Memorandum
REPORT TO:
City Commission
FROM:
Shawn Kohtz, Utilities Director
Brian Heaston, Engineer III
Kelley Rischke, Assistant City Attorney
Greg Sullivan, City Attorney
SUBJECT:
Final Adoption of An Ordinance Creating a New Division of Chapter 40 of the Bozeman Municipal Code Related to Water Adequacy
MEETING DATE:
October 20, 2026
AGENDA ITEM TYPE:
Ordinance
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt the ordinance.
STRATEGIC PLAN:
BACKGROUND:
On September 15, 2026, the City Commission considered and unanimously voted to provisionally adopt an Ordinance creating a new division of Chapter 40 of the Bozeman Municipal Code regarding water adequacy.
In evaluating the best place in code to address the provision of water services to residents and the City's statutory authority to operate utilities, staff has determined regulatory provisions related to water adequacy are best located with other elements of the municipal code governing the City's water system. Water adequacy regulations are currently located in Chapter 38 of the Bozeman Municipal Code. Relocating the water adequacy provisions to Chapter 40 will improve operational efficiency and provide an easier user experience for those searching for regulations related to the provision of water services. Therefore, this Ordinance relocates the section of code related to water adequacy for development to Chapter 40 Utilities, creating a new Division 5 Water Adequacy.
No substantive changes to the code are proposed with this Ordinance. Code requirements related to water adequacy are unchanged, with only administrative edits made to clarify references to other sections of code and references to the Director of Utilities instead of the "review authority."
These water adequacy provisions will be deleted from Chapter 38 of the Bozeman Municipal Code as part of the next Ordinance to generally clean up the Unified Development Code. A majority vote of the governing body would be required to make this kind of amendment to adopted zoning regulations, pursuant to Montana Code Annotated section 76-25-304(1)(b).
Because the City Commission has not yet authorized the deletion of these provisions from Chapter 38 by a majority vote, this Ordinance only proposes to relocate the water adequacy provisions of Code to Chapter 40 and does not amend zoning regulations by deleting these provisions from Chapter 38.
UNRESOLVED ISSUES:
Staff will recommend removing the current water adequacy regulations from Chapter 38 as part of the next Ordinance that addresses general clean up of the Unified Development Code. Upon a majority vote of the City Commission authorizing such amendments, staff will prepare an Ordinance that removes the water adequacy provisions found in Bozeman Municipal Code section 38.410.110 from Chapter 38.
ALTERNATIVES:
Do not adopt the Ordinance and allow water adequacy provisions of the code to remain in Chapter 38.
FISCAL EFFECTS:
None.