HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-28-25 Public Comment - C. Fifer - Affordable Housing OrdinanceFrom:Carol Fifer
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Affordable Housing Ordinance
Date:Tuesday, January 28, 2025 10:25:45 AM
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Dear Commissioners,
It was with great disappointment that I read of the proposed changes to Bozemans AHO. The
only ones benefitting from the entire ordinance have been developers. Pray tell, exactly howmany of our underpaid teachers or police are living in an affordable unit along Mendenhall or
Babcock? Since the parking requirements are non existent, how many teachers are able towalk to work at Emily Dickinson Elementary School? How many deputies can walk to work?
At -10°? Has anyone done a count of nurses who can walk to work? Having 14 years ofexperience as a patient at Bozeman Hospital I have witnessed the shift of housing for our
nurses as they moved from town to Belgrade to Manhatten. So I ask again.....who does theAHO and the proposed update benefit? It is most definitely not those who deserve and need
more affordable housing alternatives. And it does not benefit the existing community orpreserve the qualities that attract so many to our town.
The suggestion of cash in lieu or land exchange is a loser from day one. Personal experience
from such a thoughtless approach in Bridger Canyon , and in South Florida before that, hastaught that again, it is to the benefit of the developer and no one else. The consequences of
such haphazard planning spelled out in the AHO will clearly be detrimental to both the futureof Bozeman and the memory of how our Commission again failed to see reality. It's not going
to reflect well on you.
Why not have our Planning officials take their noses out of textbooks and instead direct themto seek input from those both inside and outside our community who have lived experiences of
what has occurred in other parts of our nation? We have long operated with our heads in thesand, failing to look around at what is happening at other places that have tried these methods.
Need I say more than "Blixith?" Feel free to ignore any time or limits placed by Helena. Thisis OUR town and we will live here with the results. We will do what is best for Bozeman.
Sincerely,
Carolyn A. Fifer
1007 Buckrake AveBozeman, MT. 59718
406 451 3880