HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-27-26 Public Comment - D. Loseff - Re_ Following up on our B3 discussionFrom:David Loseff
To:Douglas Fischer
Cc:Mary Bateson; Amsden@becklawyers.com; dgc12@hotmail.com; jwebster587@gmail.com;
lindasemones@hotmail.com; Zehra Osman; mark.campanelli@gmail.com; Jennifer Madgic; Bozeman Public
Comment
Subject:Re: [EXTERNAL]Re: Following up on our B3 discussion
Date:Saturday, January 24, 2026 3:39:55 AM
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Douglas,I appreciate you taking the time in outlining your reasoning but frankly I find several
fundamental flaws in your three arguments which I am compelled to address. I apologize formy bluntness in my following response but I believe that the adverse consequences of this
pending height increase to our greater downtown historic area will be significant andirrevocable.
1. On downtown being the appropriate place to accommodate concentrated growth and
support the economic vitality of businesses......your analysis completely fails to take intoconsideration the lack of adequate infrastructure....particularly on the parking side....to support
significantly increased concentrated growth. Your reasoning states...support growth "whereinfrastructure exists...." but it seems abundantly clear that our downtown is struggling with
inadequate parking infrastructure and traffic congestion as is.......and in order for downtownbusinesses/properties to be able to pay 20-25x the property taxes per square foot of other
commercial/retail areas across Bozeman, we need customers and our customers need moreaccessible public parking or else they will go elsewhere which is what is currently taking
place. Adding more height and density into our town core may increase the city's property taxcollections but it hurts our downtown businesses. It isn't "adding vitality" it is simply killing
the golden goose.
2. Bozeman has one of the best and most coveted historic downtown core areas.......why "fix"what isn't broken.
3. Your second argument relies on the opinions of "planning professionals and practitioners"
on proper height limits. First, virtually all of the developers/architects and real estateprofessionals who gave public comment in support of the 90' height limits were all advocating
for their clients obtaining added floors for free (eg. Paine Hotel and Left Lane Hotel as the twoprimary advocates). That is conflicted advice. Second, in taking inputs from so-called experts,
I would encourage you to give added weight to the inputs provided by the people who live,work and own businesses and properties in our greater downtown area who have invested
many millions into building our successful downtown, have closest connection to customersand will also face the most direct impacts from these policies. Frankly, over my past 24 years
we have had numerous so-called experts and consultants provide very bad advice. Forexample, up until around 5 years ago these "experts" (including some conflicted local
architects and developers) were telling everyone that our downtown area had a surplus ofpublic parking spaces.....not a shortage....and they proposed actions such as selling off the
much needed Willson/Mendenhall parking lot to a group of shyster out-of-state developers (Isued the city to get that action blocked) and later other so-called experts proposed that we sell
off the critically needed Carnegie lot to build a hotel based on their expert opinions that it wasthe only viable location for a downtown hotel. Fortunately through the efforts of many
downtown property owners we got that initiative blocked as well. One of the downtownconsultant reports referred to all of our downtown surface lots as being "surplus city owned
land" to be earmarked for development. This may have been the same out-of-state consultingfirm who recommended that the city removes all of the "visual barriers" in Soroptomist Park
(ie. trees). Fortunately, my neighboring downtown business/property owners and I whoactually know our downtown best and will suffer the consequences of bad decisions stood our
ground to protect and preserve our scarce and much needed downtown parking and blockedthe recommendations of the so-called out-of-town experts. And the City should be thanking
its lucky stars that the position of downtown property/business owners prevailed......esp giventhe irrevocable consequences of the bad proposals made by these so-called experts.
4. How do your planning professionals and other so-called experts reconcile their support for
90' heights with the fact that many, if not most, other successful historic downtown areas havesubstantially tighter height restrictions along with other rules on adjacency impacts, setbacks,
historic facades, etc.? Are your planning professionals and other so-called experts right whilethe planning professionals and experts in places like Burlington VT, Old Town Alexandria
VA, Old Town of Scottsdale, Boulder CO, Aspen CO, Charlotte SC, Pioneer Square Seattle,Jackson WY, etc etc. all wrong? Note that your planning professionals and so-called experts
are supporting height allowances at 2-3x the height allowances in these other successfulhistoric areas.
5. Your third point on "process matters" meaning that you don't want to make any 11th hour
changes is effectively telling us that there was no real point to holding First and SecondReadings and taking public comments before the Commission voted on approving the UDC
because this occured at the end of the approval process. Just performance art given yourstated unwillingness to make any such 11th hour changes. So when was the policy change
shutoff deadline....the 5th hour, the 7th hour? Personally, I thought that the entire purpose ofholding First and Second Readings and taking public comments before formally adopting the
new UDC was to provide an opportunity to address substantive issues and concerns pertainingto this 500+ page complex code changes BEFORE it gets implemented. That IS the State
Legislative mandated process. Taking the position that you don't want to make any late stagechanges before adoption is actually disregarding the entire point of the Process. Shouldn't the
real question be.........is the proposed policy a good policy or a bad policy and will itsimplementation be irrevocable or not?
