City Commission Work Session Debrief – Commercial Zones, Transitions, and Parking



In February, the project team held two UDC-focused work sessions with the City Commission. The first, on Feb. 14th, focused on zone edge transitions and commercial and mixed-use zoning districts. The second, on Feb. 28th, focused on parking regulations. Here's what we discussed:


  • Zone edge transition strategies, including angle planes, setbacks, stepbacks, and landscaped buffers
  • The allocation of land among various commercial and mixed-use zoning districts
  • Which zoning districts should be maintained, modified, or removed from the code
  • Where in Bozeman there should be no minimum parking requirements
  • The number of parking spaces required elsewhere in the city


The City Commission provided the following guidance to the project team on districts and transitions:

  • Pursue a strategy including the use of a fixed building stepback for zone edge transitions
  • Consider the use of landscaped buffers (including water-wise requirements) and come back to Commission for further direction
  • Update several zoning districts, including:
    • Change most (but not all) B-2 zoning to B-2M,
    • Reconfigure the B-1 district,
    • Modernize the B-P district,
    • Maintain and modernize the NEHMU district, and
    • Remove/consolidate the R-O and UMU districts.

Regarding parking, the City Commission directed the following:
  • Consult with advisory boards for further guidance on what other urban renewal areas to remove parking requirements (like parts of the Midtown area today)
  • Implement the Downtown Plan recommendations:
    • Remove minimum parking requirements in the core area downtown (roughly Main St. from Rouse to Grand)
    • Reduce the commercial parking requirements in the rest of the B-3 zone
  • Reduce and simplify other parking minimums citywide.


Visit the City Commission page here to view the meeting recordings and minutes (link). The consultant team's presentation is also available in the Presentation Materials section of this website - parking here (link), and commercial districts and transitions here (link).

Share City Commission Work Session Debrief – Commercial Zones, Transitions, and Parking on Facebook Share City Commission Work Session Debrief – Commercial Zones, Transitions, and Parking on Twitter Share City Commission Work Session Debrief – Commercial Zones, Transitions, and Parking on Linkedin Email City Commission Work Session Debrief – Commercial Zones, Transitions, and Parking link