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Home My WebLink About11-17-25 Public Comment - S. Mitchell - Comment to Community Development Board re_ UDC and Fraternity & Sorority Housing before 11-17-25 meetingFrom:Sam M To:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Comment to Community Development Board re: UDC and Fraternity & Sorority Housing before 11- 17-25 meeting Date:Sunday, November 16, 2025 8:52:42 PM Attachments:CDB comment re UDC draft and Fraternity & Sorority Houseing 111625.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. Dear Bozeman City, Please forward my attached public comment to the Community Development Board for their review prior to the Monday 11-17-25 Board meeting. Thank you, Sam Mitchell Bozeman Resident Nov 16, 2025 Dear Bozeman Community Development Board members: Public comment on the Bozeman UDC draft regarding Fraternity and Sorority Housing. Until 2018, if you pursued renting or purchasing a Bozeman residence you knew whether you would be residing near a fraternity or sorority and could factor that information into your decision. City code prevented new Fraternity & Sorority Housing (FSH) creation in residential zones from 1973-2018, as Attorney Jim Goetz has repeatedly demonstrated to the City Commission since 2023. However, that portion of code was quietly removed in 2018, in fact so quietly that residents were unaware until a very disruptive fraternity moved into what had been a single-family residence at 411 W. Garfield Street. A lawsuit in 2023 resulted in District Judge Bruener invalidating the code change. That decision was subsequently overturned by the Montana Supreme Court on the technical detail that the plaintiVs had not followed the 30-day statute of limitations between discovering the issue and filing a case. Please see Mr. Goetz’s excellent letters to the City Commission on 7/15/25 and to the Community Development Board on 10/24/25 for more details. For unclear reasons, City staV pushed back against multiple requests from city residents to return to the pre-2018 ban on new FSH in residential zones. My neighbors and I understand that the current FSH have been in place for many years and are grandfathered. We have also pointed out that residential areas of Bozeman have plenty of existing FSH and do not need new ones to overburden our neighborhoods. After several meetings between concerned residents and City Commission members in July and August 2025, and a draft definition for FSH proposed by residents in mid-August, City staV arrived at a definition of FSH that is acceptable to the staV and the Commissioners. UDC Draft 9/19/25 - 38.800.070 F Definition: “Fraternity/sorority house. A group living facility occupied by and maintained exclusively for fraternity or sorority members, their guests or visitors and a1iliated with and acknowledged as a fraternity/sorority house by an accredited institution of higher learning as defined in 38 U.S. Code Section 3452; and which operates to provide assembly space for the regular activities of the fraternity or sorority members.” The portions of the definition that I have bolded/underlined to emphasize are remarkably similar to that of UDC Draft 9/19/25 - 38.800.070 M Definition: “Meeting Hall: An enclosed hall, building, or portion of a building used for the purpose of hosting conferences, banquets, luncheons, club meetings, and other similar public or private activities, and not meeting the definition of community center.” What don’t we allow in residential zones under the proposed UDC per UDC Section 38.300.020 “Allowed use table”? • Meeting Halls • Amusement & recreation • Arts & entertainment center • Casino • Alcohol sales, on-premises consumption Why don’t we allow these uses? Our community recognizes that these activities are too disruptive for residential neighborhoods. Similarly, we should recognize that fraternities and sororities are special use groups whose functions frequently include: • Meeting Halls - for Chapter meetings and votes (required attendance) • Amusement & recreation / Arts & entertainment centers – Many large parties throughout the year, including multiple ones close together during Rush • Casino – “Game nights” with multiple venues for poker, betting on sports, etc. • Alcohol sales, on-premises consumption – Asked to ‘donate’ $ to support a party, then have free access to consuming alcohol inside. Some City staV have tried to emphasize the “assembly space” definition as the only one that needs to be taken into consideration, arguing that the other uses are secondary and of little importance (and glossing over the fact we don’t allow Meeting Halls in residential zoning). If I came to the CDB with a proposal that I want to “just break down a few junker cars every month in my backyard to sell for parts” it would clearly be a secondary use of the residence in which my family and I live full-time. Yet the CDB would appropriately respond “No – we don’t allow salvage yards in residential zones.” The multiple non-residential uses of FSH (bulleted above) must be included in deciding what use is allowed in zoned areas. I ask all of you to imagine that tomorrow you find out a Fraternity is moving in next to you. How would you feel? Unless you were a member of that particular Greek organization, you would likely have a serious gut-check reaction to such news. Why? Because common sense reminds you that these are large groups (50 to 100+ members) with lots of activities, noisy parties lasting late into the night, public safety issues with alcohol and parking, etc.. In his email to the City Commission on 8/26/26 regarding FSH, MSU Dean of Students (DOS) Matt Caires wrote “Simply put: I recognize the fact that some of the activities of a fraternity are in ways incongruent with the quality of life of neighborhoods in areas of Bozeman that are zoned for single family residential.” MSU owns land surrounding Greek Way plus many other areas of Bozeman. If it becomes imperative to MSU that FSH adds new houses, then it should be on land the university sets aside for that purpose. That would have distinct advantages of 1) being physically distant from most residential areas, and 2) placing students in new FSH under the campus code of conduct while living on MSU property. I believe that might moderate some of the more egregious behavior shown by some of the FSH over the years (as DOS Caires also noted in his email – “One only needs to go to the BDC and search MSU fraternities to see the diViculties during the recent history.”) The City Commission received nearly 100 letters and public comments in the past five months opposing new FSH in residential zones. DOS Caires’s email and his subsequent public comment were the only two I’m aware of in favor. Kathy Rich (UNA President) and Kathy Powell (Bozeman resident) sent the CDB a letter on 11/3/25 also opposing FSH in residential zones, cosigned by seventy-two citizens who reside in more than ten different neighborhoods across Bozeman. I respectfully request the Community Development Board amend the UDC draft and recommend to the City Commission that they 1) define Fraternity and Sorority Housing as a special use group, and 2) not allow new FSH to be created in Residential zones, just as the UDC draft does not allow new Meeting Halls, Amusement & Recreation use, and Arts & Entertainment Centers in Residential zones. Thank you, Sam Mitchell Bozeman resident