Zone Edge Transitions

Lives on an over-zoned RC block across from a B-3 rezone; said buffering is a matter of fairness for residents living at the edge 'through no fault of our own,' whether via setbacks, landscaping or zone map changes.

Urged opacity requirements for balcony railings and landscaping at every transition touching residential zones, questioned the RC-to-RA Type 2A recommendation, and pointed to Great Falls' height-based stepbacks as a model.

Commended Commissioner Bode's candor about the missed downtown plan recommendations and questioned what bargain is being driven for height allowances.

Urged district-wide B-3 setbacks, said B-3 should have been the buffer, and flagged the 60-foot right-of-way and land-cession loopholes as unaddressed community concerns.

Supported HPAB's suggestions and urged neighborhood-friendly transitions on all streets and alleys, with no loopholes via ceding land to hit 60 feet.

A resident in RA near the university who urged painstaking, nuanced work on both B-3 design rules and citywide transitions, valuing variety and green space.

Assembled the walk-with-commissioners survey; called the 2025 code an improvement over 2018 and urged fine-tuning landscape requirements and M-1-next-to-residential cases.

Thanked commissioners for progress, praised the walking tours and 35-respondent survey, and urged attention to transitions like the alley west of the Ives building.

A downtown architect of 30 years who says the destruction narrative is overblown, sees no 60-foot loophole, and asks staff to fix the transition section for narrow lots — fair and logical, citing downtown plan pages 112–117.

A Midtown residential property owner since 1998, he asked the board to recommend cutting the B-3 height cap to 60 feet and requiring zone edge transitions on all streets and alleys regardless of width, arguing 90-foot by-right buildings don't fit the city's strategic or community plans.

Asked the board to recommend cutting B-3 height to 60 feet (matching the Main Street historic area) and requiring zone edge transitions on all streets and alleys, calling the 90-foot limit a failure to honor the 'Bozeman feel' and flagging a loophole allowing land cession to avoid transition requirements.

Gave context on how the UDC evolved from story limits to feet, warned that with the 90-foot cap plus affordable-housing incentives buildings could exceed 90 feet, and noted a South Church lot advertising 90,000 square feet of development potential — pressure that fuels demolition.

A Northside/Midtown resident argued 90-foot B-3 buildings would unfairly burden neighboring residential owners through shadows and would weaken affordable housing incentives; he asked the board to recommend cutting the cap to 60 or 70 feet, opposed allowing land strips to dodge transition requirements, and urged a 100-foot right-of-way transition standard.

Thanked Commissioners for walking tours, called North Central development a spreading cancer, and urged cutting downtown heights to 60 feet with transitions favoring neighborhood character over real estate investment.

Said the new stepback standard improves on old stair-stepping, but questioned whether a 60-foot street should erase all transition requirements and urged transitioning to what's actually built, with bigger setbacks generally.

Argued Bozeman has abandoned its tradition of sympathetic, harmonious buildings, said tall buildings should go elsewhere with freeway access, and noted the Ives bike room sits empty while developers charge for parking.

Cited Paris's La Defence model — keep high-rises out of downtown and cluster them in an outlying business hub.

Thanked commissioners for the zone edge tours, urged fairness to existing properties, and as a Tree Coalition co-founder called the 12% canopy goal too low, urging a 16% goal and stronger developer tree requirements.