HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-13-20 Public Comment - C. Naumann - Downtown URD Community Plan Comments
July 13, 2020 Bozeman Planning Board c/o Chris Saunders & Tom Rogers Department of Community Development City of Bozeman 20 East Olive Street Bozeman, Montana 59715
RE: Bozeman Community Plan, Final Draft
Thank you for the continued opportunity to participate in the update to the Community Plan and for
incorporating many of the comments and suggested edits from our December 2, 2019 and January 21, 2020
memos. As you finalize the plan, please consider the following comments and suggested edits:
Comments Carried Forward from Previous Memos:
1. One of the items that can be confusing to the public is how Neighborhood Plans, such as the Downtown
Improvement Plan, are related to the Community Plan. Page 9 discusses the relationships between plans;
however, there are several locations in the plan where this could be further clarified:
• Page 4, suggested amendment: “Appendix B references the City’s key infrastructure and special topic
plans, with descriptions of, and links to each plan document. Included are future and existing plans for
transportation, storm water, wastewater, parks and open lands, public safety, economic development,
housing, neighborhood plans, and other topics.”
• Page F-3, suggested amendment: “Special Topic Plan. A formal plan prepared for a specific physical
resource or function or area of the City which examines the current state, future needs, and
recommended means of meeting identified future needs. Examples of topic plans are the Wastewater
Facility Plan, Affordable Housing Action Plan, various Neighborhood Plans, and the Transportation Plan.
2. Theme 3 includes Goal DCD-1: “Support urban development within the City.” DCD-2.4 is related specifically to
building height; however, there appear to be two separate but related goals tucked into one long statement –
the first part requests to minimally increase building heights simply to accommodate current building
methods without impacting the number of stories. The second part is related to looking at increasing the
number of stories allowed in all zoning districts to better meet the Community Plan themes. These ideas
would function better as two separate items.
• Page 22, suggested amendment: “DCD-2.4 Evaluate revisions to maximum building height limits in multi-
household, commercial, industrial, and mixed-use all zoning districts to account for revised contemporary
building methods and building code changes., and the effect of incremental height changes on meeting
goals of this Plan.”
• Page 22, suggested addition: “DCD-2.9 Evaluate increasing the number of stories allowed in centers of
employment and activity while also directing height transitions down to adjacent neighborhoods.”
New comments:
3. Page 19 includes “Goal N-4: Continue to encourage Bozeman’s sense of place.” One of the key items of
discussion over the last few years within the Conservation Overlay District has been related to the design
of new buildings and the character of established districts and neighborhoods. Both the Downtown
Bozeman Improvement Plan and the Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District Report recommend
creating three character areas with distinct Design Guidelines. Consider adding general language to the
Community Plan such as “N-4.3: Revise Design Guidelines within the Conservation Overlay District to
distinguish Downtown from the residential neighborhoods both north and south of Downtown.”
4. Page 31 – Please add the Downtown Improvement Plan to the list of “Other Relevant Plans” as multi-
model choices and accessibility are one of the five big ideas of the plan.
5. Page 44 – Thank you for incorporating our recommended definition for the Traditional Core; however,
please consider using at least one photograph that is not of Main Street. This may seem like a small detail;
however, it directly supports one of the five big ideas of the Downtown Plan related to changing the
narrative that that Downtown is more than Main Street – “Acknowledging that Downtown must be ‘more
than Main Street,’ future improvements can strengthen the character of smaller areas within Downtown,
broadening the experience and sense of place” (2019 Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan, pg. 60).
We would be happy to provide additional photographs.
6. F-1 Glossary – please consider the following amendment to the definition of Downtown: “Downtown. The
area subject to the Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan and generally bounded by Broadway Avenue,
Lamme Street, 5th Avenue, and Olive Street. An area of mixed uses, Downtown is generally characterized
by historic architecture and is principally commercial in character.” “Downtown. The area subject to the
Downtown Bozeman Improvement Plan bound by the B-3 zoning district which generally extends to
Broadway Avenue, Villard Street, 5th Avenue, and Olive Street. Downtown is a mixed-use district but
primarily commercial in function and character. Downtown, and particularly Main Street, is distinguished
by its historic architecture but also includes notable recent development especially in the areas outside of
the historic core.”
We feel it is important to acknowledge the mixed-use, historic, and contemporary aspects of downtown,
not just the historic and commercial characteristics.
Lastly, regarding the Future Land Use Map (FLUM), I would refer you to pages 110 and 111 of the Downtown Plan
(https://downtownbozeman.org/uploads/Pdfs/2019_DBIP_with_Appendix_FINAL_ADOPTED_4-15-19.pdf) which
calls out discrepancies between land use and zoning designations. Some of conflicts have been resolved but
others warrant further consideration.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to participate.
Sincerely,
Chris Naumann
On behalf of the Downtown Urban Renewal District Board
CC: Susan Riggs, AICP, Groundprint, LLC, sriggs@groundprint.com