6. Incidentally, increasing the B3 height from 70' to 90' is making the substantive change.
Keeping the height at its current status quo level of 70' is not making the change. Suggestingthat NOT increasing the height to 90' as being a change is backward reasoning.
7. With respect to your prior email in which you referenced the College St. project as being
the "masterclass" on public policy making......tell me.....did the City first implement thechanges and then hold public/community meetings to discuss the proposed changes or did you
do it the other way around. I suspect that your "masterclass" entailed first holding publicmeetings/discussions on the College St. issue which then resulted in an agreed upon policy
which then got approved at a recent Commission meeting. What you have proposed on the B3height increase is the opposite approach......let's approve the increase to 90' now, spend the
next few months seeing how it works out and then hold your kick the can down to roadmeeting to discuss the height. That isn't any masterclass approach.
Again, sorry for my bluntness but after spending the past 25 years and investing millions of
my personal savings into restoring the Baxter matched by the substantial personal investmentssimilarly made by my tenants and my neighbors where we will all directly and personally face
the bad policy decisions made by the City Commission and its so-called experts, I amcompelled to speak up on what I see as a decision which will have very bad and irrevocable
impacts on our greater historic downtown areas. Thank goodness the other downtownproperty and business owners and I strongly opposed the prior initiatives by the City to sell off
and/or develop our desperately needed downtown surface parking lots when the planningprofessionals and experts (including Pertzborn) claimed that we had an excess of downtown
parking spaces. Fortunately they subsequently discovered several years ago that they werewrong.......but this increased height and density issue in the B3 is simply another form of
exacerbating our downtown parking problems. City planners, city managers, CityCommissioners (such as Andrus) and Parking Commission people (eg. Egge), may come and
go but as downtown property and business owners with the direct consequences of theirdecisions. Please listen to us.
Respectfully,
David Loseff
On Sat, Jan 24, 2026 at 12:56 AM Douglas Fischer <Douglas.Fischer@bozemanmt.gov>wrote:
Dear Mary (and all),
Thank you for the thoughtful follow-up and for laying out your concerns so clearly. Iappreciate your continued engagement on this issue.
You asked for further explanation of the reasoning behind my position. I’ll try to be clear
and concise.
At a high level, my support for the current B3 height limit rests on three considerations.
First, I believe downtown is the most appropriate place for Bozeman to accommodategrowth. Concentrating development where infrastructure already exists reduces pressure to
sprawl outward, supports local businesses, and helps maintain activity and vitality in the citycenter. In that context, modest additional height is one of the few tools available to absorb
growth without expanding the city’s footprint.
Second, I weighed competing claims about the impacts of additional height. I take seriouslythe concerns you raise about sunlight, wind, scale, and sense of place. I also hear from
planning professionals and practitioners that a 90 foot limit – when paired with otherchanges to the UDC – does not inevitably produce the harms that are often associated with
much taller or more uniform high-rise development. Faced with these differing expertopinions, my judgment is that the risks are real but not as certain or harmful as they are
sometimes framed.
Third, process matters. The 90-foot limit emerged from a long and public drafting processfor the UDC, informed by staff analysis and advisory board review. Reversing that decision
on the eve of implementation would substitute a last-minute Commission judgment for amore deliberative public process – and I am convinced that is a poor way to make policy.
You are right that buildings, once constructed, are lasting. That permanence is precisely why
I am cautious about making abrupt changes under deadline pressure. Both 70-foot and 90-foot buildings shape the city for decades; the question is which set of tradeoffs we are
prepared to accept, and how intentionally we make that choice.
I have encouraged staff to track how the code functions in practice and to surface issues thatmerit adjustment – including height and transitions. If problems emerge, I expect us to
address them through the same public, advisory-driven process that produced the UDC inthe first place.
I respect that you and I may ultimately disagree on where the appropriate line should be
drawn. I appreciate the seriousness with which you approach this question, and I remaincommitted to continued public engagement as we evaluate how the new code performs.
Best,
Douglas
Douglas Fischer | Deputy Mayor
Bozeman City Commission121 N. Rouse St.
Bozeman, MT 59715
On Jan 19, 2026, at 5:25 PM, Mary Bateson <mbateson5@gmail.com> wrote:
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Dear Deputy Mayor Douglas Fisher,
I have read and reread your email of Jan 15. 2026, and I would like toengage further. Below I include the passages from your email (DF), and mycomments and questions (MB) about what you have said.
(1) GovernanceDF - “I would suggest that neither I nor the City Commission is well-positioned to resolve disputes like this at the 11th hour from the dais.”
MB -The City Commission is uniquely positioned to resolve these disputes. Itis the job of the City Commission to do so.
(2) ReasonsDF -“…there are many compelling reasons for a taller limit – as well asevidence and arguments that suggest the risks may be less severe orless certain than they are sometimes framed.
