MONTANA ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION CENTER
Land Use at the Legislature: Putting Developers in the Driver’s Seat by Derf Johnson
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utside of climate change, and the enormous pressures placed on our land, air, and water by fossil fuel exploitation, it’s hard to think of a more complicated and serious threat to Montana’s environment than the astronomical growth that many of our cities, towns, and counties are currently experiencing, particularly in western Montana. Unfortunately, a slew of land use planning bills were considered at this session of the Montana Legislature. Without exception, they were intended to make planning and zoning more difficult and to tip the scales in favor of developers and against communities and environmental quality. The worst of the worst bills ultimately failed, but some of the bad ideas made it through. Even more concerning is that some bills failed with the understanding that, over the next two years, major revisions to the subdivision and zoning codes would be cooked up, and new legislation would be introduced at the 2023 session. Brace yourselves: unplanned growth is coming. Two of the most concerning bills, HB 527 (Rep. Fiona Nave, R-Columbus) and HB 498 (Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby), did become law. While they were pared down from their original, extreme versions, the clear intent is to reduce the ability for citizen-initiated zoning to place sideboards on the development of oil and gas deposits. Currently, residents and communities can place reasonable restrictions on this activity to protect safety, environmental quality, and health. These bills (which are virtually identical) undermine this ability and make it easier for oil and gas companies to drill without any input from impacted neighbors and community members. SB 174 (Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson), which was signed into law, will change a number of aspects of the subdivision review process. The
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bill’s intent is to put more power in the hands of developers, and less in the hands of local governments and affected neighbors. The bill restricts the conditions that may be placed on subdivisions, the way in which those restrictions may be applied, and the factors that may be utilized by a local government in making subdivision decisions. This bill was largely unnecessary, considering that the vast majority of subdivisions are already being approved and the current body of laws is long-established and functioning reasonably well. Another bill signed into law, SB 211 (Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls), is an attack on the interest of Montana communities in preserving agricultural soils through the subdivision review process. The bill is intended to specifically target a program in Missoula County that required subdivisions to preserve a percentage of prime agricultural soils, but the bill is applicable statewide and will almost certainly have unintended and negative consequences for other counties, in addition to prohibiting the counties from considering agricultural soil (and its innumerable benefits) during the subdivision review process. Two water quality bills related to development
Protecting Montana’s natural environment since 1973 .
