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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-01-26 Public Comment - K. Berry - Public Comment For 09.01 Commission Meeting Action Item H.1From:Katherine Berry To:Bozeman Public Comment Cc:Lilly McLane Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment For 09.01 Commission Meeting Action Item H.1 Date:Tuesday, September 1, 2026 11:51:17 AM Attachments:26.09.01 Public Comment to City Commission- AJD removal (4).pdf 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. Hello, Please see the attached comment from the Gallatin Watershed Council for the 26.09.01 Commission meeting concerning Action Item H.1. Best,Katherine -- Katherine Berry, Water Policy Manager Gallatin Watershed Councilwww.gallatinwatershedcouncil.org | katherine@gallatinwatershedcouncil.org Cell: 860-558-3323 To: Bozeman City Commission From: Gallatin Watershed Council Date: September 1st, 2026 Dear Commissioners, The Gallatin Watershed Council supports the City’s proposal to decouple the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Army Corps) Approved Jurisdictional Determination (AJD) and the Gallatin Conservation District’s (Conservation District) jurisdictional determination from the wetland and watercourse delineation report (delineation report). Alternatively, we recommend requiring the delineation report be due at the first stages of site planning: pre-application and concept plan review. Decoupling the delineation report from the Army Corps’ and Conservation District’s jurisdictional determination processes creates an opportunity to require the delineation report earlier in the development review process, since the timing of the report would no longer be dependent on the timelines and procedures of outside agencies’. A delineation report is completed by a qualified wetland professional to provide detailed information about water resources on-site, including a highly accurate map of wetlands and watercourses, acreages and descriptions of each feature, a functional assessment, and a narrative of how impacts will be avoided, minimized and/or mitigated. Requiring a delineation report early in the planning process can streamline site planning, improve coordination between regulatory entities, avoid project delays, and reduce impacts to wetlands and watercourses. This recommendation received consensus from wetland experts at the City’s June 30th public meeting. Attendees included several wetland consultants who conduct delineations and regularly work with multiple regulatory agencies, as well as representatives from the Army Corps, and Gallatin Watershed Council. Attendees noted that completing a delineation early would help applicants understand site constraints from the outset while improving coordination where multiple agencies and permitting processes are involved. At the recent Community Development Board meeting, staff brought up several concerns with the recommendation to require the delineation report at the pre-application and concept plan review that we would like to address: ●The pre-app and concept plan is a time where a plan is not yet baked. While the pre-app and concept plan present no commitment to design, these review processes do require applicants to provide substantial information about existing site conditions and proposed development. This includes existing and proposed utilities; critical lands such The Gallatin Watershed Council guides collaborative water stewardship in the Gallatin Valley for a healthy and productive landscape. www.gallatinwatershedcouncil.org as wetlands, riparian areas, and streams; topographic features like areas of seasonal ponding, wetlands, and floodway areas; and waivers or variances. Often plans come in at this stage with buildings, roads, and parking lots already laid out across the site. Formally and accurately identifying wetlands and watercourses at this stage would help applicants understand where development may be constrained and allow those resources to inform site design, while avoiding costly redesign in the future. ● A wetland delineation expires, so if a development process takes long, an applicant could need to complete another one later in the process. Wetland delineation reports are valid with the Army Corp for 5 years. ● Completing a wetland delineation is time intensive. A wetland delineation itself typically requires one to three days of field work and can cost between $4,000-$20,000 depending on the size and complexity of the project. Unless it is certified that there are no wetlands on site, this time and cost is inherent to all projects. Requiring a wetland delineation up front eliminates the need to hire a wetland consultant twice–once for the pre-application/concept review reporting, and then again for the full wetland delineation–and instead produces one, consistent, and accurate source of information throughout the review process. ● Seasonal components restrict when a delineation can be completed. Wetland delineations in Montana are typically completed between May and October, when site conditions allow for an accurate assessment. This constraint should inform project scheduling rather than delay the identification of important site resources. After all, Montana’s extreme seasons inform many other aspects of planning and construction throughout a project. GWC’s stream and wetland restoration projects are subject to the same federal and state permitting requirements as a development, and we are familiar with planning projects around the seasonality of wetland delineations. To avoid costly re-designs, we do not move forward with concept plans without a completed delineation. We understand the importance of maintaining a practical and efficient development process, and believe requiring wetland and watercourse delineations at the pre-application and concept plan stage is inline with these goals by helping with the following: ● Improve interagency coordination. Depending on the proposed wetland and watercourse impacts, projects may involve the City, Army Corps, Conservation District, and others like Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. An aquatic resource delineation is a typical component of