Bozeman City Commission Regular Meeting - October 27, 2026

The Bozeman City Commission held its regular meeting on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in the Commission Room at City Hall, with in-person and online participation. The agenda covered consent approvals, a joint behavioral health resolution, a work session on Unified Development Code text amendments, and a work session on the Northwest Bozeman Area Plan. The meeting ran late, with the Mayor extending the projected end time to 11:15 p.m. No minutes were available for this meeting; this summary is drawn from the agenda and raw transcript.

FYI & Disclosures

• Commissioner Bodie noted that the Sustainability Board vacancy application was due October 28, with a broader board appointment cycle deadline of November 30.
• Commissioner Sweeney gave a brief Urban Parks and Forestry Board update, including early work to put the Pratt plan into code and upcoming parks trust grant applications.
• City Manager staff reminded the public about Halloween safety, the pumpkin stroll at Story Mill Park, and downtown trick-or-treat street closures.
• Commissioner Sweeney disclosed that multiple family members live within the Northwest Bozeman Area Plan boundary; she did not believe the disclosure affected her ability to weigh in.

Consent Calendar

• Approved 5-0: Accounts Payable Claims.
• Approved 5-0: Memorandum of Understanding with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to revise the nutrient total maximum daily load for the middle segment of the East Gallatin River.
• Approved 5-0: Purchase agreement with Motorola Solutions for new police and fire radios.
• Approved 5-0: Professional Services Agreement with Greenspace Landscaping for snow and ice removal from downtown surface parking lots and sidewalks.
• Approved 5-0: Change Order Two with Williams Civil Construction, Inc. for Bozeman Sports Park Phase 2.

Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items

• Kiki Hulls expressed concern that the Diamond 8 baseball development does not provide enough parking and that event parking on nearby streets and bike lanes creates hazards.
• Aidan Tarpee, an MSU student raised in Bozeman, described losing family and friends to housing costs, cited a Montana Free Press figure that 37.3% of Gallatin County residents were born in Montana, a median single-family home price of $715,000, and an average rent of $2,000, and suggested more city revenue for affordable housing and smaller lot/townhouse/duplex housing types.
• Julie Maldonado, an MSU student, advocated for a bear-resistant trash can mandate, noting 14 black bears were euthanized this fall and estimating a small monthly cost increase from $19.72 to $23.04 for city trash service; she also suggested assistance for lower-income households.
• Corelia Binkley raised flood preparedness, drainage, and evacuation planning concerns, and supported the earlier parking comments.
• Sarah D., speaking online from the Laurel Glen neighborhood, agreed with the parking concerns and urged that wetlands, fields, creek corridors, old-growth trees and sandhill crane habitat be preserved; she asked for thoughtful rather than rushed development.
• One audience member raised difficulty hearing in the room; the Mayor acknowledged poor acoustics and said a technology upgrade is budgeted.

Action Item: Behavioral Health Resolution

Mayor Morrison explained that the resolution with Belgrade and Gallatin County is a first step in a regional effort and carries no funding commitment. One public commenter read a prepared statement into the record about municipal liability and civil rights compliance. Commissioners supported the measure as more than symbolic and tied it to police and fire workload. Motion passed 5-0.

Work Session: Unified Development Code Amendments

Planning manager Chris Saunders presented follow-up options from the August 25 work session on Chapter 38 text amendments concerning zone edge transitions, setbacks, stepbacks, balconies, roof decks, building materials, and landscaping.

Setbacks, Stepbacks, and Transitions

• Staff confirmed that affordable housing projects are not exempt from the zone edge transition standards.
• Staff recommended keeping current setbacks and adding an exemption from transition standards when a building is placed at the furthest build-to line; it also offered a B3 district wall plate/stepback option.
• Commissioner Sweeney advocated for a lower, more flexible stepback menu to create human scale and varied streetscapes. Commissioner Bodie supported the 70-foot wall plate concept. Deputy Mayor Fisher questioned the evidence that the new code is failing and urged attention to staff capacity. Mayor Morrison supported predictable buffering through transition tools and possible zone map changes.
• The commission passed an advisory motion, 3-2, to add an exemption from transition standards when the entire building is built to the furthest build-to line.
• A separate advisory motion to add a 70-foot wall plate and 8-foot stepback in the B3 district failed, 2-3.

Balconies and Rooftop Decks

• Staff described existing standards for amenity space, balcony opacity, roof decks, encroachments, and landscaping, and recommended leaving them as-is.
• Commissioner Sweeney proposed strengthening privacy through more opaque balcony parapets and allowing planters on shared decks to count toward open space.
• The commission passed an advisory motion, 5-0, to allow planters/landscaping on shared roof decks to count toward required amenity/open space.

