HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-09-15 PM Graf City affordability issueE.G. Construction LLC
P.O. Box 10906, Bozeman, MT 59719
Office: (406) 579-8248 Fax: (406) 587-7950
February 9, 2015
Mayor Jeff Krause
Deputy Mayor Carson Taylor
Commissioner I-Ho Pomeroy
Commissioner Chris Mehl
Commissioner Cynthia Andrus
City of Bozeman
P.O. Box 1230
Bozeman, MT 59771
Dear Bozeman City Commission, Planning Department
Thank you for your service to Bozeman and your willingness to serve our city. Bozeman is a great city to
live, work and raise a family. I believe we should have this opportunity available to all that seek it. We as
a community have a possibility to help other achieve this possibility. Conserving affordability not only in
operating a business, but in creating housing in our community is and will continue to be a priority in my
business. Increased regulation hurts the ability to provide affordability.
I was on the City Planning Board that voted to set aside the affordable housing ordinance. It wasn’t
appropriate than, and it isn’t appropriate now. Regulation will continue to hurt affordability and will
ultimately add costs to others.
In one conversation the city is trying to find a way to produce affordable housing and in the other the city is
talking about raising fees to development. As a developer all fees incurred during the development process
get allocated back to the customer buying the lot or home in this case. The ability for families seeking
affordability will continue to shrink if we cannot think of a solution that is community based instead of
development based. Services providing a community good should be funded from the broad community
base.
Respectfully,
Eugene Graf IV