HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-18-26 Public Comment - K. Filipovich - NCOD guidelines - Request for detail and enforceabilityFrom:Karen Filipovich
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]NCOD guidelines - Request for detail and enforceability
Date:Tuesday, February 17, 2026 2:05:12 PM
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Dear HPAB and City Commssion,
I live in a house that is about 75 years old, on a block with houses ranging from well over a
century old to structures that are under five years old. The neighborhood has experiencedmany changes, additions, demolitions and changes. Finding an enforceable standard that
allows for change that sits with the neighborhood, rather than detracting or destroying it, isimportant.
We need to have NCOD guidelines with teeth to ensure that new development in the historiccore of Bozeman is compatible with the existing neighborhood. We also need to be thinking
about the next set of neighborhoods that are at or reaching toward the 50 mark that is oftenused as a benchmark for historic considerations.
During the UDC update, we heard that the Standards for the Certificate of Appropriateness
have no teeth. It is the request of the public that the standards for the issuance of a Certificateof Appropriateness be rewritten to be objective and enforceable, especially as pertains to
height, mass, and architectural elements.
Standards should be made binding. Any guidelines should be used to help implement thosebinding standards. And, it should be very clear in the code that new development within the
NCOD must also abide by the standards.
Here are some considerations for inclusion:
Additions and new structures need to have significant guidance as to what appropriate
design is. Applications for major changes or new structures need to submit with
documentation of how it fits into the architectural standards in the area abutting the
structure. The most successful addition on my block used the existing footprint of the
building and added a story, keeping the mass and scale modest, to mirror the other
North-side working class neighborhood history, and architectural detail was added to
blend in with the other houses of the period. Most people do not even know that the
building size was doubled. The least successful addition to the neighborhood was a
teardown of a century old cottage, replaced by a big white box that is much larger in
scale and different in style than surrounding buildings. The builder would have
benefited from more guidance on how to meet the designation of appropriateness.
Building appropriately while managing the allowed scale is going to be a real challenge
in many areas in the existing NCOD boundaries. All the older areas, but particularly
many areas north of Main now allow greatly increased heights and densities compared
to the 2018 UDC code update and an even bigger leap compared to existing structures
that are more than 50 years old. It can be done and having enforceable standards that
speak to the details of how to fit into a neighborhood is going to be really important.
There is a need to build a process to include the areas outside the existing NCOD that
are at or near the 50-year-old mark. History didn't freeze at a particular date, so
Bozeman needs to think about this systematically.
Thank you for undertaking this important update of the historic preservation code and lookforward to seeing the Landmark Program as a whole.
Sincerely,
Karen Filipovich