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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-03-26 Public Comment - Z. Osman - Interim Zoning, Pause in COAs, HPO vacancy, and Landmark_NCOD projectFrom:Zehra Osman To:Joey Morrison; Douglas Fischer; Alison Sweeney; Jennifer Madgic; Emma Bode Cc:Bozeman Public Comment Subject:[EXTERNAL]Interim Zoning, Pause in COAs, HPO vacancy, and Landmark/NCOD project Date:Tuesday, March 3, 2026 2:38:30 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. (Please include this comment in the public records for: (1) resignation of the current Historic Preservation Officer, (2) the UDC B-3 Zoning, (3) the Certificate of Appropriateness applications in the NCOD) Honorable Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Commissioners, I want to wish Historic Preservation Officer (HPO) Sarah Rosenberg the best of luck, as she has taken another job and and will be resigning from her position on March 13, 2026. Her job as HPO has not been an easy one and I'm grateful for her service. In light of this upcoming vacancy, I strongly recommend the following actions until that vacancy is filled with a qualified individual: ACTION 1. Pause issuing new Certificates of Appropriateness (COA) for demolitions, rehabilitations, and new construction within the Neighborhood Conservation Overlap District(NCOD) until a qualified HPO replacement has been hired. RATIONALE: The following city code compels us to have requirements for the expertise, experience, and education in the role of the historic preservation officer (aka preservation officer, aka HPO). Per Bozeman Municipal Code Sec. 2.05.910. - Staff. A. The preservation officer for Bozeman shall act as staff liaison to the historic preservation advisory board. The preservation officer shall be employed by the appropriate city department. A member of the historic preservation advisory board may be invited to participate in the city's process forselection and hiring of a preservation office when the position is vacant. B. The preservation officer shall satisfy the Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards. C. Duties of the preservation officer include coordinating the local historic preservation programs, helping in the development of local surveys, projects and historic preservation planning documents, advising and providing assistance to the local historic preservation advisory board, governmentagencies and the public, and ensuring to the extent practicable, that the duties and responsibilities delegated by this division are carried out. Please click on the Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards, which are cited in "B" above. They state that "The qualifications define minimum education and experience required to perform identification, evaluation, registration, and treatment activities. In some cases, additional areas or levels of expertise may be needed, depending on the complexity of the task and the nature of the historic properties involved." (Italics added). Therefore these standards are intended to require that the HPO be someone with expertise in the nature of the historic properties (buildings/structures/districts/sites) involved, or in other words, a Historical Architect. So for example, if a proposed undertaking were to have impacts on the city's sewer and water systems, you wouldn't have a forester review the undertaking and make recommendations - -you would assign this task to a civil engineer. If the proposed undertaking in this example would potentially impact an archeological site, you wouldn't ask a planner or architect to determine the significance of those impacts and/or recommend proper mitigation measures because they do not have the appropriate expertise -- you would assign this task to an archeologist. For these same reasons, you would not ask a planner or even a historian to determine the significance of impacts and/or proper mitigation measures for impacts to historic buildings/architecture, historic districts, historic structures, and historic sites -- you would assign this task to a historical architect. Additionally, the Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards qualifications state (underline added): The minimum professional qualifications in historic architecture area professional degree inarchitecture or a State license to practice architecture, plus one of the following: 1. At least one year of graduate study in architectural preservation, American architectural history, preservation planning, or closely related field; or 2. At least one year of full-time professional experience on historic preservation projects. Such study or experience shall include detailed investigations of historic structures, preparation ofhistoric structures research reports, and preparation of plans and specifications for preservation projects. THEREFORE, The work of the HPO should not be assigned as collateral duty or as a temporary assignment to any staff members who do not meet the professional qualifications cited in Bozeman's own Municipal Code 2.05.910. The code requires a HPO who meets the Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards for Historic Architecture. These professional requirements are necessary to review/evaluate projects that have the potential to affect (directly or indirectly) historic buildings, districts, structures, and sites. To have any city staff member make unqualified recommendations on projects requiring a Certificate of Appropriateness or even on the ongoing Landmark and NCOD projects would notonly be against our existing code, it would be a breach of public trust and confidence in the public's relationship with the city. NOTE: If you seek verification/confirmation of my recommendation, please seek counsel with the City Attorney's Office and especially with the Montana State Historic Preservation Office (Helena). Our community development office is great at planning! Let them counsel your on what they do best, which is planning - - and not necessarily historic preservation, which they are not qualified to do. ACTION 2. Regarding the transition period between now and when the the new Historic Preservation Officer replacement is in office: Pause those phases of the Landmark Study and NCODproject that involve directing the consultant in making recommendations for commission decision until a qualified HPO replacement has been hired. It would be a breach of public trust and confidence in the public's relationship with the city if staff members who do not possess the education, experience, and expertise required of the HPO are recommending changes to the NCOD and Landmark Program. Please see ACTION 1. (Above) for rationale and recommendation for this action. ACTION 3. Enact an interim zoning ordinance that prohibits demolition and new applications for new developments over 30,000 square feet within the NCOD until the new Historic Preservation code, Local Landmark Program, and updated design guidelines for the NCOD are adopted. Amended siteplan applications qualify as entirely new applications for development, and would thus be prohibitedunder this interim zoning ordinance. This interim zoning ordinance would be temporary, and wouldnot apply to any development applications outside of the NCOD. RATIONALE: The City is currently engaged with consultants to create a Local Landmark Program and rework Historic Preservation standards generally. This section of code was not addressed over the last several years as part of the UDC update, but has been carved out separately and the work is ongoing. Due inlarge part to public participation asking for the Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District (NCOD) Design Guidelines to be enforced to a greater degree the City has also hired consultants to update these design guidelines. While this work is ongoing, it is not only prudent, but also legally responsible to enact an interim zoning ordinance to prevent “uses that may conflict with a zoning proposal that the governing body is considering or studying.” This action is allowed to us by the most recent edition of Montana Code Annotated title76, chapter 25, item 307. Respectfully, Zehra Osman 59718