Bozeman plans ahead for 3,000-acre area on city edge

BOZEMAN, Mont. — City leaders are preparing for possible future growth in a 3,000-acre area along the northwest edge of Bozeman. 

The area is made up of multiple different properties right outside city limits bordering Baxter Lane, Oak Street, Durston Road and East Valley Center Road. 

The City of Bozeman hired Sanbell, an engineering and planning firm, to develop what they are calling the Northwest Bozeman Area Plan, which will eventually be adopted into the Bozeman Community Plan. Chris Naumann of Sanbell explained the city wants a clearer picture of what could be built there and how utility service could expand if property owners choose annexation. 

Right now, the planning effort points mostly toward residential uses with some mixed-use commercial zoning in the area. The work also focuses on how future roads and utilities could fit around existing natural features. 

“There's a large amount of watercourses, creeks, irrigation ditches and associated wetlands and stands of mature vegetation and trees. And so, the challenge is going to be to figure out that transportation and utility alignment, while avoiding the greatest possible impacts on those natural resources,” Naumann said. 

An initial draft of the land use plan is expected later this summer. After that, the planis set to go before several city boards for refinement before a final draft reaches the public and City Commission for final review. 

The City Commissionplans to adopt the map later this fall. 

Naumann emphasized that the plan would not start development on its own. Any future development depends on whether private property owners decide to annex into the city.