HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-26-25 Public Comment - K. Powell - Letter City Comm - F&S Assembly SpaceFrom:KPowell & S Griswold
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Letter City Comm - F&S Assembly Space
Date:Tuesday, November 25, 2025 2:10:52 PM
Attachments:City Comm F-S Assembly space 11-24-25.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.
MIke
Please share the attached letter with the City Commission this week so they have time to readit before the Tues UDC Public Hearing.
Thank You.
Kathy Powell
powellgriz@icloud.com406-600-1164
November 24, 2025
To: Mayor Terry Cunningham, Deputy Mayor Joey Morrison
Commissioners Jennifer Madgic, Emma Bode & Douglas Fischer
From: Kathy Powell 1215 s 3rd powellgriz@icloud.com
RE: Group Living Special Standards for new & reloca:ng Fraternity & Sorority Chapter Houses
FraterniIes and sororiIes (F/S) are a historic and acIve part of Bozeman and MSU. Since 2011, MSU Dean of
Students MaQ Caires reports that F/S have grown from 500 affiliated students now to 1500.
In the current draT of the UDC, F/S are considered Group Living but since they are a unique type of Group
Living addiIonal Specific Standards have been added for assembly space & visitor parking.
Why add Specific Standards?
There have been challenges with a fraternity moving into a single-family home on Garfield that had 5 men
living there but 50 enrolled members. The house did not have a room big enough for meeIngs for all
members. Neighbors were fine living next to 5 men but having 50 men at the house frequently turned the
single-family home into an Event Center. This was stressful, created fricIon and was not a posiIve experience
for either the fraternity or the neighbors. Police had to be called frequently as events got out of control.
F/S want to be successful – to be safe, legal and compaIble for F/S members and the nearby neighbors.
Current F/S were built to have a room that could accommodate all of the enrolled members for meeIngs.
For example, the Delta Gammas have a room that is 910 sq T that has a maximum occupancy of 131 so it can
legally and safely accommodate their 84 members. The Sigma Chis (before their renovaIon) had a room
920 sq T that had a max occupancy of 131 so it could legally and safely accommodate their 91 members.
How do you figure out if a room is big enough to safely and legally hold the full F/S membership?
There is a formula for this in the InternaIonal Building Code (IBC) that is customized by MT and used by the
City of Bozeman. To beQer understand this, I sat down with Keith Bailey from the City Building Dept. to learn
what the “Occupancy Load Factor” would be to calculate the required size of an assembly space with non-fixed
chairs.
The formula is: sq H room = Max capacity allowed for a room with not fixed chairs
Occupancy Load factor 7
The current draT UDC has Specific Standards for F/S that state the assembly space is required to have room for
a min of 40 enrolled members or 90% of full enrolled membership whichever is greater.
Using the above formula 40 members would require an assembly space at least 280 sq T.
The city approves the required sq footage only once when the F/S applies to live in a Group Living house.
However, if the 40 members grow to 50, 60 or 70, the 280 sq T room would no longer have enough capacity to
be safe and legally comply with city building code.
What to do?
--Cram the 10-30 new members into the exisIng space? Unsafe and illegal
--Limit the # of members who can aQend a meeIng? Awkward
--Require the F/S to move? Difficult and ProblemaIc
--Require house assembly space to be remodeled? Expensive and have to own house
The common-sense approach to reduce having to cram, restrict, move or remodel is to anIcipate that some
growth will occur and require the assembly space be for a min of 70 enrolled members (instead of 40) or 90%
of enrolled membership whichever is greater.
The legal occupancy assembly space for 70 members would be 490 sq T.
Even if the city checked annually what the current # of enrolled members are, if the # exceeds the legal
occupancy allowed for the assembly room, the F/S would face the same issues.
Will full membership meet together in one con:guous room or in separate rooms?
F/S oTen have weekly and/or monthly meeIngs of full membership. When addressing the full membership, it
is realisIc that the group will gather in one room, sit on chairs or couches and discuss the business at hand.
F&S members want to be together for full memberships meeIngs not split up into separate rooms.
The assembly space needs to be required to be one con:guous room that is big enough to hold the F/S full
membership.
It should not be made up of several rooms whose sq footage is added together in order to meet the legally
required occupancy sq footage for the full membership.
Conclusion
The city’s primary funcIon is to promote public health, safety and general welfare.
It is then important to base the Specific Group Living Standards for F/S on safety and realisIc use.
I encourage the City Commission to:
1. Raise the minimum # of members for an internal assembly space to 70 (from 40) or 90% of enrolled
membership to determine the required size of the assembly whichever is greater.
2. Require the assembly room be 1 con:guous assembly space internal to the building (not spaces(s)
Thank you for your thoughoul consideraIon to support the success of new or relocaIng fraternity and sorority
chapter houses in Bozeman.