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Bozeman commission adopts new Unified Development Code after heated debate over downtown height limit
Summary
After hours of public testimony and commissioner questions, the Bozeman City Commission adopted ordinance 2,151—the city’s rewritten Unified Development Code—and approved restoring a 90-foot building height limit in the B3 downtown fringe by amendment. Commissioners said the code is intended to be iterated after implementation.
The Bozeman City Commission on Dec. 16 adopted ordinance 2,151, the city’s consolidated Unified Development Code (UDC), after several hours of staff presentation, public testimony and commissioner debate over height limits in the downtown B3 zoning district.
The ordinance, described by staff as the final repeal and replacement of chapter 38 to comply with the Montana Land Use Planning Act and to implement the Bozeman Community Plan, passed after an amendment to restore the B3 height back to 90 feet won 4–1; the main motion to adopt the complete UDC then passed unanimously.
City planner Chris Saunders told the commission the UDC is the product of a multi-year process that created the new B3C (core) and revised standards for height, transitions, affordable housing incentives and natural-resources review. Saunders said state law also affected draft language, including a minimum 60-foot allowance in downtown core areas adopted in recent state legislation.
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