the Army Corps’ 404 permitting process and the Conservation The Gallatin Watershed Council guides collaborative water stewardship in the Gallatin Valley for a healthy and productive landscape. www.gallatinwatershedcouncil.org District’s 310 permitting process when regulated streams and wetlands may be impacted. Requiring the delineation at the pre-app or concept plan stage would give applicants and agencies a shared understanding of site conditions early in the process. An Army Corps representative noted at the City’s June 30th public meeting that once an applicant has progressed through the City’s development review process and established the locations of roads and buildings, there are significantly fewer opportunities to consider alternative site layouts that could avoid or minimize wetland impacts, making it difficult to integrate with the Army Corps process. Ideally, an applicant who works through the City’s development review process and designs a project to comply with the City’s land use code will then be well positioned to move forward with the Army Corps’ permitting process, making the overall permitting process more predictable, efficient, and coordinated. ● Streamline the development application and review process. Under our current code, applicants must map a myriad of water resources, such as streams, wetlands, irrigation ditches, ponds, marsh areas, and more when submitting a pre-application or concept plan (sec. 38.710.030. - Subdivision pre-application submittal materials., sec. 38.710.190. - Submittal materials for concept plans). Applicants often get this information through aerial images and publicly available maps of wetlands, riparian areas, and watercourses. This process is useful for broad-scale land use planning, but without a formal delineation, this mapping lacks the accuracy and completeness needed for site design (see Appendix A). A wetland delineation is a standardized on-site method for identifying wetlands, streams, and ditches using soils, vegetation, and hydrology. Requiring the delineation report at the earliest development phase would consolidate many existing mapping requirements into a single, more accurate product. ● Align with the intent of the development code updates: Impact avoidance. The UDC requires that “Applicants must avoid impacts to regulated wetlands.” (sec. 38.610.030. - Application of wetland regulations.) Current practice is for the delineation reports to come in at preliminary plat or site plan, at the same time as a parks master plan, stormwater drainage plan, traffic impact study, and location of lots. Impact avoidance is much easier to achieve if wetlands and watercourses are accurately identified before roads, lot lines, and buildings are designed. Early delineation better protects aquatic resources and reduces costly redesigns. Appendix A shows examples of development projects within Bozeman where the The Gallatin Watershed Council guides collaborative water stewardship in the Gallatin Valley for a healthy and productive landscape. www.gallatinwatershedcouncil.org wetland delineation was considerably different than the National Wetland Inventory (NWI) and/or Montana Natural Heritage Program (MNHP) wetland maps typically referenced at the pre-application stage. Application 24114, which is currently in Final Review for its preliminary plat, noted in the wetland delineation report that, “Data from the NWI and the Montana Natural Heritage Program depicts zero aquatic and/or wetland features within the investigation area.” (Figure 1). After a delineation was completed, Figure 2 shows that there are considerable wetland features on site. Similarly, Application 23039 shows no wetlands on the project site through the initial analysis of the NWI (Figure 3), but the delineation reveals about two acres of wetlands on the east side of the property (Figure 4). Accurately identifying wetlands and watercourses from the outset sets expectations about what a property can support and ensures development plans align with the UDC and other agency regulations before significant time and resources are invested in a design, avoiding major revisions down the road. Application 20351 states in the preliminary plat narrative summary, “Extreme efforts have been made to address disturbance of existing wetlands and the East Gallatin River floodplain. To address comments on the preapplication plan that were primarily related to wetlands and floodplain impacts, the project was completely redesigned in accordance with suggestions by the reviewers. The result is the elimination of 10 out of 27 residential lots, a 822% reduction in federally protected wetlands impacts, and a 477% reduction in floodplain area impacts.” Having a wetland delineation report before lot lines are drawn avoids conflicts like this. ● Align with the intent of the development code updates: Parkland dedication. The PRAT Plan and recent updates to the code specify that watercourses and their associated setbacks can be included in parkland dedication (Division 38.620. - Watercourse Setbacks). Park planning starts at pre-application/concept plan review (sec. 38.710.030. - Subdivision pre-application submittal materials., sec. 38.710.190. - Submittal materials for concept plans.), and therefore accurate delineation information can help intentionally incorporate water resources into project design. Thank you for your time and consideration. We encourage the City to require wetland and watercourse delineation reports during pre-app and concept plan review to provide better information earlier in the development process and support the intent of the updated code. Sincerely, Gallatin Watershed Council The Gallatin Watershed Council guides collaborative water stewardship in the Gallatin Valley for a healthy and productive landscape. www.gallatinwatershedcouncil.org Figure 1. National Wetlands Inventory Image of Wetlands Present in Application 24112 Figure 2. Wetlands Delineated for Application 24112 APPENDIX A. Discrepancies Between Wetland Maps and Delineation Reports Figure 3. National Wetlands Inventory Image of Wetlands Present in Application 23029 Figure 4. Wetlands Delineated for Application 23029 (boundary darkened for clarity).