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Home My WebLink About12-01-25 Public Comment - Z. Osman - UDC public comment for 12_02_2025 special sessionFrom:Zehra Osman To:Terry Cunningham; Joey Morrison; Jennifer Madgic; Douglas Fischer; Emma Bode; Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDC public comment for 12/02/2025 special session Date:Sunday, November 30, 2025 4:20:06 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. Honorable Bozeman City Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Commissioners, Have you really looked at the UDC map that shows current vs. proposed zoning? You know, it’s the one where you can toggle the cursor to see what will change. This map makes onething clear. This UDC update does not do anything to make Bozeman’s west side walkable. Not at all. There are no walkable nodes containing residential-scale commercialestablishments placed within the vast sea of housing. Within the proposed UDC, the west side remains a car-centric environment that is only meant for people to drive through. There are nowalking destinations other than schools and churches. A walkable community requires many other destinations. It requires a robust and reliable public transportation system. Those of uswho live on the west side should have not only diverse housing types, we should also have a coffee shop, cafe, farmer’s market, art studio, bakery, grocery store, or bike shop. If thisproposed UDC cared about all of Bozeman, we would see a zoning map with various zoning colors dotted all over the city, depicting DECENTRALIZED walkable nodes that create lots ofwonderful pockets of life and vitality. Tree-shaded shared-use paths would connect these destinations to a mix of housing types, including lots of affordable housing. Unfortunately, the proposed UDC update concentrates all changes to only the historicdowntown and NCOD area. The proposed UDC map is instead about new concentric circles of new zone colors around the downtown that really only creates more investmentopportunities. The false narrative we hear from city officials is that there is only a binary, zero-sum decision: either (a) adversely impact historic districts with additional upzoning in the already walkabledowntown OR (b) protect the NCOD with historically compatible infill. What about the rest of Bozeman? I see city officials acting as if Bozeman’s core holds the only opportunity tomeet the housing demand. I hear city officials say that the only way to stop sprawl and increase affordable housing is to “build up” within Bozeman’s core only and, sadly, only afterit is bulldozed down. All we’ve seen over the past 20 years is unaffordable units going into the NCOD after the bulldozers leave. Please lift your gaze off of the downtown/core/NCOD and please look at the rest of the city.Consider a new plan for a climate-friendly, anti-sprawl Bozeman with multiple walkable neighborhoods clustered around multiple walkable nodes throughout the entire city. Havethe courage to say this UDC update, as presented, falls short. Give the city staff your guidance to work on the this update some more to make it better for all of us - all over Bozeman— notjust for the greedy investors and developers who want to keep building unaffordable, incompatible, over-sized buildings that their investors salivate over. Consider instead a planthat takes the pressure off of the NCOD. For this we need to think broader: 1. Establish multiple walkable community nodes throughout all of Bozeman. Include the west side! Within these nodes, zone for: A. Neighborhood-scale commercial, including eateries, art-studios, farmers market, etc.B. Diverse housing types including affordable housing C. Robust and reliable public transportation systemD. Robust and complete system of shared-use paths 2. Establish a robust and reliable public transportation system coordinated aroundmulti-modal transportation system. This needs to happen before you allow developersto construct buildings without parking. If a single mom with kids in tow has to go to a school function, she will need a car. So she needs a designated parking space. Only onceBozeman has a reliable and comprehensive transportation system can you allow developers to build without sufficient designated parking spaces where she can take abus and not be late. 3. Protect Bozeman’s existing natural environment, including vegetation, waterways,wetlands. Please see the Bozeman Tree Coalition’s 11/30/25 public comment, whichspells-out how to do this. No one is advocating for “no change.” We’re advocating for MITIGATING impacts to the natural environment when change happens. There is adifference. 4. Protect Bozeman’s NCOD. Bozeman made a commitment to preserve those sites, districts, and buildings that tell the history of the area. For this, you already have the keyin your hands and it has lots of “teeth.” Bozeman’s current municipal code states that new development within the NCOD must be in conformance with the most recentedition of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Have you looked at these standards?! Did you realize you have somethingthis strong to prevent buildings like the Guthrie?! Take a look at page 76 of these standards https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1739/upload/treatment-guidelines-2017-part1-preservation-rehabilitation.pdf ). MITIGATE impacts to the historic districts, archeological sites, culturally important places, and all other historic properties that tellthe history of this area. I support the recommendations recently submitted by the Better Bozeman Coalition and available on their website resources page. 5. Take the pressure off of the city’s core area by: A. Creating multiple walkable communities throughout all of Bozeman, not just the core area (see item 1 above). Tell developers that Bozeman will entertain appropriatedevelopment to fulfill the idea of decentralized, multi-nodal walkable communities (see item 1 above), and they can build what we need to have affordable housing allthroughout Bozeman. B. Tell developers the NCOD only accepts compatible infill per Bozeman Municipal Code38.340.050. Remember, we are not saying “NO,” we are just saying “compatible.” Developers will be just fine is they have to follow the existing code. We will be holdingyou to it. C. Tell developers they cannot adversely impact our natural environment (see item 3) whenthey propose new development. Here are a few more specific comments: 1). Remove the loophole in the Zone Edge Transition code that would allow developers to cede a few feet or even inches to increase the right-of-way, thereby getting out of building theactual transition. 2). Cap height in the B-3 zone at 60 feet as required by state law SB-243, and only award extra height through the AHO incentives, so that we get affordable housing. 3). Keep the Bon Ton and Centennial Park neighborhoods as R-A, the way they are shown inthe proposed map, while adopting the Existing Building Alternative to allow structures over 35 years old to internally divide into 4 units. 4). Add the word "maximum" to the section of code in 38.410.010.B Natural Environment, perthe Bozeman Tree Coalitions recommendations. Our Sensitive Lands Plan actually uses this language, so it should be incorporated in code. 5). Require new and relocating frats and sororities to have a single gathering space thataccommodates a minimum of 70 people. We should aim to avoid conflicts we've seen in the past so that both residential neighborhoods and Greek Houses can thrive. 6). Gallatin Watershed Council has made many workable suggestions for improving the UDC.Please require an aquatic resource delineation report at pre-application as well as other recommendations from their public comment submitted November 21st. 7). Please incorporate some of the recommendations from the Midtown NeighborhoodAssociation detailed in their public comment, including those with regards to zoning map conflicts, parkland dedication, and transportation standards in code. 8). Do not expand the B-3 zoning district to East Curtiss. The neighbors have submitted manyinteresting histories of their homes, which they have lovingly restored or renovated under strict Historic Preservation Guidelines, and with considerable expense. Expanding B-3 couldresult in negative impacts to this historic district, especially if the zone edge transition loophole remains! Thank you for incorporating these code improvements in the final Unified Development Codeupdate. We’re on the eve of some crucial decisions. Please do not squander this opportunity to do the right thing. Best of luck. Zehra Osman 59718