HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAHAB Minutes 11-23-2015Community Affordable Housing Advisory Board
Wednesday, November 23, 2015, 8:00am, City Commission Chamber –
121 N. Rouse Ave.
A. Call meeting to order – Brian LaMeres calls meeting to order.
Carson Taylor – Present – Commission Liason
Brian Lameres – Present – Board Chair
Hattie Baker – Present
Anders Lewendal – Present
Kris Keller – Present
Melvin Howe – Present
Sharon Southard – Present
David Magistrelli – Present
B. Changes to the Agenda – No changes to the agenda.
C. Public Comment - No Public comment
D. 08:12:06 AM Action Items
1. NCOD Evaluation Presentation – John How begins presentation on the NCOD. He
begins discussion highlighting that perhaps it would have been best to do this project prior
to the Affordable Housing Ordinance.
08:13:44 AM John How discusses what he is looking to get from the board members.
08:15:15 AM John How discusses what information was gathered and the process to date.
08:17:30 AM John How discusses some of the data collected that helped form the report.
08:20:01 AM Anders Lewendal questions how the second story ADU compares to a two story home in
terms of breech of privacy. Mr How comments that these are concerns addressed by the community, he
is not sure how the two are different. Kevin Thane questions where that information is coming from –
he said he has been to a number of the meetings on the NCOD and hasn’t necessarily heard that
concern voiced. Mr. How explains where that information came from.
Discussion continues regarding ADU’s and privacy.
08:23:26 AM Kris Keller questions the privacy of the information provided. John How responds that the
list of people who were interviewed was public, but they did not record each individual and their specific
input was private.
08:24:14 AM Kris Keller questions who addressed which concerns. John How responded in detail.
Discussion continues regarding ADU height and infill.
08:27:10 AM John How mentioned that individuals want to know ahead of time what projects are going
on within their neighborhood, not necessarily just adjacent properties.
08:28:32 AM John How discusses parking concerns. He highlights that parking is perceived to be full, but
in fact, parking capacity is only at 80%.
08:29:56 AM John How briefly discussed historic preservation and the NCOD.
08:31:24 AM Anders Lewendal questions if more homes are preserved through the NCOD or if people
preserve them on their own. John How stated that he’s not sure, but he feels that the COA process
makes people stop and think about what they are doing within the district. Discussion continues
between John How and Anders Lewendal regarding preservation.
John How continues to explain that the guidelines don’t necessarily fit the different areas. He feels the
guidelines are too strict for areas that are not nationally recognized.
08:34:04 AM John How discusses affordability in the NCOD.
Board questions how affordability compares in the district to outside of the district. John How states
that he does not yet have that data available.
08:38:21 AM John How discusses availability of infill in Bozeman.
08:39:28 AM John How discusses the changing/expanding districts.
08:40:08 AM John How suggested that within 5 years we remove the NCOD boundaries and create local
districts. Displays map of potential historic areas and idea to have buffer zones around historic districts.
Recommended that we model Austin, TX’s guidelines for preservation. Discussed ways that local
districts can create the standards for their district.
08:44:48 AM Displays map of suggested districts – said they did not have any specific boundaries for
these districts yet.
08:45:28 AM Kevin Thane confirms that John How recommends removing the NCOD and create a Design
Overlay District. He asks how they will create these DOD’s. Mr. How stated that the neighborhoods will
be involved in the creation of the district and how it will be preserved. He stated the Neighborhood
Coordinator will be able to work with the community to create them. There will also be some spots
where we will continue to preserve them as we have been.
08:48:55 AM Mr. How presents the UDC changes that the evaluation recommends.
08:50:39 AM Kevin Thane questions why use the 2,500sqft minimum at all? Why not just say a certain
amount of coverage? John How stated that it was beneficial so homes don’t get too small – with
setbacks, it can create homes that are about 10’. He agrees that having minimum lot coverage vs. lot
size makes it more flexible.
08:53:18 AM John How discusses Permissible Modifications and demolition of non-contributing
structures. Also mentions that there is no way to enforce vacation rentals unless there’s an anonymous
reporting system.
08:54:54 AM John How discusses some options to increase infill development in the NCOD.
