HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-17-25 Public Comment - K. Crawford - I Oppose the Draft UDC Proposal, Which Will Negatively Impact My HomeFrom:Kathleen Crawford
To:Bozeman Public Comment; Terry Cunningham; Joey Morrison; Jennifer Madgic; Douglas Fischer; Emma Bode;Erin George; delmue; henryhhappel@gmail.com; markegge@gmail.com; blloyd@henneberyeddy.com;scegnatz@gmail.com
Subject:[EXTERNAL]I Oppose the Draft UDC Proposal, Which Will Negatively Impact My Home
Date:Saturday, November 15, 2025 4:19:13 PM
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.
(NOTE: Please place this public comment in the public record for the UDC Update folder. Also, please
forward this email to all members of the Community Development Board, the City Commission, and the
City Community Development Staff office.)
Honorable Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Commissioners, Community Advisory Board Members, and City Staff:
My small historic home on 211 S. Tracy will be negatively impacted by the proposal to expand the B-3
zoning district to the south to cover the entire block (September 2025 UDC draft). No one at the city,
commission, or advisory boards notified me about this proposed expansion that would be directly adjacent
to my home. It is a huge jump in zoning to go from R-2 to B-3, especially in this historic district, and I am
opposed to this proposal.
Since 2004, I raised my family in this home within the South Tracy-South Black Historic District. It is a
Samuel Lewis House, built in 1879. Samuel Lewis settled in Bozeman in 1868, joining a small but growing
population of African Americans who came to Montana after the Civil War. Little by little, I have carefully
rehabilitated this house while preserving its historic character-defining features, continuing the preservation
efforts of the previous owner, who won the 2002 Historic Preservation Award for Excellence. This has been
a costly process, though it is required by the city. It was/is my understanding that this requirement is a kind
of “contract” between homeowner and the city and a commitment that we would together maintain the
character of this historic district. You will be breaking this “contract” if you upzone this area across the
street from my home from R-2 to B-3, because it would allow incompatible 90-foot tall apartment
buildings, offices, hotels, or other commercial uses. This would adversely affect the character of the historic
district.
I am a caretaker for my intergenerational family and I do not have the time to closely follow the many
iterations of the draft UDC to catch whether or not my property will be affected. It is wrong that this
proposal was allowed to be in the latest draft version of the draft UDC without alerting me to this direct
impact to my property. It is wrong that this expansion is being entertained at all.
Over the years, I have been watching all of Bozeman’s historic districts be adversely affected by
incompatible development, without any regard to the Bozeman Municipal Code’s requirements for historic
preservation DIVISION 38.340. - OVERLAY DISTRICT STANDARDS and also Sec. 38.340.050. -
Standards for certificates of appropriateness.
Respectfully,Kathleen Crawford
Homeowner, 211 S. Tracy, Bozeman MT 59715