HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-31-25 Public Comment - M. McCormick - Support to Appeal #25033From:Matt McCormick
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Support to Appeal #25033
Date:Monday, March 31, 2025 10:29:51 AM
Attachments:Letter to Bozeman City Commissioners .pdf
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.
Please see attached letter to appeal #25033
Matt McCormick 406-600-0532 (mobile)
Dear City of Bozeman Commissioners,
RE: Appeal Application 25033
Matt McCormick and Shirley Olinger
8060 Rolling Hills Drive
Bozeman, Mt 59715
406-600-0532
I write to express deep concern over the continued misrepresentation and misapplication of the Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District (NCOD) Design Guidelines by staff, particularly in
reference to development application #24493, aka the Guthrie. I am writing in support of the appeal, application #25033, and request that the appeal be approved and the Guthrie be denied.
These guidelines are not discretionary-they are adopted code. The NCOD is binding and must be applied fully and correctly to any development within its boundaries.
It is troubling that staff have used the boundaries of the Midtown Neighborhood Association-a community liaison group with no legal authority-as a reference for determining appropriateness of development. "Neighborhood" is not defined in the Unified Development Code (UDC), but
the city's own consultants, Metcalf Archaeological Consultants, provided a rational framework
through architectural surveys in 2019 and 2020. They explicitly recommend viewing the Karp and Violett Additions as potential historic districts due to their integrity, architectural character, and postwar development history. These are the neighborhoods that should inform context and
compatibility-not broader political or organizational boundaries.
The most serious flaw in the staff analysis, however, is the repeated claim that the NCOD Design Guidelines are not mandatory. This is demonstrably false. Section 38.110.0lO(B) of the Bozeman Municipal Code adopts the Design Guidelines by reference, integrating them directly
into law. Section 38.100.050(A) reinforces this by requiring that, in cases of conflicting
provisions, the more restrictive standard must govern. The NCOD, by design, imposes stricter
requirements than base zoning-and therefore must control.
Staff's rationale rests on a faulty interpretation of the term "should" and misconstrues the intentional flexibility in the Design Guidelines, treating it as advisory. But the Guidelines themselves clarify in Appendix B: "If the term 'should' appears in a design guideline,
compliance is required." Flexibility exists only when the applicant can prove that the core policy
will still be met. This is not a semantic debate-it's the difference between legal compliance and arbitrary discretion.
Overlay districts like the NCOD are standard planning tools used across the country to provide enhanced protections in sensitive areas-historic, ecological, or otherwise. They are meant to supplement and, where necessary, override base zoning to preserve essential characteristics of a
community. In Bozeman, the NCOD was specifically created to protect the character and scale of historic neighborhoods. The American Planning Association and long-standing zoning precedent, not to mention Bozeman's own code, affirm that overlay district regulations take precedence when a conflict arises.
Matt McCormick and Shirley Olinger
8060 Rolling Hills Drive
Bozeman, Mt 59715
406-600-0532
This is not about opposing growth or progress. It's about doing it right. The community has not
rejected new development or even affordable housing on this site. What residents dernandrightfully-is that development within the NCOD comply with the same standards that have guided all prior projects: compatibility, context, and character.
The NCOD is not optional. It is law. And it must be applied accordingly.
Sincerely,
, n fJL;, l�r, 2025