Land Use Planning and Smart Growth

Updated July 2008 - .pdf version 

For the last twenty years, the population in Montana has grown at a rapid rate. Between 1990 and 2000, Montana's population grew by 12.9%, but the amount of land developed grew by 100%. Much of this development is outside of cities and towns and devours farms, ranches, and wildlife habitat. According to recent projections, at our current rate of land development, roads and buildings will cover nearly all of western Montana's mountain valleys by 2025.

Without adequate planning, growth can degrade surface and ground water, fragment wildlife habitat, and replace productive agricultural lands with rural subdivisions that don't generate sufficient tax income to pay for the infrastructure and services they demand. Montana's land use planning laws need to be revised so that future development will protect Montana's key economic and natural assets.

Background: Land Use Planning and Growth Policies

Rapid development from 1990 to 2005 strained the resources and planning efforts of many Montana counties. Since 1990, Montana legislatures have revised the statutes that govern land resources and use (Title 76 of the Montana Code Annotated) to require more specific planning information so that counties could better prepare for the challenges of rapid growth. The most recent of the changes to Title 76 began in 1999 when the Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 97, requested by the Montana Environmental Quality Council, to reform local land use planning by requiring ‘growth policies.' Unfortunately, this act provided little guidance to help local governments plan for and prepare for future growth.

The growth policy act created a very basic framework that local governments must follow if they decide to engage in land use planning. Growth policies must address certain elements, including community goals and objectives, plans for infrastructure growth, and provide an implementation strategy for the growth policy, with a timetable for reviewing the plan at least once every five years. In addition, growth policies may include neighborhood plans and must address subdivision review criteria (i.e., the effect of subdivisions on agriculture, agricultural water use facilities, wildlife, public health, and local services). A very important aspect of recent changes to the law is that local governments must require that zoning or subdivision regulations are consistent with an applicable growth policy.

In 2003, the legislature passed another law, SB 326 (Dan McGee, R-Laurel), to revise the statutes related to growth policies and planning boards. Unfortunately, SB 326 weakened rather than clarified the growth policy law by allowing counties to adopt a growth policy for only part of the county. The bill also allowed local governments to decide the detail with which they want to address the provisions of the growth policy, without clear citizen input.

A bill to resolve these weaknesses and improve land use planning and growth policies failed in the 2005 session, but was successfully signed into law by Governor Schweitzer during the 2007 Legislature. Senate Bill 201, sponsored by Rick Laible (R-Darby) provides Montanans with a voice in growth and planning, by providing incentives for cities and counties to plan collaboratively and adopt clear standards for quality growth. This new law gives citizens a voice in future growth and its direct impact of them, their property and taxes. SB 201 enjoyed strong bipartisan support and support by the Montana Smart Growth Coalition and Montana Realtors.

The passage of Senate Bill 201 bolsters other land use/planning bills passed in the 2005 Legislature. During that session, Senate Bill 116, also sponsored by Senator Rick Laible, and SB 290 (Jeff Mangan, D-Great Falls) were passed. These bills provide citizens with information and opportunities to comment on proposed subdivisions in their communities.

Recommendations for the Future

Future Montana Legislatures should continue the work to revise and improve Montana's land use planning laws so that future developments will not harm Montana's key economic and natural assets: open lands and quality of life, clean water, agricultural operations and recreational opportunities.

To do so, the Montana Legislature should approve legislation that will:

• Enable local governments, working with state agencies, to identify lands, waters and uses that should be protected so the governments can guide development to appropriate areas. These protected areas could include prime farm, ranch, and timber lands, wetlands, river and stream corridors, and critical wildlife habitat.
• Encourage local governments to identify flood and fire hazard areas and adopt measures to protect people and property by minimizing exposure to those hazards and lowering the costs to taxpayers of flood and fire protections.
• Reversing "subsidies for sprawl" to reduce both the impacts of poor planning and the costs to taxpayers by adopting state access management guidelines and requiring traffic impact studies for new subdivisions to evaluate and limit the impact new subdivisions have on state highways and arterials. Developers should pay the full cost to mitigate the potential impacts, which often cost millions of dollars to mitigate and end up being paid by taxpayers. Controlling and planning for such accesses would lower the tax burden on local residents and encourage infill development.

Resources

Montana Audubon
P.O. Box 595, Helena, MT 59624
(406) 443-3949

Montana Smart Growth Coalition
P. O. Box 543, Helena, MT 59624
(406) 449-6086

MT Environmental Quality Council
P. O. Box 201704, Helena, MT 59620-1704
(406) 444-3742

Statutory References

Specific Montana Statutory References (Montana Code Annotated 2003, can be found at http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/mca_toc/index.htm ):

Land Resources and Use-Montana Code Annotated (MCA) 2003, Title 76