HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-02-25 Public Comment - W. Lonsdale - Amended Public Comment on The Guthrie – April 1 MeetingFrom:Whitney Lonsdale
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Amended Public Comment on The Guthrie – April 1 Meeting
Date:Tuesday, April 1, 2025 1:02:36 PM
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Please replace the previous Word document I sent in the email below with the public comment
text pasted below. In the initial comment, I referenced my service on the Board of Health, onlyto point out my understanding of difficult decision-making in the public arena. However, as I
am submitting this public comment ONLY as a concerned citizen, I have removed thisreference to avoid confusion. Thank you.
Public Comment to the Bozeman City CommissionRe: Opposition to the Guthrie Project – Support for Appeal of COA ApprovalWhitney Lonsdale, 4/1/25
Mayor, Commissioners,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment. As a 15-year resident of
the Midtown neighborhood, I am speaking today in firm opposition to the proposed
construction of the Guthrie project at the site located in the Karp Addition and in
full support of the appeal to overturn the Certificate of Appropriateness and siteplan approval issued for this project.
I am not speaking in opposition to growth or development within our city.
However, growth must be done well, with conscious thought and alignedwith established development guidelines. The Guthrie project, as currentlyproposed, clearly and substantially violates the NCOD Design Guidelines—
guidelines that are adopted into Bozeman’s Unified Development Code and must be
upheld.
Staff have asserted that the NCOD Guidelines are “not compulsory.” That is legally
and factually incorrect. Bozeman Municipal Code explicitly adopts the Design
Guidelines by reference, making them enforceable law. The code also clearly statesthat where regulations conflict, the more restrictive standard must govern. Thismeans that NCOD guidelines override base zoning like R-5 when they conflict—
and they do in this case. Furthermore, the Guthrie project fails to meet multiple
policies related to building mass, scale, and context.
As proposed, the Guthrie is deeply incompatible with the surrounding
neighborhood. By volume it is up to 10 times larger than surrounding buildings and
20 times larger than some single-family homes nearby. This violates NCOD
Guidelines, such as Design Guideline B: Building Mass and Scale, which states: “A
new building should not be so dramatically greater in scale than the established
context that the visual continuity of the neighborhood would be compromised.”
The NCOD has been in place since 1991. It has shaped the look, feel, and livability
of our historic neighborhoods for over three decades. It was created to preventprecisely this kind of development mismatch. If the city wants to change that vision,
it must do so through a public legislative process.
Allowing this project to proceed without requiring compliance with the NCOD notonly erodes neighborhood character—it erodes public trust. It sends the messagethat our planning code is optional, that developers can ignore established guidelines
if they’re inconvenient, and that community voices don’t matter. This is not how
Bozeman should grow. Bozeman can build affordable housing while honoring itscode and maintaining community trust.
I recognize that this decision is neither simple nor easy. It carries significant
implications for Bozeman residents, both in Midtown and beyond, and has thepotential to set a precedent for how Bozeman continues to develop. I urge theCommission to deny the Guthrie, to uphold the values of transparency and
community protection, and to honor the NCOD for what it is – important and
compulsory rules for responsible development that should be applied unilaterally
across its districts.
Thank you,
Whitney Lonsdale
On Apr 1, 2025, at 8:57 AM, Whitney Lonsdale <whitneylonsdale@gmail.com>wrote:
Please find attached my public comment on the Guthrie for tonight's citycommission meeting (4/1).
Thank you,
Whitney
-- Whitney Lonsdale
whitneylonsdale@gmail.com
406.570.4318<Whitney_Lonsdale_PublicComment_Guthrie.docx>