HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-15-25 Public Comment - E. Darrow - FW_ Fwd_ Preserve & Protect the historic neighborhoods and NCOD of Bozeman!From:Erin George
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:Chris Saunders; Tom Rogers
Subject:FW: [EXTERNAL]Fwd: Preserve & Protect the historic neighborhoods and NCOD of Bozeman!
Date:Monday, July 14, 2025 11:47:01 AM
Mike or Alex – Please add the below comment to the UDC public comment folder in Laserfiche.
Thanks,
Erin
From: Elizabeth Darrow <elizabeth.darrow@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2025 9:28 AM
To: terry.cunningham@bozeman.net; Joey Morrison <jmorrison@BOZEMAN.NET>; Jennifer Madgic
<jmadgic@BOZEMAN.NET>; Douglas Fischer <dfischer@BOZEMAN.NET>; Emma Bode
<ebode@BOZEMAN.NET>; Chuck Winn <CWinn@BOZEMAN.NET>; Erin George
<egeorge@BOZEMAN.NET>
Subject: [EXTERNAL]Fwd: Preserve & Protect the historic neighborhoods and NCOD of Bozeman!
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Good Afternoon Mayor Cunningham Deputy Mayor Morrison, CommissionersMadgic, Fischer, and Bode, City Manager Chuck Winn & Erin George, Director ofCommunity Development:
Thank you for your service and your commitment to local democratic
action.
I am here today to urge you to preserve Bozeman’s historic core districts and the
overlay district neighborhoods as you update the UDC during this period
of rapid growth, massive development pressures, luxury real estate
speculation, and a sustainability crisis.
The reasons are clear and we’ve been here before. In 1930, Oswald
Garrison Villiard in The Nation Magazine described Montana under the grip of the
Anaconda Copper Company: “There is the state and there is the Company—they
are one and the same.” Today, we see a new form of resource extraction here and
corporate-run economic policies that privilege the few:
speculative real estate, treating towns and neighborhoods as blank slates for profit,
leaving behind social and environmental damage.
As reasonable people we do not oppose change. But we reject reckless, investor-driven overdevelopment that disregards neighborhood character, livability,
and prioritizes investment returns over people’s needs, turning neighborhoods into
speculative zones rather than places to live, grow, and belong. Some
recommendations:
Mid-block Zoning
Please revise any code that permits development in mid-block zoning that
ignores scale, height, edge transitions, character, and context and to those in
proximity who deserve a right to light and air. Oversized buildings like “Cell
Block 812 West Babcock” stands as an example of what happens when code
lacks these requirements—planners must also serve the public not just project
applicants who abuse permissive and unenforceable code.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Bon Ton and Centennial residents have brought forward thoughtful, well-researched neighborhood zoning proposals. They deserve full support. These arethe kinds of community-led efforts that should shape this process—not
developer-driven requests for shortcuts or variances that do not have public
input. All zoning change requests must undergo full public transparent review.
RE: new RA and RB Zoning Districts
No upzoning in RA beyond a duplex plus ADU.
No upzoning in RB—2-story, 8-unit buildings are already permitted.
Lower RA wall plate height to 20 feet max.
Define fraternities and sororities as distinct from "group living", limit them to
RC or density zones. They must meet parking, noise, and compatibility
standards—especially in areas already burdened with on-street parking. In Closing
Incentivize and promote adaptive reuse not demolition.
Lead a public forum about the issues around real estate speculation in
Bozeman's high cost of housing, vacancy rates, the failure of Urbanism in
creating affordable housing.
Protect prioritize trees, tree canopy & greenspace in the development code.
We urge you to protect the historic core and NCOD with a
visionary Unified Development Code-a model to be proud of
now and into the future.
Thank you-Elizabeth Darrow & Jim Walseth
Bozeman