HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-14-25 Public Comment - J. Bursik - Land Use in the UDC UpdateFrom:Justin Bursik
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:Anja Lincke
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Land Use in the UDC Update
Date:Monday, July 14, 2025 1:01:00 AM
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Dear Bozeman City Commission,Thank you for taking extra time to discuss zoning and land use in your special meeting. These
discussions will determine how Bozeman will look, feel, and function in the future.
With parks, trees, trails, and mountains all around, Bozeman is inherently an outdoorsy city.Unfortunately, the primary reason that many people in Bozeman go outside every day is to get
to their car. The vast majority of new housing developments built in the last decade werelocated on the outer edges of the city, away from existing amenities, transit stops, employment
centers, and public spaces. All of the people living in these residential areas have no choicebut to own a car and use it for all of their everyday activities, which increases air, water, and
noise pollution and turns our streets into hostile spaces devoid of human faces. The city'songoing efforts to promote bike and pedestrian friendliness are admirable. Hopefully, when
the Bike and Pedestrian Gap Analysis is finished, the city will expeditiously fill in those gapswith infrastructure that is not only safe, but welcoming for everyone. Transportation
infrastructure is only one piece of this puzzle however.
Transportation is inextricably linked to land use. Car-dependency is inevitable when yourworkplace, school, and/or the nearest grocery store are over a 15-minute walk away with no
transit stops in sight. Even if every street has wide, shaded, and grade-separated bike lanes andsidewalks, the sheer distance between places motivates even the most able-bodied people to
get in their car and drive. Promoting bike and pedestrian friendliness means bringing residentsand their destinations physically closer together.
Reducing parking and setback requirements in every zone and prioritizing infill instead of
greenfield development are great ways to go about this, but decentralizing and mixing landuses is key to closing those distances. It is my understanding that most residential zones will
allow for limited commercial uses and vice versa. However, true mixed-use development mustnot put one before the other, as both are essential for resilient neighborhoods.
I believe that one of the greatest tools that Bozeman has is the Planned Development Zone
(PDZ), and that all areas of the city can benefit from them. Instead of just one development ata time, PDZs can allow the city to oversee many new developments at once and encourage a
mixing of land uses that promotes active transportation. In regards to the UDC update, PDZsshould be very highly encouraged for every development, even incentivized as is done in the
Affordable Housing Ordinance, and the time and financial costs of implementing them need tobe reduced. Almost every development in Bozeman has been a one-time consideration with
barely any plans for future land uses surrounding the new development, and PDZs can help toremedy that.
I think many of you have heard about 15-minute cities. All cities, large, medium, and small
were 15-minute cities before the advent of cars. No reasonable person would argue that theyshould not have been invented, but the effect that they have had on Bozeman's growth is
profound. Local businesses struggle to compete with chains and big box stores, stroads such as19th, 7th, Main, or Oak are as much barriers as they are assets, and all kinds of pollution have
worsened. Beyond just mixed-use zoning, thoughtfully mixed land uses can offer Bozemanmany solutions. Whether through PDZs or some other ordinance, the UDC update is a perfect
opportunity to turn the tide on car-dependency and guide Bozeman to a healthier, safer, andmore sustainable future. Please consider every option available for promoting mixed land use,
and thank you for reading.-Justin Bursik