CASE STUDY #3 - BOZEMAN FIRE STATION #3 & 911 CENTER
When Gallatin County and the City of Bozeman moved to develop a new fire station and 911 center, they hit an unexpected snag. They had the perfect site, but subdividing it would shift expensive improvement fees from the former landowner onto the County’s shoulders—even though their project expanded critical community services. The city couldn’t give preferential treatment to the county without setting a dangerous precedent, so the entire project ground to a halt.
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Key Strategy
Trever hatched a creative solution that released the County from inheriting undue expense, saved the City from setting a harmful precedent for future developments, and substantially sped up the project. His plan involved declaring the buildings condos instead of a subdivision, which let the County preserve the improvement exemptions of the existing PLI (public lands and institutions) zoning on the property.
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Outcome
Under the simpler, less expensive solution of declaring condos, the City and County shook hands, filed papers and broke ground—saving months of time and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now complete, Fire Station #3 responds to Bozeman’s booming west side, while the new 911 Center operates as the hub for all the emergency services in Gallatin County.
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Credits
Trever devised this unique solution while employed at Morrison-Maierle, which served as chief engineer and surveyor for the project. The County Attorney’s office drafted the first declaration to make a fire station a condo, which the City accepted and filed. Locati Architects helped design the structures.