HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-28-25 Public Comment - A. Sweeney - draft Affordable Housing OrdinanceFrom:Alison Sweeney
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]draft Affordable Housing Ordinance
Date:Friday, January 24, 2025 2:28:42 PM
Attachments:ST Q about our AHO.png
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Hello Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Commissioners,
If you haven't already, please take an hour to watch the Strong Towns webinar with ChuckMarohn presenting to Bozeman Specifically.
Here's the link
Our current AND draft AHO keeps us in the housing trap, where more people are asked to pay
more for housing. Now entire municipalities are being asked to pay. Let's take this momentof high vacancy rates to recalibrate our approach to housing creation. Let's be creative and find
solutions that build community, rather than extract wealth and displace people from ourcommunity.
I asked a question in the Q&A box that they were kind enough to answer personally, though
they didn't address publicly, and I think it's really important.
We are no longer in the same crisis we were in 2022 when the original ordinance was adoptedand our vacancy rate was under 2%. We have time, and the obligation to be discerning and
careful. Our current and draft AHO amount to the same thing as TIF and LIHTC, where wegive the big dogs our public resources. We need a DIVERSE approach, not more of the same.
Please vote no, on the draft AHO, and repeal the existing AHO! We need an
entirely different approach.
If you are unwilling to do this for whatever reason, please consider the following
amendments to the draft before adopting it.
Limit the use of these incentives to major arterials, or greenfield development,OUTSIDE the NCOD.
If you insist on allowing these types of incentives in the NCOD, you need to includelanguage that unequivocally mandates the project adhere to the NCOD design
guidelines which are adopted code according to 38.110.010. The Guthrie was not heldto the design guidelines spelled out in chapter 3 as it should have been. This language
MUST be included in the ordinance. Staff need unambiguous direction to do their job.Make sure the ordinance contains language that allows the review authority the ability
to deny a project in the case of adverse impacts. This ordinance applied across theentire city WILL result in inappropriate projects. As the draft is currently written the
review authority is left NO ability to deny.Include an appeals provision. Just as review authorities need the ability to deny,
aggrieved parties need the right to appeal.
Thank you for considering all of the options before you,
Alison B. SweeneyBernadette's Handmade Jewelry
Bozeman MT406-404-5740
alison-bernadettes.com