Bozeman, Montana City Council will review the report created to review the city's historic districts on Monday, December 14th. A concerned group of Bozeman's residents is planning to attend the meeting and speak on behalf of preserving Bozeman's historic integrity through the maintenance and expansion of Bozeman's historic areas. Lets preserve historic Bozeman for future generations!

1. Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District
Talking Points:
1. Historic Preservation is a public good that benefits our community significantly:
A community’s historic character is one of its main selling points for would be settlers and
new businesses. Bozeman currently has nine officially recognized historic districts and more
than fifty individually listed landmarks. It contains a total of roughly 700 contributing
resources on the National Register of Historic Places. By any accounting this is a substantial
amount of commercial and residential real estate—especially for a town of Bozeman’s size—
and these places comprise the heart and soul of our community. Private and public concern
about the fate of these environs seems both warranted and completely justifiable, given their
significant economic, social and cultural value in our community. The bottom line is this:
despite what some conservative voices say, protecting Bozeman’s historic resources and
cherished sense of place is neither a subversive “liberal agenda” nor an extravagant frill that
only benefits a select wealthy few. To the contrary, historic preservation is a necessary and
logical centerpiece to the City of Bozeman’s urban planning efforts as well as a proven factor
in bolstering the economic well being of the entire community.
2. Historic Preservation and the NCOD promote smart growth: Historic preservation
is perhaps the ultimate form or green development because it discourages sprawl and
maximizes the potential of existing resources. Historic preservation minimizes fiscal waste
by capitalizing on the sunk costs already paid by previous generations. Moreover, it
encourages the efficient use of existing public infrastructure like street, sewer, and water
systems and minimizes the civic costs typically associated with providing public services in
sprawling new developments. Historic preservation not only makes communities livable, it
makes them vital. It is a patriotic, responsible, and sustainable form of smart growth
development that urges us to get in touch with our heritage, capitalize on the inherent
amenities already existing within our community, and save the best of the past for future
generations. It is, therefore, neither a wasteful extravagance nor economically unsound—it
is, in fact, conservatism in one of its purest forms.
3. The NCOD is not anti-development:
The NCOD has played a major role in minimizing inappropriate modern developments that
could have significantly eroded the integrity of Bozeman’s historic environs. But rather than
treating our historic resources as untouchable museum pieces, it has also encouraged
literally hundreds of historically appropriate restorations and new construction projects
while simultaneously helping to preserve our cherished sense of place during decades of
unprecedented growth. The NCOD’s innovative program to offer zoning deviations in
exchange for more historically appropriate development has been effective in promoting
sensitive new development while ensuring greater zoning flexibility within older Bozeman.
4. The NCOD promotes community: Bozeman’s historic core contains many
architectural features that promote community and contribute to Bozeman’s unique sense
of place. Old and young, rich and poor, professional and student live side by side in the
NCOD’s architecturally and economically diverse neighborhoods. Common features found in
the NCOD—sidewalks, alleys, front porches, landscaped yards, and detached garages make it
far more likely that neighbors might accidentally bump into and know one another.

