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Home My WebLink About12-16-25 Public Comment - Z. Osman UDC_ Support the height recommendations in the letter submitted by Bozeman Hotel Owners' Association December 15, 2025From:Zehra Osman To:Terry Cunningham; Joey Morrison; Jennifer Madgic; Douglas Fischer; Emma Bode; Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]UDC: Support the height recommendations in the letter submitted by Bozeman Hotel Owners’ Association December 15, 2025 Date:Tuesday, December 16, 2025 10:56:54 AM Attachments:Height Limits in Bozeman.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. (Please submit both this letter and the referenced attachment to the public record) Honorable Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Commissioners, I support the attached public comment letter submitted by Bozeman Hotel Owners’ Association December 15, 2025, titled: "Height Limits in Bozeman’s Historic Downtown Core (B-3 and B-3C), Submitted in support of maintaining a 60-foot maximum building height and opposing any reversion to 70–90 feet." I strongly encourage the city commission to follow the recommendations made in this letter. Historic preservation is supported by long-time local business owners in the downtown who have demonstrated their historic resource stewardship for decades. Their letter combines historic preservation principles with time-tested local economic principles, AND correctly names the goals of newerdevelopers/investors as "vertical privatization of the skyline" and "a classic case of private gain through public loss," which go against all the work our local developers have been doing for decades. As a west-side resident who has advocated for historic preservation of all of Bozeman's historic propertiesand cultural resources for many years, I was deeply moved when I read their letter supporting historic preservation and am grateful for their stewardship. As you know, my letters have always been about the important legal intent of historic preservation principles stated in the Bozeman Municipal Code DIVISION 38.340. - OVERLAY DISTRICT STANDARDS and also Sec. 38.340.050. It states that new development within the NCOD must be in conformance with the most recent edition of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Have you looked at these referenced standards?! Do you realize you have something this strong, already in your hands, that prevents buildings that are out of scale? Take a look at page 76 of these standards and peruse the section called "Rehabilitation" https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1739/upload/treatment-guidelines-2017-part1-preservation-rehabilitation.pdf ). Bozeman's code is clear. And one more thing: as I listened to the commission discussion on density and height/scale during the12/02/2025 commission meeting, I realized that there is a fundamental intention of historic preservation principles embedded in the Bozeman Municipal Code that is being overlooked in these discussions: Historic preservation is about preserving historic character, yes. Importantly, it is about actually preserving existing the historic properties (buildings, districts, sites). This means keeping the historic buildings, districts, and sites that exist. In other words, this means we commit to keeping these historic buildings, districts and sites to the (maximum) extent possible. When you decide to upzone or allow for increased heights, you are actually and unfortunately deciding to demolish/bulldoze/obliterate/scrape existing historic properties in the long-term even before there is any reason to. You are saying that your goal is that one day the historic buildings in these sections of the NCOD will one day all be "scraped." I'm not sure you realize that this is actually the consequence of upzoning and allowing for increased heights. Instead, please reaffirm your commitment to Bozeman's long-standingcommitment to preserving the existing historic buildings, districts, and sites within and throughoutthe NCOD. As an alternative, create walkable nodes elsewhere in Bozeman where these investors and developers canbuild without "scraping" Bozeman's treasured natural and cultural environment. Respectfully, Zehra Osman 59718 Page 1 | 7 Height Limits in Bozeman’s Historic Downtown Core (B-3 and B-3C) SubmiƩed in support of maintaining a 60-foot maximum building height and opposing any reversion to 70–90 feet SubmiƩed by: Bozeman Hotel Owners’ AssociaƟon December 15, 2025 I. ExecuƟve Summary Bozeman’s historic downtown is successful precisely because it has remained human-scaled, walkable, and visually connected to sunlight, sky, and surrounding mountains. Proposals to increase allowable building heights to 70 or 90 feet threaten to irreversibly undermine those qualiƟes by reallocaƟng shared public resources—sunlight, views, pedestrian comfort—away from the street and into private upper ﬂoors. Height is not a neutral zoning metric. In a historic core, it is the single most consequenƟal design control the City possesses. Once granted and built, height cannot be meaningfully undone. This leƩer addresses why a uniform 60-foot height cap across the B-3 and B-3C districts is the only policy consistent with: x Bozeman’s historic development paƩern x The City’s stewardship obligaƟons x The protecƟon of the public realm x Long-term economic vitality of the downtown core II. Historic Downtown Bozeman Was Built at Human Scale — By Necessity The Baxter Hotel and the Bozeman Hotel