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Home My WebLink About10-10-25 Public Comment - K. Powell - Appreciation & issues - Fraternity & sorority new & relocating housesFrom:KPowell & S Griswold To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Appreciation & issues - Fraternity & sorority new & relocating houses Date:Tuesday, October 7, 2025 3:26:51 PM Attachments:Issues frat & sorority houses City Comm revUDC 10-5 2025.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Hello Would you please share the attached letter with the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the other citycommissioners. It is about additional or revised requirements for fraternity & sorority chapter houses. Thank you Kathy Powell 406-600-1164powellgriz@icloud.com October 5, 2025 TO: Mayor Terry Cunningham, Deputy Mayor Joey Morrison, Commissioners Jennifer Madgic, Douglas Fischer, & Emma Bode FROM: Many residents in the City of Bozeman RE: Apprecia,on & issues regarding revised dra5 UDC fraternity/sorority new & reloca,ng houses Neighbors and neighborhoods want the city commission to know we appreciate your recognizing that new or relocaIng fraternity/sorority houses can be a challenge for exisIng neighborhoods. This is especially true if chapter houses are set up in single family homes that are not capable of accommodaIng all enrolled members for events, meeIng & parIes. Adding a definiIon to the revised UDC for fraterniIes & sororiIes is a good first step. Requiring them to have an assembly space that accommodates the majority of their enrolled membership is another important step. Requiring addiIonal guest parking spaces is helpful to neighborhoods with crowded streets. NOTE: The updated UDC code is for new or relocaIng fraternity & sororiIes NOT exisIng chapters established prior to code changes. However, to make these changes truly effec,ve in the revised UDC there are some issues that need to be addressed: 1.Issue: In the latest dra5 UDC new or reloca,ng fraternity & sorority houses are allowed in all residen,al & some commercial zoning districts. Based on the proposed definiIon of fraterniIes & sororiIes, their chapter houses are used for the regular acIviIes of fraterniIes & sororiIes (which are meeIngs, entertainment & parIes). These acIviIes align with the UDC definiIons for Amusement & RecreaIon, MeeIng Hall & Arts & Entertainment. Under UDC Allowed ResidenIal Uses none of these three uses are allowed. Therefore, new & relocaIng fraterniIes & sororiIes should not be allowed in residenIal zoning districts or at a minimum should be allowed only in R-C and denser zoning districts. 2.Issue: In the latest dra5 UDC new or reloca,ng fraterni,es & sorori,es are required to have an internal assembly space adequate enough to accommodate 90% of their enrolled membership at the ,me the use is approved by the City, but not less than 40 persons. This is important so fraterniIes & sororiIes do not set up a chapter house in an exisIng or new building that does not enough space for meeIngs, events, and parIes. However, the current average number of enrolled membership in MSU fraterniIes & sororiIes is 83. 90% of enrolled membership would require an assembly space for 75 members. Membership in MSU fraterniIes & sororiIes is increasing. If the assembly space at the Ime the use is approved is based on 40 members but membership grows to 55 or more the assembly room will be too small. By increasing the minimum number of persons to not less than 70, the assembly space will be able to accommodate some growth in the Greek organizaIon. •The requirement for internal assembly space should be adjusted to: “…accommodate 90% of their enrolled membership at the Ime of use approved by the City, but not less than 70 members (instead of 40)”. •In addi,on, membership mee,ngs are for all enrolled membership gathered together. The size of assembly space should be based on the size of 1 room not mulIple rooms sq footage added together. To avoid this, changing the UDC drac wording to be just ONE Space not mul(ple spaces(s) is needed. 2 3. Issue: In the latest dra5 UDC 5 addi,onal Parking spaces are required for new & reloca,ng fraternity or sorority. This is helpful but, Increasing the required number of guest parking spaces to 8 (instead of 5) would beder help accommodate extra vehicles during meeIngs, events and parIes. 4. Issue: Greek Way was set up originally to accommodate Greek chapter houses. There are currently 2 fraterniIes on the west side of the street. In the near future the city & the new MSU President, Brock Tessman along with MSU staff, need to get together & discuss allowing Greek Way to have other fraternity/sorority houses along the street. To share a neighborhood perspecIve, neighbors are willing to be part of this discussion. Suggested Ac,ons to Make these UDC Revisions More Effec,ve --Houses already approved for Group Living To assure that an already approved Group Living house has adequate assembly space: • The city should ask MSU to noIfy the City when a new or relocaIng fraternity or sorority is looking for or has found a new proposed chapter house. • MSU should remind fraternity & sorority officers & advisors of the requirement that new or relocaIng Greek houses are required to have adequate assembly space for their acIviIes. • The city needs to noIfy All current Group Living building owners annually that a Group Living house must have an adequate assembly space per the UDC if renIng or selling to a fraternity or sorority. --Applying to become Group Living An applicaIon to have a house become Group Living should state that if a group applies to rent the house that is a fraternity or sorority, the house is required to have an adequate assembly space to hold 90% of enrolled members but not less than 70 members (instead of 40). Signing off to acknowledge this should be a condiIon for Group Living approval. Thank you again for understanding & addressing the challenges new & relocaIng fraternity/sorority houses pose to exisIng neighborhoods. Addressing the issues of locaIon, minimum number of members required to calculate the size for a 1 room assembly space, & addiIonal guest parking will make for a more effecIve UDC. Residents in many different city neighborhoods strongly support the addiIonal 4 requirements listed above. Neighbors wanIng their name listed on this leder are from the University Neighborhood (UNA), Bon Ton, New Hyalite View, Midtown, Jandt (west of MSU), Cooper Park, South Central Neighborhood (SCAN), South Meadows, NE Neighborhood Assoc (NENA), Bozeman Creek NA, & West Meadows. Kathy Powell, Bozeman powellgriz@icloud.com 406-600-1164 Kathy Rich, Bozeman University Neighborhood Assoc (UNA) President kathysrich@gmail.com 406-581-0197 Jess Loeb Max Kirchoff Robin MarRn-Emerson Angie Kolioek Kathy Devore Trish Sherman Steve Griswold AusRn Smith Marillyn Miller Mark Campaneli Beth Livingston George Livingston Emily Hooker Pat Flaherty Kerry Reif Mary Lou Osman Galen Rhinard Larry Minkoff Al Hooker Carol Flaherty May Vaughn Ginny Cowan Leslie Rogers Danielle Nicolas Linda Semones Greg Garrigues Glenda Barnes Nancy Crawford Sco^ Gorski Sandy Feeney Barton Churchill Betsy Garrigues Aimee Morel Seytoux Jim Webster Marilyn Payne Steve Neff Cynthia Luebe Phil Stewart KrisRn Charron Mary Frost Amy Sowers Anna Neff Sarah Helfrich Ron Brey Richard Charron Rick Kerin Bill Grey Amy Leitz Roberts Jenny Tranel Jill Davenport Tim Marcinko Natsuki Nakamura Jacqueline Grey Serena Mercer Mike Neely Jim Goetz Jinny Stra^on Daniel Carty Richard Moore David Mercer Robert Rydell Suzie Johnson Andy Kanub Nancy Johnson Tonya Stevens Leslie Rogers Kiki Rydell Kathy Marcinko Alison Sweeney Mark Devore Randy Stevens Marilyn Payne