08:56:29 AM John How discusses whether we want to keep zoning as it is or if we want to increase
density through R-4 zoning.
08:57:08 AM Kris Keller questions if there was ever an effort to reduce the number of vehicles a home
can have. John How states he doesn’t believe the city can restrict the number of vehicles a residence
has. He stated that Streamline could be improved and that could improve parking demands.
09:01:24 AM John How discusses ways that affordable housing can be achieved.
09:02:46 AM John How displayed an implementation matrix and how we can use it to prioritize changes
from here forward.
09:03:34 AM Opened up presentation for questions.
09:03:42 AM Kevin Thane questions what Austin is doing that we should do as well. John How said they
reuse building materials, preserve buildings, not necessarily a whole district. He said they also have
some “green” building guidelines worth following – and that historic homes are not necessarily efficient.
He said we don’t have to model Austin exactly; we can pick and chose from other areas.
09:06:34 AM Anders Lewendal stated that he supports historic preservation, but in 1905, we didn’t have
these design guidelines and had creative and diverse areas. If it is hindering affordability, then we should
not make it required, but do it because we want to.
09:08:34 AM Brian LaMeres asks how the board feels about John How’s recommendations. How we feel
about ADU’s, etc. specifically. Anything we don’t comment on, it will be assumed we agree.
09:09:20 AM Kevin Thane said he would like us to go on record with a letter of support saying we agree
with what he has said to this point. The letter should say we support removing the NCOD within 5 years
and replacing it with the DOD’s. He says we should go on record as supporting relaxed standards. He
also felt we should remove the 2,500sqft minimum to a minimum lot coverage and changing the
requirements of ADU’s (allowing on ground floor and lot coverage)
09:10:43 AM Kevin Thane moves that we make a letter of support that will go to the commission
stating the boards position on the different points of the evaluation.
09:10:57 AM Second by David
09:11:08 AM Hattie Baker was introduced to the board. Hattie introduces herself and agrees with what
Kevin Thane states. The board discusses that the NCOD preserved home value.
09:13:23 AM Hattie Baker states that if we start building up, does affordability include apartments. John
How said that it would include condos.
09:14:22 AM John How discussed parking near where they want to shop and eat. With downtown
becoming more of a restaurant district, which requires more parking.
09:16:19 AM Kris Keller comments that the charts and graphs apply to home ownership, but we do have
a zero vacancy for rentals. She asked if they reviewed areas where design failed to say “this is what not
to do”. John How said they did review other areas where design was not great. He said they did not
necessarily review rentals because Werwarth just did that. He said that he did discuss affordability with
a realtor, and some people come in and say they only want to live downtown – which drives up
affordability.
09:20:30 AM Kris Keller states she supports limiting parking especially in areas where parking may be a
concern. John How stated that he could do a search and see if other areas have restricted parking.
Discussion continues regarding parking concerns.
09:24:28 AM John How addresses the concern with infill creating more of a parking demand.
09:24:45 AM Anders Lewendal said he supported Kevin Thane’s motion – he commented that increased
home values was the unintended consequence of the district.
Board discusses deadline for the letter of support.
09:26:50 AM Carson Taylor commented that the motion and the minutes for the meeting will be
sufficient. No need for a letter as the motion will speak for itself. John How stated that he will include
comments from the boards with their packet to the commission.
09:28:20 AM Board decides to vote on the motion:
Kevin Thane said he would like us to go on record with a letter of support saying we agree with what
he has said to this point. The letter should say we support removing the NCOD within 5 years and
replacing it with the DOD’s. He says we should go on record as supporting relaxed standards. He also
felt we should remove the 2,500sqft minimum to a minimum lot coverage, and changing the
requirements of ADU’s (allowing on ground floor and lot coverage, etc).
Board unanimously agrees.
E. FYI/Discussion
09:30:15 AM – Anders Lewendal stated that we should find a way to encourage the city to use the
affordable housing funds. He feels we should find families now
E. 09:31:42 AM Adjournment
For more information please contact Alicia Kennedy at akennedy@bozeman.net
This board generally meets the second Wednesday of the month at 8:00am
Committee meetings are open to all members of the public. If you have a disability and require
assistance, please contact our ADA coordinator, James Goehrung at 582-3232 (TDD 582-2301).