HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-03-25 Public Comment - L. Semones - Draft UDC, attention Community Development Board City Commission City Planning DepartmentFrom:Linda Semones
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Draft UDC, attention Community Development Board City Commission City Planning Department
Date:Monday, November 3, 2025 11:01:04 AM
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Dear Leaders of our City’s Future,
I am writing in support of the public comment submitted by Alison Sweeney. I would like to specifically refer to
the Zone Edge Transition comments. Two of us spent a very rainy Sunday out measuring various city streets to the
best of our ability, with the information supplied by Community Development Director George. These
measurements show that many of the older streets are indeed less than 60 feet wide. The zone edge transitions
described in the UDC draft are substantially improved as compared to the previous UDC. The biggest and most
important improvement is the requirement of zone edge transition elements when a street is less than 60’ wide. I
would like clarification as to whether any landscaping will be required. I certainly hope that landscaping will be
part of the height and mass mitigation plan. This new area of code is essential to keeping especially older areas of
town walkable, human scaled, livable and fair to developers as well as residents. I also support the obvious need to
include every side of a building that abuts a lower density zone, not just the facing side. The obvious example of
why this is so very important is the corner of N. Tracy and Villard, where the B3 development on the corner abuts
and R2 (RA) district on two sides. Not only are the less dense districts RA, They are also a part of the N. Tracy
Historic District. These new zone edge transition requirements would have made the Henry step back its height, as
well as (hopefully) added landscaping along the sidewalk fronts. Our historic resources, once scraped and
redeveloped, cannot be restored. The public has made it clear that conservation of the historic downtown
neighborhoods is a priority. Strengthening the zone edge transition code with height setbacks, property edge
setbacks, and landscaping is one way to achieve that goal in a way fair to both developers and residents.
I also am writing to support the edits to the Greek houses section (group living) section of the draft UDC
requested by the UNA neighbors as well as others. Asking Greek houses to provide a meeting space adequate for a
good percentage of their membership is admitting that these houses are more than just residences. They are event
and social centers that should be included in the Arts and Entertainment zoning areas, not in residential areas. I fully
support their edits as found in their submitted edit request.
This new draft version of the UDC has been 2 years in the making. It has involved every neighborhood of the
city, and all residents have been offered multiple chances to give their input to the draft. I believe that the new draft
goes a long way toward assuring residents that their voice has been heard, especially (but not exclusively) in the
height and density requirements for RA and RB. The new requirements are also a compromise that are fair to both
residents and developers, and will lead to balanced planning. Please do not at the last minute change the draft in
ways that the residents of the city will not support and will not understand.
Thank you for continuing to complete this difficult process. Excellence is not achieved easily or quickly.
Putting the required investments of time and energy into the new draft have yielded excellent results.
Sincerely,
Linda Semones. 404 S Church Ave.