Here's some groundbreaking news from Bozeman Community Development:
Building renovations and improvements to online submissions aim to centralize development services, improve efficiency, and keep people healthy
May 19, 2020
The Department of Community Development is pleased to announce the completion of building renovations at the City-owned “Alfred M. Stiff Professional Building” at 20 East Olive, Bozeman, Montana. The remodel aims to improve the experience of the public when seeking services related to planning, engineering, and building in our rapidly growing community. This includes things like development applications, sign permits, building permits, business licenses, short-term rental applications, curb cut applications, and encroachment permits.
Director Marty Matsen states: “We have moved to the second floor, opened up the lobby space and added a new ‘one-stop shop’ common counter to serve all the public’s needs related to development. Organizationally, we are not adding any new layers but simply restructuring so that one office manager will now serve as the supervisor to six technicians. This will greatly improve the coordination between the Planning Office, the Building Division, and the Engineering Department as well as the productivity of our staff and the experience of the public.”
Lacie Kloosterhof will serve as the new office manager. Ms. Kloosterhof has worked for the City for 3 years and believes the remodel will help everyday operations: “We want to make everything more consistent, efficient and predictable so they you trust our process and know what to expect. The restructure will allow us to be more flexible and shift resources wherever they are most needed.”
But don’t head over to the Stiff Building quite yet. While the Department of Community Development is open regular business hours again, Matsen says that online submittals have been rapidly improved ahead of schedule due to COVID-19 restrictions: “Electronic submittals are here to stay. We still have improvements to make but we don’t want your paper - for health reasons obviously due to the pandemic, but also due to physical storage limitations and our goals to reduce waste.” Matsen hopes this will also decrease often costly printing for developers and applicants.
For more information related to the remodel and new online application procedures, please contact Lacie Kloosterhof at lkloosterhof@bozeman.net or 406-582-2954.