that area. Newer residential neighborhoods of single family housing would be more tolerant of multi-family housing if it were sized to scale and attractively designed. Somewhere recently I read, “Bozeman is the poster child for how not to handle growth.” I agree with this statement. It seems as if developers rather than planners are designing the city. The UDC needs to be revised to give authority to planners and for neighbors to decide what designs blend with their lifestyles. The high rise being built on the southeast corner of 10th Ave. and Babcock St. belongs on the north side of the street rather than towering over the residences to the south. It is way out of scale with the neighborhood. Construction has closed both streets for extended periods harming the Community Coop and other businesses nearby. It is not fair for long time businesses and residents to bear the costs of new construction that provide them no benefits. As Condon said, the city needs to figure out how to benefit from the profits being made by developers on its land. UDC Comments I don’t have the time to study a document as long and complex as the UDC, but I did look closely at the zoning map which was described in the open house as being more or less equivalent to the UDC. I found the online zoning map difficult to use because the overlays obscured the street and building details underneath, even when zoomed in. The UDC needs an overhaul starting with zoning. The base map for zoning should be the sensitive lands map. This is so because the highest value for residents of the Gallatin Valley is their proximity to “wild” lands, especially native wildlife, open space, and scenic views of the mountains. Zoning needs to be targeted at retaining habitat and corridors for wildlife and maintaining views and open space. • The zoning is too coarse in general. It needs to focus on neighborhoods and plan for increasing density by the parcel, not by the block. • Do not allow for buildings taller than 3 stories in established residential neighborhoods. • Do not allow single buildings to fill a whole block. • Cluster tall buildings together in several different areas of town, such as along North 7th Ave., away from residential areas with single family homes and apartments and duplexes less than 4 stories tall. • Require construction contractors to severely limit noise and street closures and pavement damage. • Plan neighborhood design rather than let developers do it. • Require that buildings taller than 3 stories not block the sun exposure of adjacent buildings to the north. • Do not loosen parking requirements. • Make more use of outside consultants in urban design and planning. • Borrow ideas from other successful cities, e.g. Banff, Alberta or Cambridge, MA. To handle growth problems, Banff’s Community Plan started by setting aside wildlife corridors and later established its own Housing Corporation to provide affordable housing. Cambridge requires 100% affordable housing units in return for additional density and neighborhoods approve design plans. (This would be legal in Montana now. The health and safety of a community justifies the requirement of affordable housing.) A particularly egregious example to avoid in the future is the cluster of 6+ story, block wide buildings on North Willson Ave. between Mendenhall and Beall. The buildings overshadow the surrounding houses. Construction noise has continued for over 2 years with no end in sight. N. Tracy Ave. and N. Willson Ave. are often closed completely for days on end. Zoning in that area should never have allowed buildings taller than 3 stories or as large as a block. Patrick Condon, a planning and affordable housing expert, presented many good ideas during his talk here on June 19, 2024. He also mentioned other good sources, such as Strong Towns and Victor Dover of Dover, Kohl, and Partners Town Planning. Condon recommended: • No huge, block long housing because buildings that size require global funding. Focus instead on attached townhouses (3 stories), for example. • Densify existing city by parcel not by block in way compatible with surroundings. • Leverage global interest in your land to make additional density affordable. Holloran’s Home Base Partners are part of the global market. Victor Dove’s 5 rules of neighborhood planning are: • focus on the center and edges • limit size to walkable in 5 min. • provide a mix of housing types and land uses • plan walkable streets • provide space for civic services The residential areas between Main St. and MSU contain many multifamily dwellings and ADUs. There is no need to emphasize more density in that area. Newer residential neighborhoods of single family housing would be more tolerant of multi-family housing if it were sized to scale and attractively designed. Somewhere recently I read, “Bozeman is the poster child for how not to handle growth.” I agree with this statement. It seems as if developers rather than planners are designing the city. The UDC needs to be revised to give authority to planners and for neighbors to decide what designs blend with their lifestyles. The high rise being built on the southeast corner of 10th Ave. and Babcock St. belongs on the north side of the street rather than towering over the residences to the south. It is way out of scale with the neighborhood. Construction has closed both streets for extended periods harming the Community Coop and other businesses nearby. It is not fair for long time businesses and residents to bear the costs of new construction that provide them no benefits. As Condon said, the city needs to figure out how to benefit from the profits being made by developers on its land.