HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-07-25 Public Comment - P. McGown - Is up zoning required_ And reclaim the GuthrieFrom:Patty McGown
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Is up zoning required? And reclaim the Guthrie
Date:Monday, January 6, 2025 4:49:34 PM
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Dear Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Commissioners and Planners,
Patty McGown
222 S 13th Ave
I have an urgent request. For all the reasons that have been stated, especially the very heartfelt pleas of the residents
of the Mid-town neighborhood, and all the written and discussed reasons, and all the letters you have received,
please, please reclaim authority of the second application of the Guthrie. At this point in time this recall is crucial to
moving forward with residents who feel heard.
I have an urgent question. Is the city of Bozeman mandated to upzone and increase density in the UDC?
I asked a similar question at the open house at the fairgrounds 12/11/24 and the man who answered used the word
“intensity” instead of “density”. My question is: is Bozeman mandated to increase density in the new zoning codes?
This letter also serves as a request for a series of open houses JUST, singularity, focusing on the proposed “up
zoning” changes and proposed changes to the zoning maps and zone edge transitions for the city. This is extremely
important for tax paying and voting residents to understand the proposed changes.
Understanding the proposed upzoning, increased density and zone edge transitions is crucial for current residents to
understand to know exactly what the city commission and city planning intends in the proposed zoning changes.
The proposed upzoning in the UDC is a complicated and confusing system regarding exactly how a future
“upzoned” parcels will look, relative to the other buildings in a residential neighborhood.
The current zoning map is difficult to understand, and hard to read. Clear representation of the proposed changes is
mandatory for complete transparency and understanding of the up zoning that is being proposed.
Residents deserve several opportunities to go over the proposed upzoning and how it will fill in lots in
neighborhoods. Residents deserve much needed clarity in what is being proposed.
The reason I want the city planners and commissioners to provide transparency in this upzoning process is this: At
the open house on 12/10/24 I asked questions about the slides on placards and where the information came from and
how the data was gathered etc. I was told that the presentation was “intentionally vague.”
Why?
Why dumb down the information during the open houses where you have residents who need to know what the plan
is, going forward? This seems like gaslighting and smoke and mirrors. And is so frustrating.
And the open houses a week before the Christmas holidays seemed like avoidance by the city. Avoidance of getting
more residents to attend. It is difficult to attend meetings at night for anyone during the busy busy holiday season.
I am trying to understand the proposed upzoning and increased density. So, if the upzoning, as you all are proposing,
is changed and passed, I can tear down my perfectly wonderful 62 year old home, and either build an apt building or
an 8 plex or any combo of four buildings with no setbacks, and no requirements to keep trees or green space, or
provide enough parking??
I own the land so I don’t have that cost. But at costs per square foot estimated between $400-$1,000 (for average
size and finishes) these building on my land could cost upwards of several million dollars!!
And the rents would reflect these high costs. Increasing density, when the costs to build new and the land prices areat an all time high, will NOT create affordable housing. It just doesn’t pencil out math wise.
(Look at Austin TX, which adopted upzoning with increased density, where there are currently 35,719 apartmentsfor rent at exorbitant rents. These apartments range from studio to 2 and 3 bedrooms in high rise buildings that havecompletely changed the city. And all this supply of housing and rents are not coming down. Did you hear that?Rents are not dropping into “affordable” range.Density does not create “trickle down”affordability Density does not produce affordability.)
Upzoning does, however, provide more luxury housing for wealthy out of staters coming to the Gallatin Valley torecreate and enjoy the quaint town of Bozeman that residents who have been here for 20-30-40 years have created .And the increased density is ruining the town.
I don’t want a luxury apartment in my backyard filled with wealthy weekenders who show up in their private jetsand get chauffeured around to the ski areas and give NOTHING back to the community that they are so flippantlychanging. However, if I sell my house for the current exorbitant prices, I cannot afford to buy another house here inBozeman, which is my home.
When I asked Erin George, about Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) she stated “that doesn’t exist inBozeman.” Wait, what? I am shocked by this lack of knowledge about the true living situations in Bozeman.Naturally occurring affordable housing exists in Bozeman Her assumption is incorrect Her incorrect assumption inher role as sole decision maker for developers is what is so wrong with how the city is being run currently.
And I told her that I have a dear friend who owns 4 houses all in Bozeman city limit's, that families live in, and havelived in for more than 10 years and that the rents average $1500, 50% below average rent for a whole house! This isAffordable!! And I mentioned another friend that owns 10 rentals and that they rent them affordably at 50-60% ofaffordability And my neighbor who has rented his house for 12 years and his rent just went up to $2000 for thewhole 3+ bedroom house, yard and 2 car garage. Please look around. I have permission to give their names to you ifyou want to learn more from actual landlords who are not gouging every penny out of their renters.
These affordable pockets of housing exist in Bozeman. Get out and walk around and talk to the residents ofBozeman and listen to their experiences of how they live here. Don’t incentivize tearing NOAH down!
The only way to keep housing affordable is for the houses that have not recently sold (for thousands more than theowner paid) and the owners don’t have mortgages and the rents are manageable. This is NOAH. Upzoning andallowing increasing density incentivizes folks to sell the houses that they rent as rentals, and then developers swoopin and build. Whatever is built today (see above) cannot be built affordably. It’s basic math! Supply does not reducecosts. It just produces a lot more expensive housing.
All of Bozeman does not have to be up zoned with increased density. And most residents in establishedneighborhoods don’t want upzoning. It’s made clear to me, by being labeled a “NIMBY”, and by being ignored,that my voice and opinion don’t matter. I wonder how the developers got so much clout in city hall?
How can a property tax paying home owner be relegated to the garbage bin, while renters and developers get to siptea with the elected officials? It’s very frustrating and discouraging.
A huge majority of the lots north of Bozeman from 19th to Valley Center to past the proposed Fowler extension arezoned “high density”. People buying and renting there know that they are moving into a neighborhood zoned “highdensity”.
However, when my neighborhood was built 60+ years ago it was built as single family homes and duplexes. When Ipurchased my home that’s what I was looking for! Now you all are promising to take it away. This is wrong on alllevels.
And I wonder if Egge ever bowls? If he was in a league, which occur almost every day of the week from September
to May, and people love to bowl, he would witness for himself a full parking lot every day and night of the week. He
tries to link a bowling alley parking lot to lack of affordable housing. He is espousing a red herring. He is factuallyincorrect. He is wrong. Traveling up and down the east coast from northern Canada, Boston, Nee York, AtlanticCity, Baltimore, DC, Norfolk, all the way to the east coast of Florida, I walked miles in walkable cities. Doeswalkability make people get rid of their cars? No.
Would you get rid of your vehicle if Bzn gets more walkable? More density and infill will directly translate to morecars, not fewer cars. More people, more cars.I walk every day on what I call my “urban hike” from 13th and Koch to the library then up Petes Hill to Kagy andthen turn around and repeat back to my house. I’ve seen how many cars people in Bozeman have. Don’t incentivizeless parking That is ludicrous.
Please do not give away parking to the developers in exchange for a pittance of “affordable” apartments. Theshallow and deep incentives are inherently flawed.
What is most lacking and most frustrating is parking. If you want Bozeman to continue to be a great place do notupzone to increase density and do not give away parking and parking requirements for density. Please look around.More crowded housing is not better and does not create affordability or community neighborhoods. It createsexpensive crowded housing and lack of parking and frustration! Obviously,I could go on and on!
Thank you if you made it to the end of this letter.
Standing by,Patty McGown