deﬁne the historic downtown corridor. They were constructed long before cranes, elevators, steel framing, or modern façade systems. Their scale was constrained by: x Human labor and liŌing capacity x Load-bearing masonry x Natural light and venƟlaƟon requirements Page 2 | 7 x Pedestrian-oriented commerce Those constraints produced buildings that remain tall enough to be urban, but small enough to be humane. They engage the street, admit sunlight, and preserve long view corridors. This is not nostalgia. It is evidence of how physical limits created a city scaled to human movement, vision, and comfort. III. Height Redistributes Scarce Public Resources Upward Allowing buildings to rise to 70–90 feet does not merely add square footage. It reallocates ﬁnite public resources: A. Pedestrian Comfort and Movement Excessive height produces predictable effects: x Wind tunneling and downdraŌs Page 3 | 7 x Deep, persistent sidewalk shadows x Long, inacƟve façades at street level x Reduced visual relaƟonship between occupants and the street The result is colder, darker, less inviƟng sidewalks—especially damaging in a high-laƟtude winter city. B. Sunlight Access as a FuncƟonal Public Asset In Bozeman, sunlight is not decoraƟve. It affects: x Walkability x Ice and snow persistence x Retail vitality x Outdoor seaƟng and gathering Tall buildings cast long shadows across public rights-of-way and neighboring historic façades, permanently degrading the public realm. C. Mountain and Sky Views Views of surrounding mountain ranges are a deﬁning civic asset. Increased height: x Captures those views for private upper ﬂoors x Converts shared experience into exclusive luxury ameniƟes x Permanently removes views from streets and sidewalks This is not density—it is verƟcal privaƟzaƟon of the skyline. IV. Height Beneﬁts Private Returns, Not the Public There is no demonstrated public necessity for 70–90 foot heights in the historic core. The beneﬁts accrue almost enƟrely to: x Upper-ﬂoor residenƟal or hotel units x Luxury penthouses x InsƟtuƟonal or outside capital seeking marginal IRR increases Meanwhile, the costs—loss of light, views, pedestrian quality—are borne by: Page 4 | 7 x ExisƟng businesses x Residents x Visitors x The City itself This is a classic case of private gain through public loss. V. Bozeman Is Threatened by Its Success As the owner of the Baxter Hotel correctly observes, Bozeman has been “discovered”—not only by residents and visitors, but by insƟtuƟonal and private equity capital. That capital is not inherently bad. It is useful when directed to appropriate corridors and redevelopment areas. But in the historic downtown core, its incenƟves are misaligned: x It seeks yield, not stewardship x It captures regulatory slack immediately x It externalizes long-term harm x It does not live with the consequences Without strict height limits, the result is predictable: fast, proﬁtable, context-indifferent massing that permanently alters the character of the downtown. VI. Stewardship and Irreversibility Historic downtowns survive only because each generaƟon restrains itself. Both private owners and City Commissioners are temporary stewards of assets that predate them and will outlast them. Height decisions are uniquely consequenƟal because they are effecƟvely irreversible. Once built: x Sunlight cannot be restored x Views cannot be reclaimed x Human scale cannot be retroﬁƩed There is no “trial run” for a skyline. Page 5 | 7 VII. ComparaƟve CiƟes: Height Limits as ProtecƟon, Not Constraint Many ciƟes have recognized that historic cores require stricter limits than growth districts: x Jackson, WY: ~30–39 feet x Boulder, CO: ~38 feet x Aspen, CO: ~42 feet (lower in core areas) x ScoƩsdale, AZ (Old Town): ~40–48 feet x Boston, Beacon Hill: 3–5 stories x Charleston, SC: 50 feet These ciƟes did not cap heights because they feared growth. They did so because they understood what makes historic places irreplaceable. VIII. The “Ghost of Christmas Future”: What Happens When Height Wins The aƩached photo exhibits show contemporary buildings with addiƟonal stories sketched above them. These images are not speculaƟve—they depict the foreseeable massing outcomes if height limits are loosened. Page 6 | 7 Once built, these forms become permanent features of the city. Historic value is not destroyed overnight. It is diluted incrementally unƟl it disappears. IX. Findings the City Commission Can Adopt 1. Human Scale: The Commission ﬁnds that Bozeman’s historic downtown derives its vitality from human-scaled buildings that preserve sunlight, walkability, and visual connecƟon to the surrounding landscape. 2. Public Resources: The Commission ﬁnds that excessive building height reallocates shared public resources to private upper ﬂoors. 3. Irreversibility: The Commission ﬁnds that increased height allowances create long-term, irreversible impacts on the public realm. Page 7 | 7 4. Consistency: The Commission ﬁnds that a uniform 60-foot cap across B-3 and B-3C is necessary to protect the historic core and prevent height arbitrage. 5. Stewardship: The Commission ﬁnds it has an obligaƟon to safeguard the historic downtown for future generaƟons. X. Conclusion Bozeman’s historic downtown is world-class because it has been protected, not exploited. The pressure to increase height is not evidence of good planning—it is evidence of success tesƟng discipline. A 60-foot height limit is not anƟ-development. It is pro-Bozeman. Respecƞully submiƩed, The Bozeman Hotel Owners’ AssociaƟon