Building Materials

• Staff reviewed existing window, EFIS, durable ground-floor material, and facade articulation standards and recommended keeping them as adopted.
• Commissioner Sweeney wanted limits on metal siding and better window privacy protection; other commissioners preferred to allow materials to evolve.
• An advisory motion to keep the building materials standards as written passed, 4-1.

Landscaping, Relief, and RC/RA Transition

• Staff recommended that all transition types include properly sized landscaping, include a defined relief provision, and assign transition type 2A to the RC/RA interface.
• The commission passed an advisory motion, 3-2, to eliminate transition types 1A and 2A and rely only on the landscaping versions 1B and 2B; staff later confirmed the corresponding B-type would replace each eliminated A-type.
• The commission passed an advisory motion, 3-2, to assign transition type 1B to the interface between the RC and RA zoning districts.
• The commission passed an advisory motion, 5-0, to create a relief provision for landscaping in transitions.
• After discussion of a proposed named ad hoc committee to study the zone map around B3 and adjacent districts, the commission did not approve the named committee as proposed and instead asked staff to return with an ad hoc committee charter.

Public Comment on UDC Items

• Daniel Cardi, a residential-edge property owner, said placing a 90-foot B3 building directly across from residential zoning is unfair and asked for predictable setbacks, stepbacks, landscaping, or zone map changes.
• Marcia Caveney, online, argued that a 70-foot wall plate with an 8-foot stepback is effectively no stepback and pointed to years of public concern about monolithic buildings.
• Karen Filipovich, online, identified light, heat, noise, privacy, and shading as transition deficiencies, supported stronger balcony opacity and landscaping in residential transitions, and suggested RC/RA should use the same treatment as NEMO/RA.
• Rob Pertzborne, online, cautioned that costly stepbacks can push developers toward lesser materials, and asked staff to meaningfully engage design professionals.
• Other commenters supported district-wide rather than transition-only solutions, called for human-scale design, and criticized the use of cheap black metal boxes.

Work Session: Northwest Bozeman Area Plan

Chris Nauman of Sandbell, the consultant hired by the utility department, presented the draft Northwest Bozeman Area Plan covering roughly 3,000 acres. It is a guiding document intended to help shape the area before annexation or development. The draft maps natural streams, irrigation ditches, wetlands and associated setbacks; proposes collector/arterial alignments that differ from the 2017 Transportation Master Plan to avoid or minimize natural resource impacts; carries forward the Pratt plan active transportation network; and proposes shifting future land-use commercial nodes to better align with the proposed road network. Public hearings are scheduled before the Community Development Board on November 16 and before the City Commission on December 15.

Commission discussion and public comment raised these points:

• Commissioner Sweeney asked about appendix B and why aquifer recharge, wetland banking potential, historic resources, and large tree stands were not mapped; consultants explained that later site-specific processes will provide that detail.
• Commissioners and commenters supported stronger watercourse and wetland setbacks. One commenter noted the county uses a 150-foot setback with 100 feet of native vegetation, while Bozeman uses 50 feet and has not updated its watercourse setbacks since 2002. Whitefish and Helena were cited as examples of larger buffers.
• Commissioner Bodie and public commenters asked that mature trees, sensitive lands, and wildlife connectivity be recognized in the plan.
• Deputy Mayor Fisher and Commissioner Bodie supported physically separate or independent east-west shared-use paths, and thought irrigation ditches should be distinguished from natural waterways while also being recognized as heritage infrastructure.
• Commissioner Magic encouraged mapping suitable development areas, traffic-calming road layouts, and preserving productive agricultural land; he noted conservation easements are expensive and voluntary.
• Commissioner Sweeney asked for language consistent with the development code: avoid, minimize, then mitigate; maps showing aquifer recharge areas and larger watercourse commons buffers; and a smaller commercial node along Oak if it conflicts with wetlands.
• Mayor Morrison offered a reality check that buildout is likely decades away and depends on future annexation, but agreed the plan is useful for establishing a long-term vision.
• No formal vote was taken on the Northwest Bozeman Area Plan; staff and the consultant were asked to incorporate commission and public feedback into the next draft.

Key Outcomes

• Consent agenda approved 5-0.
• Behavioral health regional priority resolution approved 5-0.
• UDC work session advisory votes: transition exemption passed 3-2; 70-foot wall plate motion failed 2-3; rooftop deck landscaping/open space motion passed 5-0; building materials standards motion passed 4-1; eliminating 1A/2A transitions passed 3-2; RC/RA transition type 1B passed 3-2; relief provision passed 5-0.
• Staff to prepare an ad hoc committee charter for possible zone map transition work.
• Northwest Bozeman Area Plan to be revised, then considered by the Community Development Board on November 16 and the City Commission on December 15.