City staff update board on Unified Development Code overhaul; board and public emphasize urban forest and implementation details

Lede Tom Rogers of the Community Development Department briefed the Urban Parks and Forestry Advisory Board on March 27 about the city’s multi-phase update to the Unified Development Code (UDC), which implements the city’s growth policy and the PRAT plan; no board action was taken.

Nut graf Rogers described the UDC project as a multi-year rewrite and engagement process to implement the community plan and to comply with recent state legislative changes. The presentation covered what chapter 38 contains (development standards, parkland dedication, transportation pathways), the supplementary engagement plan and recent public workshops; board members and public commenters pressed staff to clarify how the UDC will treat trees, wetlands and linear parkland.

Body Tom Rogers, representing the Community Development Department, told the board, “This UDC thing, is really what implements the community plan, the growth policy.” He said the code rewrite touches many topics—zoning, streetscapes, parks, transportation pathways—and that chapter 38 houses the bulk of parkland and pathway rules. Rogers noted the project has proceeded in phases, that an earlier draft was paused for expanded engagement, and that the city will continue to refine the draft in response to public input and state law changes.

Rogers summarized outreach completed under the supplementary engagement plan: mailed notices to households, six open houses (in person and online), neighborhood-group briefings, and four thematic workshops that covered transportation, housing density, neighborhood character and environmental topics. He said the city is tracking state requirements tied to Montana’s Land Use and Planning Act (MLUPA) and other legislative changes, and that some statutory changes will force revisions regardless of local preference.

Board members discussed how the UDC intersects with the PRAT plan and with parks policy. Staff and board members noted that language in the draft currently still references “class 1 trails” while the PRAT plan uses “anchor routes,” and Rogers acknowledged that wording would be corrected. Staff described the potential for accepting certain linear park corridors or wider anchor routes as dedicated parkland when they meet usability and width thresholds, and that wetlands and riparian areas are typically protected and may not qualify as dedicated parkland unless they meet specific criteria.

Public comment emphasized urban forestry and protecting mature trees. Citizen Dan Carty urged an “ecocentric” view and quoted Aldo Leopold: “We abuse land because we see it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” Mary Bateson asked the board to include code that protects elder (mature) boulevard trees. Natsuki Nakamura and an online commenter identified as Marsha Kaveny called for stronger recognition of mature trees and clearer, enforceable natural open-space (NOS) provisions in the UDC.

Staff next steps and schedule Rogers said the project will continue with drafting informed by the workshops and advisory-board feedback; subsequent briefings are planned for other advisory bodies and the zoning commission. He reminded the board that the UDC is a living document: Bozeman has historically amended its code routinely and the city will return with targeted text amendments and implementation suggestions for how PRAT objectives should be translated into enforceable UDC language or into the city’s design manual.

Ending Staff asked the board to consider policy-level priorities the board wishes to emphasize—especially where the PRAT plan and UDC intersect around parkland dedication, anchor routes, and tree/ natural open-space protection—and said staff will bring revised drafts keyed to those priorities back to the board in subsequent meetings.