HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-26-19 Public Comment - Z. Osman - NCOD Recommendations and Downtown Bozeman Improvement PlanFrom: Zehra Osman
To: Agenda
Cc: Tom Rogers; Phillipe Gonzalez; Jeanne Wilkinson
Subject: NCOD recommendations- Zehra Osman comments
Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2019 5:25:44 PM
(Due to a bad cough, I’m unable to attend this evening’s meetings regarding the NCOD. For
this reason, I am sending you my comments directly.)
Greetings,
Reading the recent draft of the Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan and draft NCOD
recommendations, it is clear there is a push for a shiny new downtown Bozeman. I
respectfully ask two questions:
(1) For whom are we building this shiny new downtown Bozeman?
(2) Why does it have to be so “shiny?"
The first question is answered by evidence. If you google the price of a 660 square-foot
apartment in one of the new high-rise buildings, you’ll find it rents/sells for at least twice the
price of a 3-bedroom house of twice that square footage in Bozeman’s sprawling west side.
Who can afford this? Therefore, as Bozeman’s downtown develops vertically, most people
who cannot afford or are displaced by the price/rent of new high-rise units will probably
buy/rent on the fringes of town – in the sprawl.
I’m not against infill housing within the NCOD; in fact, instead of these expensive high-rise
short-term vacation rentals, we should have affordable/attainable housing within walking
distance for folks like the cooks and servers who work at our favorite downtown restaurants.
The important point is that no matter who it is built to serve, historically compatible infill can
do the job without cannibalizing the historic districts.
This leads to my second question. Why are these plans pushing for such a “shiny” new
downtown Bozeman/NCOD?
Many of us can get behind compatible infill within the NCOD that honors the genuine,
authentic architectural character that conveys Bozeman’s history. The historic buildings and
districts within the NCOD have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places
through rigorous processes, requiring proof of the property’s value—architectural, yes, but
also cultural and historical. Each time a designer arrogantly disrupts the historic character of a
district by building something particularly differentiated from adjacent historic buildings, no
matter how “hip” it may be, they are contributing to the gradual erosion of that authentic
historic character. This leads to just a hodgepodge of different architectural styles down any
street and, sadly, loss of sense of place.
Seriously, why inflame the community when compatible infill could do the job?
Within the NCOD, we need to follow the Secretary of the Interior Standards for the Treatment
of Historic Properties, which states, “New additions, exterior alterations, or related new
construction will not destroy historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that
characterize the property.” The standards do warn that “new work will be differentiated from
the old” but also state that it “will be compatible with the historic materials, features, size,
scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment.”
These standards are filled with guidelines that are meant to preserve historic districts and
settings.
So, to answer Bendon-Adams questions, I plead:
(a) the city keep the downtown within the NCOD,
(b) the NCOD remain intact and not be broken up into individual neighborhoods with distinct
design standards and guideline,
(c) that we follow the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards within all of the NCOD, and
(d) that infill be compatible with historic districts and properties —new and necessary, but in
harmony with the adjacent historic properties in order to protect the integrity and character of
the historic architecture and districts.
Compatible downtown/NCOD infill still meets all of our needs for growth, and at the same
time preserves the sense of place resonant in our downtown—the Bozeman we love waking up
to every day.
If developers yearn to build stylish new creations, please have them build these structures
outside of the old town sections of Bozeman. We need walkable communities in Bozeman’s
Midtown, West Side, and Cannery areas, which will one day be historic districts that convey
the hip architectural styles of 2019.
Respectfully,
Zehra Osman
West side Bozeman resident