HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-14-25 Public Comment - K. Powell - Special City Commission MeetingFrom:KPowell & S Griswold
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]CommentsSpecial City Commission Meeting 7/14 R-A and Max allowed units & new and relocating
fraternity & Sorority Houses commissioners for 7/14/25 Special Working Group meeting Zoning & Uses
Date:Friday, July 11, 2025 5:23:24 PM
Attachments:Specail BzCity Comm 714.pdf
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Please send the attached letter to the City Commissioners before the Monday 7/14/25 SpecialWorking Group meeting on Zoning & Uses.
Thank you
Kathy Powell
1215 s 3rd Avepowellgriz@icloud.com
July 11,2025
To: City of Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham Deputy Mayor Joey Morrison
Commissioners Jennifer Madgic, Emma Bode, and Douglas Fischer
From: Kathy Powell, 1215 S 3rd Ave Bozeman 59715
powellgriz@icloud.com
RE: Concerns on Max # Units proposed RA and new & relocaSng Fraternity & Sorority Houses
For discussion at Special city Commission MeeeSng 7/113/25 Zoning & Uses
R-A and Maximum allowed units
Revisions to the full UDC were paused in October 2023 aYer extensive public concern. A revised draY
was made public October 2024. The City Commission discussed, before the revised DraY was
released, making a few revisions with regard to zoning districts and maximum units allowed.
Proposed R-A was to cover R-S, R-1 & R-2 moving R-B to cover R-3.
Listening to large numbers of public comment, Mayor Cunningham felt that the max in RA should be 2
units and NOT a greater number as originally proposed. Commissioner Madgic agreed that this
should be reflected in the new DraY UDC to show that the City Commission is indeed listening to
residents. It was then agreed by other commissioners to update the DraY to show the max # units in
R-A to be 2 units. Residents were encouraged that the City was listening to their concerns about R-A
and # units allowed.
(An excepSon to the 2 units could be to allow exisSng homes to subdivide the inside of the house into
apartments that could potenSally increase the number of affordable housing opportuniSes.)
However, my understanding from the last UDC Working Session on “Mass & Scale” is that at the tail
end of the meeSng it was menSoned maybe not having ANY limit of the number of units on a
property. This idea is DEFINITELY NOT listening to the concerns and needs of residents and will
DEFINITELY NOT help in the City’s goal to regain community trust.
New and Reloca=ng Fraternity & Sorority Houses
Back in 2017 Fraternity and Sorority houses were listed as a subgroup of Group Living. Many of the
regulaSons in Group Living applied to Fraternity & Sorority Houses but the difference was where they
could be located. That was changed in 2018 to remove these houses as a sub group and instead just
have them be Group Living allowed in ANY residenSal zoning District.
This change was challenged in court by neighbors near the Garfield house that was rented to 4-5
young men but turned out to really be a fraternity with 50 members. The house became an “event
center” with not enough space to handle meeSngs and gatherings inside the house but rather spilled
into the yard with regular loud parSes, large gatherings, etc. The MT Supreme Court ruled that the
district Court decision in favor of the neighbors was filed too late and was therefore not within the
Statue of LimitaSons. They did not rule on whether the city had not given proper noSce of the 2018
change.
This 2018 change has created a real problem. Now a single-family home in any ResidenSal Zoning
District can be rented or sold and then apply to be Group Living but not have the capacity to handle a
fraternity or sorority with 50 members that regularly have events there. New or relocaSng groups
need a building with a large central meeSng /event room like the exisSng long-standing fraternity &
sorority houses have.
Revising the Group Living Use category to have a sub group would not affect fraternity & sorority
houses but rather only new or relocaSng ones.
New and relocaSng fraternity and sororiSes have their own culture and events but dropping them
into a neighborhood of single-family homes and small rentals causes havoc, tension and unnecessry
negaSve feelings all around. That can be avoided by following the municipal code Missoula and
Billings have for fraternity & sorority houses where they are now allowed only in denser zoning
districts. There is also a need to define what a fraternity or sorority is. A well phrased definiSon can
be found in the City of Billings municipal code.
In summary
• Keep R-1, R-2 & R-S in R-A with a max of 2 units.
• However allow exisSng larger homes to be subdivided into mulSple apartments to hopefully
provide more affordable housing opSons
• As you move forward with other potenSal edits, if you use Wall plate height, seriously consider
changing the Wall Plate height in R-A from 25 Y to 20 Ft. This will result in buildings that beler fit
within exisSng neighborhoods of 1 and 2 story homes.
-------------------------------------------------------
• Make new or relocaSng fraternity & sorority houses a subgroup of Group Living.
--Allow them only in R-C (R-4) or denser zoning districts as they do in Missoula and Billings
municipal code.
--Include a definiSon of fraterniSes and sororiSes in the UDC similar to the definiSon Billings uses.
I and many neighbors do want to Thank you for LISTENING and supporSng measuring height in feet
rather than just in stories in the revised UDC. This is much easier for ciSzens to grasp and get a beler
feel for how tall a building is allowed in the proposed zoning districts.
Kathy Powell
Resident of Bozeman