City of Bozeman, Montana Zoning Ordinance, Site Plan Review (2000)
Topics: Traffic/Sprawl | Zoning Regulations
Bozeman divides projects into major and minor site plans. Anything over 15,000 s.f. in size is a major site plan. The purpose of site plan review is to “prevent demonstrable adverse impacts of the development upon public safety, health or welfare…to conserve the value of adjoining buildings and/or property.” City officials are allowed to even look at “expressed public opinion” about a site plan. The Bozeman code requires the City Commission nearly two dozen criteria, including: “compatibility with, and sensitivity to, the immediate environmenet of the site and the adjacent neighborhoods relative to architectural design, building mass, and height, neighborhood identity, landscaping, historical character, orientation of buildings, and visual integration”; the overall aesthetic quality of the site configuration; conformance to the city’s Master Plan; impact on anticipated traffic and parking conditions;design of the pedestrian circulation system; building location and height; expressed public opinion; in harmony with the purposes and intent of the Master Plan, etc. The ordinance says “site plan approval may be denied upon determination that the conditions required for approval do not exist.”
