HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-29-25 Public Comment - AHO Meeting Update Comments, Sky SterryFrom:Sky Sterry
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]AHO Meeting Update Comments, Sky Sterry
Date:Tuesday, January 28, 2025 7:24:44 PM
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Greeting City Commissioners and Managers!
Thank you for the opportunity to weigh in on this important discussion.
I am ALL FOR increasing affordable housing in Bozeman, I personally know several
“Bozeman refugees” who have had to move out of town because they couldn’t afford renthere.
I SUPPORT increasing the building height to increase density. But here are my caveats:
I understand that the height limits will be coupled to zoning. But if you think about Bozeman,
some of our best views of the Bridgers are on the North and East side of town. We would beshooting ourselves in the proverbial foot if we let developers build tall buildings on the outer
edges of the North and East sides of town. Tall buildings would effectively block views of theBridgers for the rest of the town. I support taller buildings on the South and West side of
town, as well as in central Bozeman. I feel strongly that there should be tall buildingexclusion zones where view-sheds are important.
I SUPPORT reducing the lot size, but there is a limit. Of course we don’t want to cramp
people. If you are next to a park, it is fine to have a minimum lot size. Again, I feel thatcontext is important.
I SUPPORT reductions in parking, but we have to be realistic about our town. We have
winter here! If you live downtown, you can’t walk to Smiths or Heebs for groceries! Peopleneed parking. I have seen over and over again that the “deep incentives” have really screwed
up neighborhoods. Take the Wildlands project as an example. Parking at the Wild Crumbwas a BIG PROBLEM before Wildlands. By their own math, Wildlands needed 60 spaces.
But somehow they were able to get a deviation to have 30 spaces. Now, parking nearWildlands is simply a nightmare. Especially in the winter, Wallace turns into a one lane road.
Bozeman needs parking. If we screw this up now, we can’t fix it later. We should err on theside of caution here. Have developers put parking underground.
0.75 spaces per dwelling is too little!
The 3 incentives; Height bonus, reduced parking, and reduced lot size seem like an artifically
truncated list. What about decreasing the minimum housing unit size therefore increasing thedensity?
There is clearly a feeling around town that developers are getting their way around here, I
think that Cindy lost her reelection based largely on this feeling. Please make the old schoolfolks here feel heard. We all love this place and want the best for everyone.
Prices are super high here, and the genie is kind of out of the bottle, I know that there is onlyso much that we can do to fix it, but we desperately need affordable housing.
On a related note, Giantforte's proposal to tax second homes will only make matters worse!
Most renters rent houses that are “second homes”. Landlords will simply pass this tax on tothe renters, thereby exacerbating the affordable housing crisis.
Thanks for listening. And Best Regards,
Sky Sterry
Wookey Design Studio, 406-551-20004979 Durston Road, Bozeman MT 59718
www.wookey.net