HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-19-26 Public Comment - L. Semones - Attention Bozeman City Commissioners, Community Development Director Erin George, HPAB members and the Lakota GroupFrom:Linda Semones
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Attention Bozeman City Commissioners, Community Development Director Erin George, HPAB
members and the Lakota Group
Date:Thursday, May 14, 2026 11:13:14 AM
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Please distribute the following Public Comment to the groups and individuals mentioned in
the subject line. I respectfully ask Director George to sent the comment letter to the LakotaGroup
Dear Director George, City Commissioners, Members of the Lakota Group, and
Members of HPAB,
This letter is public comment on the the HPAB meeting of April 15. During thatmeeting, there was a discussion on the difference between using the word Standards
as opposed to Guidelines. Director George seemed to indicate that her understandingwas that these two words were interchangeable, basically meaning the same thing. If
this is not the case, apologies to Director George, but her comments left the issueunclarified. Assistant Director Harbage more clearly stated the issue when she noted
that there are both standards and guidelines in our current manual, “Guidelines forHistoric Preservation & the Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District.” Assistant
Director Harbage is correct. Both Standards and Guidelines appear in the manual. However, these two words (standards and guidelines) definitely do not mean the same
thing. They are not synonyms. They cannot be used interchangeably. If you look at theorganization of the manual beginning with Chapter 2, each topic is divided into 2
sections. The first is POLICY and the second is GUIDELINES. POLICY is what would beconsidered the mandatory requirements. It is the STANDARDS statement in the
document. If you read chapter 2, Topography, p.47 you will find the following POLICYstatement. “Site work should be planned to protect the assets of the existing
topography.” The use of incorrect and non binding language in the POLICY sections (should, must consider, and other flexible terms ) is what lawyers are using to invalidate
the mandatory aspect of POLICY statements. However, the document was clearlywritten with the intention of making the POLICY statements the mandatory
requirements. The second category, GUIDELINES, should be the available, flexibleoptions to help a client with various ways to meet the mandatory policy requirements.
This is how the manual was originally set up. But the manual is a hot mess because ofthe language. The use of non-binding terms in the POLICY sections is what allows
developers to circumvent the intention of the document.
As Brian Krueger said on our walk, the purpose of the plan review is to help the clientbe compliant with the policy and guidelines. However, since all is undermined by the
wordage, the best a professional and dedicated planner can do is to push hard on theclient to comply with POLICY, up to the point that the client puts their foot down and
says NO, I won’t comply any further. At that point, the planner can either deny theproject or approve the client’s plan. And, if the client has made some concessions it
becomes difficult to deny the plan. Since the wordage is so unbinding, the planner rarelydenies a plan at the last minute.
This is why the revised “Guidelines for Historic Preservation” needs to use specific
legal and strong language for mandatory POLICY statements and reserve the non-binding language for the GUIDELINE flexible suggestions. No matter if HPAB
recommends a tiered approach, or any other organization of the NCOD neighborhoods, the terms STANDARD (or POLICY), and GUIDELINES must be clearly and legally
demarcated. Here is an AI summary of the definitions of STANDARD and GUIDELINEwhen used for historical preservation:
In historic preservation, Standards are high-level, regulatory, or policy-based principles
(often mandatory) outlining what needs to be achieved, while Guidelines are advisory,technical explanations detailing how to apply those Standards through specific, recommended
methods. Both are used together to preserve a property's historic integrity. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]Standards vs. Guidelines Key Differences
Standards (The "What"): These are mandatory or regulatory, especially for federal,
state, or local tax incentive projects. The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the
Treatment of Historic Properties constitute the core requirements for four treatments:
Preservation, Rehabilitation, Restoration, and Reconstruction.
Guidelines (The "How"): These are non-prescriptive, technical advice documents that
accompany the Standards, providing, “...a wealth of practical information” on how to
apply them to specific, real-world projects, such as repairing windows, cleaning
masonry, or adding new additions. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
I would also note that the Secretary of the Interior’s standards include Preservation,Rehabilitation, Restoration and Reconstruction, but do not include the term New
Construction. We need to make sure that our standards include those exact words,New Construction, to be completely clear in our intent. We need to make our
standards air tight.
The public has made it very clear that we should identify our STANDARDS and give themteeth through legal standing based on language. The public has also been very
supportive of giving flexibility in the guidelines, as to how to achieve those standards. We have a very professional consultant firm, the Lakota Group, to help write the
standards and the guidelines. We have an amazing staff who can then use the clarifiedand revised standards and guidelines to support historic preservation using the most
current procedures. Our goal is not to preserve the town in amber. This update willinsure that our historic resources are conserved, at the same time that positive
development can occur.
Sincerely,
Linda Semones Bozeman Resident, living in the NCOD