HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-16-24 Public Comment - M. Frost - Historic PreservationFrom:MARY FROST
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Historic Preservation
Date:Wednesday, October 16, 2024 9:34:49 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you
recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
609 S. 6th Ave.
Bozeman, MT 59+715
October 16, 2024
RE: Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District (NCOD)
Dear City Commissioners and Historic Preservation Advisory Board:
We have owned two properties in the Cooper Park neighborhood since the 80s. We each bought our
homes at the time because we could afford them, and we loved the neighborhood. In our 30s back then,
we did not fully understand zoning or its ramifications. As the years passed and we did some remodeling
after the NCOD went into effect, we learned to work with the city and the requirements of the Certificates
of Appropriateness (COA). Although these proved to be extra steps in the remodeling process, we
learned how valuable the NCOD and COA were to protect our home and its value.
In the years since, we have seen the NCOD weaken when the guidelines became voluntary and not
required with the passage of Ordinance 1927 in May of 2016. And, because of the change in the NCOD,
there has been wholesale destruction of Bozeman’s core neighborhoods. The NCOD was initially created
to preserve the character of existing core/historic neighborhoods and worked for decades before these
changes were made. Guidelines are useless unless they are required. A developer is only going to
move in the direction that maximizes profit with little regard to the integrity of neighborhoods or the city for
that matter. We have now seen the direct consequence of that change in the destruction of our
neighborhood in the pursuit of profit. Developing housing for the wealthy has not only destroyed the
historic character of our downtown neighborhoods, but we have also lost valuable affordable housing,
never to be recovered.
With Bozeman changing and evolving so quickly, we, as a city, need to try and save what is left of our
Historic District before it is forever leveled and repurposed. Bozeman’s Historic District must be of some
value to the city because the signage coming into town directs travelers to it. In addition to codifying the
guidelines in the NCOD, we can further work to save our city’s cultural heritage by promoting our Historic
Preservation Officer to a full-time position with full-time pay. Historic Preservation needs to be in the
foreground of development so that valuable historic properties are not destroyed to make way for new
development. Rather than upzoning historic neighborhoods, they should be downzoned to preserve their
character. To create affordable housing, incentives should be in place to also encourage property owners
to repurpose existing buildings to help fill housing needs. Additional housing (density) can be
accomplished in the downtown district without leveling existing structures.
We ask the City to place more emphasis on the preservation of historic neighborhoods when rewriting thenew UDC. These neighborhoods and historic buildings are part of the reason people love Bozeman.
Richard Kerin Mary Frost