HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-17-25 Public Comment - J. Mangold - UDC and zoning for Centennial Park and Bon Ton neighborhoodsFrom:Jane Mangold
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDC and zoning for Centennial Park and Bon Ton neighborhoods
Date:Monday, November 17, 2025 5:09:58 AM
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To the City Commissioners and Community Development Advisory Board:
I am grateful and appreciative for the City Commission, city staff, advisory boards, and
residents who have put many, many hours of hard work into the UDC update. I am pleased
that the current draft indicates RA zoning for the Centennial Park and Bon Ton neighborhoods,
and I urge the City Commission, city staff, and advisory boards to support the zoning
designation as we move forward. Both neighborhoods have researched and prepared well-
thought-out proposals and have fully engaged in the UDC update process over the last 24
months. As a resident of the Centennial Park Neighborhood (CPN), I would like to reference a
report submitted by Dr. Susanne Cowan, an architecture professor at MSU, that was
submitted as part of public comment during the July 14 UDC work session. In her comment
she shares that her research of the neighborhood indicated that 94% percent of the dwellings
in the CPN currently conform to RA zoning and that the neighborhood is significantly a single
family, single story neighborhood; only 6% of homes would be non-conforming under RA,
including a few triplexes and even fewer four to eight unit dwellings. As a resident of CPN, I
can attest that even these non-conforming dwellings fit within the scale of single family
dwellings within the neighborhood and it is my understanding that they could be
grandfathered into the zoning. In closing, as I’ve engaged in the UDC update process, I have
heard comments made by City Commissioners and members of advisory boards that zoning
should reflect what is currently on the ground; RA zoning does this and will alleviate the major
threat that higher density zoning could impose upon this historic neighborhood.
Neighborhoods like CPN and Bon Ton, both of which lie within Bozeman’s core and the NCOD,
make Bozeman attractive and unique and contribute to the community’s heritage.