Creating an Urban Mixed-Use Zoning District

According to the UMU zoning district code, “the purpose in having an urban mixed-use district is to provide options for a variety of employment, retail and community service opportunities within the community, with incorporated opportunity for some residential uses, while providing predictability to landowners and residents in uses and standards.”

The urban mixed-use zoning district seeks to accomplish the following goals for Bozeman community:

• Create economic and social vitality and encourage the linking of trips;
• Foster the development of vertically oriented mixed uses, in contrast to single-use development distributed along high vehicle capacity roadways;
• Encourage development that exhibits the physical design characteristics of vibrant, urban, pedestrian-oriented, storefront-style shopping streets with pedestrian amenities;
• Provide flexibility in the siting and design of new developments and redevelopment to anticipate changes in the marketplace;
• Reinforce the principle of streets as public places that encourage pedestrian and bicycle travel and on-street parking;
• Encourage efficient land use by facilitating compact, high-density, multi-story development and minimizing the amount of land that is needed for surface parking.

To best accomplish these goals, the UMU district should ideally be located at the intersections of major traffic corridors. Additionally, placement of this district should be adjacent or near to dense residential development to enhance walking and bicycle use, further promoting the use of alternative modes of transportation in Bozeman.

The UMU district joins two other formal mixed-use districts in Bozeman’s array of zoning district options.

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