BOZEMAN — Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham addressed the state of affordable housing in the City of Bozeman on Monday.
One of the projects that he highlighted is the Lumberyard Development behind Kenyon Noble that is set to bring affordable housing units online in the coming years.
“I'm sure there's a ways to go,” says Bozeman resident Daniel Carty.
Carty came to the Ellen Theater Monday to listen to Mayor Cunningham’s update on affordable housing. Before the meeting, he handed out a sheet with other ideas on how to address the lack of affordable housing.
“Things I disagree with is, I don't think we need to give developers incentives under the affordable housing ordinance,” says Carty.
Carty’s concern is that more density will lead to environmental impacts.
“Think affordable housing needs to be built in a way that is environmentally responsible and sustainable,” says Carty.
In Cunningham’s talk, he brought up tools the city uses to promote affordable housing, including low-income tax credits and ways he says the city is limited in building more.
“There are projects that have been complete and that are in the pipeline that can help us address affordable housing issue in Bozeman,” says Cunningham.
Cunningham says in the last couple of years, the city has seen around 347 affordable units completed.
“One of the messages that we wanted to get out there today is that there have been hundreds of people being benefitted right now,” says Cunningham.
Cunningham says around 370 affordable units are currently under construction and 1,158 have been proposed.
“More are coming out of the ground or hundreds of people will benefit from those,” says Cunningham.
Cunningham says hosting the talk comes at a time as the city tackles the Unified Development Code update and the affordable housing ordinance.
“We’re trying to be respectful of the land and our resources and our water by developing at a denser level,” says Cunningham.
“I think that affordable housing is important, but I think that affordable housing needs to be built in a way that is environmentally responsible,” says Carty.