The 90-foot limit was reviewed by various experts and stakeholders –from staff to downtown associations to the Community DevelopmentBoard – before the prior Commission switched it at the last minute, andthen switched it back. That review did not produce unanimity, but it did
surface tradeoffs
From my conversations with staff and others, I don’t think our town’sheritage or our ability to secure meaningful resources for affordability is atdire risk. I also feel recent public discussion has discounted the many
benefits of that extra height that led to the current limit.”
MB - I would like to hear the reasons that have influenced your decision. I donot see these reasons explained here, just your statements that reasonsexist.
(3) ”See how it works”DF - “I want to be clear: after such consideration, I do not support rolling
the B3 height limit back to 70 feet at this time. …We owe that processand the community time to see how it works. …I have suggested to myfellow commissioners that we give staff four months to work with the UDCas-is. As staff (and the public) encounter sticking points or problems, I
suggest we put those aside in a basket that we then take up andexamine. We already have a few items in that basket now: Transitionsand this B3 discussion. Once we have a better picture, we can prioritizeand chart a path.”
MB - Seeing how a 90-foot building works is an experiment that cannot beretracted. Once we see that “it does not work,” we must live with the 90-footbuilding and its consequences, whether positive or negative. Better to have areal conversation about it before the buildings go up. It is especiallyimportant to have the discussion on what codes are in place before theMLUPA rules change the way in which development projects are reviewed,which will virtually eliminate substantive public involvement.
Thank you for engaging with me and others (who are included on this reply)on this issue. I look forward to further explanation, and I hope that you arewilling to reconsider your position.
Sincerely,
Mary Bateson, Bozeman resident
On Thu, Jan 15, 2026 at 3:53 PM Douglas Fischer<Douglas.Fischer@bozemanmt.gov> wrote:
Dear Jim, Daniel, David, John, Linda, Mark, Mary, and Zehra,
Thank you again for taking time out of your Saturday to meet with Jen and me andshare your concerns about the 90-foot height limit in the B3 zoning district.
I heard several serious and urgent concerns from all of you – namely that we riskthe livability, culture and history of our town with a 90-foot limit, rather than 70feet; and that we are foregoing millions of dollars in affordable housing revenue by
allowing the extra 20 feet by right.
You have asked me to consider these carefully, discuss with my fellowCommissioners, and roll the B3 height limit back to 70 feet while we further debate
the plusses and minuses of tall buildings downtown.
I have had a number of conversations with stakeholders both for and against this,as well as with staff and my fellow commissioners. I want to be clear: after such
consideration, I do not support rolling the B3 height limit back to 70 feet at this
time.
First, as you have shown, this is a complex issue with significant consequences onboth sides. While you have made compelling arguments for a shorter limit, there
are many compelling reasons for a taller limit – as well as evidence and argumentsthat suggest the risks may be less severe or less certain than they are sometimesframed.
Second, I would suggest that neither I nor the City Commission is well-positionedto resolve disputes like this at the 11th hour from the dais. We have learned, timeand again, that complex land-use questions are rarely well-served by last-minutedecisions from the dais.
The 90-foot limit was reviewed by various experts and stakeholders – from staff todowntown associations to the Community Development Board – before the priorCommission switched it at the last minute, and then switched it back. That review
did not produce unanimity, but it did surface tradeoffs that deserve more than anup-or-down vote under deadline pressure.
Several of you were present this Tuesday evening as the Commission considered
the College St. renovation. That work session offered a master class in goodpolicymaking: Staff took a proposal to the community, listened, had a back-and-forth with stakeholders, incorporated concerns and found compromises.
The process worked not because everyone agreed, but because it allowed concernsto be tested, refined, and improved before decisions were locked in. We were not atthe dais deciding where to put stop signs and crosswalks.
The B3 discussion, if we re-open it, would be the opposite: The five of us would bedebating, again at the 11th hour, a technical and consequential issue based onlimited, one-way feedback.
Finally, we spent almost three years drafting the UDC. It is a good code but acomplex one. We owe that process and the community time to see how it works.
I have suggested to my fellow commissioners that we give staff four months to
work with the UDC as-is. As staff (and the public) encounter sticking points orproblems, I suggest we put those aside in a basket that we then take up andexamine. We already have a few items in that basket now: Transitions and this B3discussion. Once we have a better picture, we can prioritize and chart a path.
I share your deep attachment to downtown Bozeman – its scale, its walkability, andthe sense of place that makes it feel like home rather than just a real-estate market.My guiding belief is that Bozeman should accommodate growth deliberately andtransparently in places already built to handle it, rather than pushing it outward orfreezing decisions out of fear.
Bottom line: I hear the urgency and concern by you and other residents about a 90-foot height limit downtown. From my conversations with staff and others, I don’tthink our town’s heritage or our ability to secure meaningful resources foraffordability is at dire risk. I also feel recent public discussion has discounted themany benefits of that extra height that led to the current limit. I see consequentialdownsides to a snap decision, and I want to let staff and this community work with
the code as-is for a few months before we make changes.
This is not the answer you want, but I deeply appreciate your engagement on this.
Douglas
Douglas Fischer
Bozeman City Commission
dfischer@bozeman.net
406-595-5721