HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-04-25 Public Comment - J. May - Wetland Regulation CommentsFrom:Jeremy May
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:Nicholas Ross
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Wetland Regulation Comments
Date:Thursday, September 4, 2025 12:09:28 PM
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Dear Development Board and City Commissioners,
In review of the Draft Wetland and Watercourse Regulations we had the following comments:
1. Has there been any evaluation on the cost implications of the proposed regulations? In atime where we are striving to make housing more attainable, continuously adding more
regulation is contradictory to that goal. For example, we are working on an 80 acre parcelwhich will have 13% of the property reserved for wetland/watercourse setbacks. This results
in significant increases in development costs per lot when site specific setbacks could greatlyreduce the acreage allocated to setbacks. The wetlands surrounding a watercourse already
offer a protective setback, that is the benefit of the wetland. Adding another large setbackonto that is redundant and may not offer any additional benefit to the watercourse. We have
had several occasions where we ended up filling wetlands to move the setbacks out of the wayof efficient development, whereas a reduced setback would have saved the wetland.
2. Sec 38.220.130.2.a(2) Requiring an Approved Jurisdictional Determination may add 9
months to the review process for a small project. The Army Corps is severely back loggedand has taken up to 9 months to process determinations. It is very common practice for the
determination process to be skipped due to this time constraint and the project continues withan assumption that the wetlands are jurisdictional.
3. Section 38.220.130.2.a(5) Requiring a licensed surveyor will just add costs to the process
when wetland specialists have established methods of collecting this data. Changing this to"Wetland and watercourse acreages as determined using survey grade GPS methods" would
result in the same quality of data for less cost.
4. At Headwaters Engineering, we have an entire sector which focuses on restoration ofwatercourses and wetlands. We typically create 10+ acres of wetlands every year and are
supportive of high quality wetland protection. But in review of these regulations, there seemsto be too much protection of low value wetlands which will create sprawl and inefficient
infrastructure. The USACE already protects wetlands connected to watercourses, which arethe wetlands which protect our waterways and keep our waters clean. These regulations go to
great lengths to protect small pocket wetlands, such as wetlands created by historicexcavations or construction of roads. These pocket wetlands offer little to no protection for our
waterways.
Unfortunately, I will be at a restoration project out of state during the meetings on the 9th &10th, but hope these comments will be considered.
Thank you for your time.
Jeremy May, P.E.
Headwaters Engineering, Inc.1105 Reeves Road West, Suite 6
Bozeman, MT 59718jmay@headwatersmt.net
406-581-5730
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