2. Additionally, formal gathering places, like neighborhood parks, schools, and businesses
inherently promote social interaction and familiarity. Encouraging preservation in the
NCOD helps protect these desirable attributes, which are often not found in more modern
neighborhoods.
5. Affordable housing and historic preservation are neither incompatible nor mutually
exclusive: To help hold gentrification somewhat in check, we must recognize that
architectural diversity is a critical component in Bozeman’s historic districts. A mixed
housing stock is not only more aesthetically pleasing, it helps to ensure that a variety of
income levels can afford to live in the heart of the community. Historically, Bozeman’s older
neighborhoods featured an assortment of single and multiple family housing options,
including rentals. Some historic buildings were larger and more ornamental, while others
were more inconspicuous in character. Out of respect for these historic patterns, and with
hopes of keeping historic Bozeman somewhat affordable, attempts to radically transform
smaller houses into something far less modest should be closely scrutinized. This
especially holds true on the north side of Main Street, where a large stock of smaller historic
homes still exists in close proximity to Main Street. Individuals desiring to invest heavily in a
renovation project, should be encouraged to acquire older properties that fit their
architectural program, rather than attempting to reinvent the wheel. New infill
development, when deemed appropriate, should be expected to be compatible with the size,
scale and basic architectural character of surrounding historic properties. The varied
architectural pallet that we all cherish in Bozeman’s older neighborhoods is diverse enough
to accommodate all tastes and income levels.
6. The City is giving the public the opinion that it is anti-historic preservation:
Increasing numbers of Bozeman’s residents are concerned that our City Planning Office and
City Commissioners—the majority of whom were elected in part because of their pro-
planning sentiments—are actually anti-historic preservation. What started a few years ago
with the occasional approval of incompatible new construction projects and unmerited
demolitions within Bozeman’s older neighborhoods, now appears to have morphed into a far
more comprehensive effort to undermine historic preservation in general. Last June the City
of Bozeman attempted to quietly downsize its Historic Preservation Advisory Board to a
virtual non-entity. Now, the City Commission is considering “a major overhaul of its historic
preservation regulations, ” specifically “replacing its existing neighborhood conservation
overlay district or NCOD, with regulations based on smaller historic districts.”
7. The city should enforce the laws currently on the books: Bozeman’s historic
preservation program has, until recently, been considered one of the most groundbreaking
and effective in the United States. Historic preservation design review within the NCOD has
played a crucial role in making Bozeman one of the most uniquely livable and vital small
towns in America. Why throw the baby out with the bathwater? Instead of dismantling this
successful program with a proven track record, the City should rededicate itself to
educating the general public about the merits of historic preservation and consistently
enforcing historic preservation laws that are currently on the books.
8. Bozeman should invest in updating its historic inventory and creating more, not
fewer, historic districts: The NCOD was intended to serve as an incubator for the
protection of existing historic districts and the creation of new National Register of Historic
Places listings. Although a property’s eligibility for listing on the National Register can

3. change over time thanks to appropriate renovations or increased age, the official status of
buildings comprising Bozeman’s historic inventory hasn’t been updated since the mid-
1980s. Consequently, the positive effects of the literally hundreds of historic rehabilitations
and restorations that have taken place in Bozeman over the quarter century have not been
included in the already impressive figures noted above. Undoubtedly, dozens—perhaps
hundreds—of historic homes and businesses that were ineligible for listing on the National
Register a generation ago would now meet the qualifications of age and appearance
necessary for National Register listing. The city should make the investment to update its
historic inventory.
9. Neighborhood context matters, and that’s why we need the NCOD: Meaningful
historic preservation is much more than merely saving a few grand buildings. If we are to
truly progress, we must save the best of the past for future generations—and not just a few
key landmarks—we must preserve their broader neighborhood context as well. Eliminating
the NCOD in five years, as recommended, will erase the current “buffer zone” that now
blankets Bozeman’s historic core, thus leaving potentially new historic districts and
individual landmarks vulnerable to new developments with little or no historic preservation
expectations. The almost certain result will be an increased amount of demolitions in the
older part of town. New, minimally regulated infill development and less closely scrutinized
construction projects will also likely become far more commonplace within Bozeman’s
historic core, if historic preservation design review guidelines are downsized or altogether
eliminated.
10. Now is not the time to downsize Bozeman’s groundbreaking historic preservation
program or the Historic Preservation Advisory Board.: Historic preservation and
the all-volunteer Bozeman Historic Preservation Advisory Board must remain a vital
cornerstone to the City ’s urban planning efforts. As we enter yet another dramatic building
boom, Bozeman’s efforts to promote historic preservation goals and objectives should be
expanded and amplified, not downsized or altogether silenced. According to its by-laws, the
Historic Preservation Advisory Board should be a vigorous citizen-run voice for preservation
in Bozeman, not a strictly controlled entity that meets a couple of times a year to work on
assigned projects. The public must be allowed to advocate, not just for historically
appropriate new development, but also for the past development that does so much to
define Bozeman’s character and quality of life. As important, the HPAB must strive harder to
fulfill its charge to educate the general public on the many tangible benefits of preserving
our cultural heritage. One can only image what might have been lost in the last quarter
century had Bozeman’s NCOD and HPAB not be created. If we abandon Bozeman’s historic
preservation program now, we will undoubtedly look back with regret at taking the easy
way out. At this critical juncture, we must redouble our efforts to ensure that our
community remains "the most livable place."