HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-24-26 Public Comment - J. Amsden - Bozeman Hotel Owners' Association comment on B3 height discussion and processFrom:John Amsden
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:Joey Morrison; Douglas Fischer; Jennifer Madgic; Emma Bode; Alison Sweeney
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Bozeman Hotel Owners" Association comment on B3 height discussion and process
Date:Tuesday, February 24, 2026 11:32:39 AM
Attachments:B-3 Height Issue Comment 24 February 2026.pdf
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Good morning,
Please see the attached comment on the B-3 height, massing and transition
process.
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JOHN AMSDEN 1
Mayor and City Commissioners, 24 February 2026—Agenda Comment
On behalf of the Bozeman Hotel Owners’ Association, we submit this public comment for the
City’s proposed review of building height in the Downtown Business District (B-3) under the
recently adopted Unified Development Code. Downtown Bozeman’s historic character is a
defining community asset, and it depends on maintaining a human-scale environment that
supports walkability, small businesses, and long-term property value. We respectfully request
that the City reduce the maximum allowable height in B-3 to 70 feet and implement a clear,
consistent public process to evaluate and address impacts from taller buildings—particularly the
loss of solar access, loss of public and private views, and the gradual erosion of the human-scale
living and street experience that makes downtown Bozeman distinctive and attractive.
Keep Bozeman Human Scaled, Walkable and Enjoyable
Bozeman’s downtown works because it’s human-scaled: a consistent rhythm of older brick
façades, narrow storefront bays, and a street wall that lets people see sky, feel sun, and keep
the mountains and historic architecture as the “main event.” When very tall buildings (on the
order of 90–120 feet, roughly 8–12 stories) are allowed to sit immediately beside historic two-
to four-story structures, the experience flips: the street becomes an urban canyon. The result
isn’t just “a taller skyline” — it’s a permanent change in light, view, and comfort at the sidewalk:
longer shadows, loss of solar access, harsher wind effects, and a visual scale that makes historic
buildings read like “props” at the base of something else. Even pro-growth real estate voices
emphasize that, especially for tall buildings, what matters most for city life is how a building
meets the ground, not how it meets the sky. (Urban Land)
Nashvegas Is Not a Suitable Goal for Bozeman
The site of the most recent national championship, Nashville, Tennessee is a useful cautionary
image of how a fast-growing city can end up with a downtown that feels less like a historic place
and more like a high-intensity entertainment-and-development machine — the very vibe people
shorthand as “NashVegas.” In Nashville, tourism-driven growth and a surge of vertical projects
have rapidly changed the skyline; one local report cited the Downtown Nashville Partnership
saying 26 new high-rise buildings have been constructed downtown since 2009. (News Channel
5 Nashville (WTVF)) At street level, that kind of “new wall beside old brick” adjacency can create
a jarring, unsympathetic streetscape, and it often collides with preservation politics as cities
wrestle with how (and whether) historic protections should constrain powerful downtown
interests. (WPLN News) Meanwhile, WPLN describes “NashVegas” specifically as a party-
JOHN AMSDEN 2
destination version of the city centered on Lower Broadway, where locals push back against
spillover impacts from the visitor economy. (WPLN News)
Visually, the warning is the same one embedded in Blade Runner: a dense, vertical, hyper-
commercial city where street life is pushed into the shadows of massive structures and signage
— a place defined by looming scale, darkness, and a crowding-out of the human realm. (The
American Society of Cinematographers) The point of pairing your Nashville photos with that
Blade Runner frame isn’t to say Bozeman becomes dystopian overnight; it’s to show the design
logic: when tall, bulky buildings are allowed to press right up against historic fabric without
meaningful stepbacks, solar/view protections, and transition standards, the street-level
experience predictably shifts from warm, walkable, and place-specific to darker, harder, and
visually anonymous. (Urban Land)
JOHN AMSDEN 3
In reviewing current Nashville photos, the dystopian Blade Runner – 1982 movie scenes are
eerily similar:
JOHN AMSDEN 4
Can We Address the Height Impact Deliberately?
In sum, we ask that the City consider the following:
• The Downtown Conservation Overlay exists to preserve scale.
• A 90-foot base height undermines that intent.
• Height should reflect the existing dominant cornice line.
We respectfully request that the City Commission revisit the newly adopted 90-foot height
allowance in the B-3 district (and any pathways that effectively enable 120-foot massing) before
it becomes an irreversible precedent in the Downtown Conservation Overlay and its immediate
edges. We ask the City to begin a transparent, public, and data-driven process—including view-
shed modeling from key public corridors, shadow/solar studies across seasons, and clear
stepback/transition standards—to evaluate the cumulative impacts of tall buildings placed
adjacent to historic structures and pedestrian streets. Downtown Bozeman’s historic, walkable,
human-scale character is not just an aesthetic preference; it is a core economic asset that
supports storefront vitality, visitor demand, and long-term commercial value. If we do not study
and calibrate these impacts now, we risk locking in a “futuristic” skyline that diminishes the
sunlight, views, and sense of place that make downtown Bozeman enjoyable today—and that
cannot be easily restored once lost.
BOZEMAN HOTEL OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION
24 February 2026