HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-14-25 Public Comment - L. Fedro - In Support of the BonTon RA Zoning -- Not the RA Modified title being proposedFrom:Laura Fedro
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]In Support of the BonTon RA Zoning -- Not the RA Modified title being proposed
Date:Friday, November 14, 2025 3:09:37 PM
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Good Friday,
How this City plans for growth, and the inherent impacts that growth has on what we all love
Of This Place are always at the forefront in conversation these days.
The BonTon and Centennial neighborhood coalitions formed last year and worked hard to
secure what we understood was RA Zoning for this impending UDC Update. It seems there
are now 11th hour forces working against that zoning draft.
I have the following comments for the Commission's consideration:
You can't re-create architectural history. Within the BonTon there is a building
history "trail" from the fine old Victorians to the 30's era grocery storefronts to the
60's red brick ranchers. Replacing any of that with the multistory monoculture of
what's being built now is essentially wiping clean the history of this City.
Bozeman will not die. This statement continues to circulate among those that desire
the downtown core to erupt with multi story construction, and it is a fallacy. The
United States is full of historically preserved cities and towns that have only grown in
popularity because their downtown cores have been preserved. The cities and
towns that haven't preserved their historical cores have turned into Any Where USA
stripmall cities.
Infill can be encouraged without multistory monoculture Everyone in this
micropolitan, much less this state, is very aware of the pressures To Grow.
Encouraging and supporting smaller scale infill projects needs to be the targeted
goal.
Old, Retired, White People Matter This is a bit tongue in cheek after a comment by
one of the developers at the last CMB meeting, but without the Elders Among Us,
this City, and the downtown neighborhoods in which they inhabit, we wouldn't have
the History, Camaraderie, Community and Sense of Place that exists because of the
people living, working and raising their families in these neighborhoods.
No one living in any of these multi story high rises will be multigenerational, and that
pattern of life is what Bozeman has in spades. The living spaces in multistory
buildings aren't designed and built for long term use. The fabric of the downtown
neighborhoods is strong because of the threads of connections among us.
Growth is inevitable and using the argument that constructing multi story buildings
within the heart of downtown will "limit the sprawl" is a bunch of hooey. Those that
move here to live on their parcel will live in the valley -- and those people are very
different from the people moving here to Be In Bozeman. Finally,
Those of us that moved here before the growth boom should not lose the inherent
right to continue living in the downtown neighborhoods we purchased before this
boom began.
I have worked in Montana's building industry for the last 30 years, so in many ways, I make
my living from growth, and because of my work, I have an undeniable connection, and
intimately understand what Building, in all it's forms, does to a place and all of it's inhabitants.
Upzoning the BonTon and Centennial neighborhoods to RA Modified is not the answer to
how this City grows Well and Good.
Laura
Laura A. Fedro, NCIDQ, ASIDLAURA FEDRO INTERIORS INC.
214 South Willson Ave.Bozeman, MT 59715406 586 0122www.laurafedrointeriors.com