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Montana Code Annotated 2023 TITLE 76. LAND RESOURCES AND USE CHAPTER 1. PLANNING BOARDS Part 6. Growth Policy Growth Policy -- Contents 76-1-601. Growth policy -- contents. (1) A growth policy may cover all or part of the jurisdictional area. (2) The extent to which a growth policy addresses the elements listed in subsection (3) is at the full discretion of the governing body. (3) A growth policy must include: (a) community goals and objectives; (b) maps and text describing an inventory of the existing characteristics and features of the jurisdictional area, including: (i) land uses; (ii) population; (iii) housing needs; (iv) economic conditions; (v) local services; (vi) public facilities; (vii) natural resources; (viii) sand and gravel resources; and (ix) other characteristics and features proposed by the planning board and adopted by the governing bodies; (c) projected trends for the life of the growth policy for each of the following elements: (i) land use; (ii) population; (iii) housing needs; (iv) economic conditions; (v) local services; (vi) natural resources; and (vii) other elements proposed by the planning board and adopted by the governing bodies; (d) a description of policies, regulations, and other measures to be implemented in order to achieve the goals and objectives established pursuant to subsection (3)(a); (e) a strategy for development, maintenance, and replacement of public infrastructure, including drinking water systems, wastewater treatment facilities, sewer systems, solid waste facilities, fire protection facilities, roads, and bridges; (f) an implementation strategy that includes: (i) a timetable for implementing the growth policy; (ii) a list of conditions that will lead to a revision of the growth policy; and (iii) a timetable for reviewing the growth policy at least once every 5 years and revising the policy if necessary; (g) a statement of how the governing bodies will coordinate and cooperate with other jurisdictions that explains: (i) if a governing body is a city or town, how the governing body will coordinate and cooperate with the county in which the city or town is located on matters related to the growth policy; (ii) if a governing body is a county, how the governing body will coordinate and cooperate with cities and towns located within the county's boundaries on matters related to the growth policy; (h) a statement explaining how the governing bodies will: (i) define the criteria in 76-3-608 (3)(a); and (ii) evaluate and make decisions regarding proposed subdivisions with respect to the criteria in 76-3-608 (3)(a); (i) a statement explaining how public hearings regarding proposed subdivisions will be conducted; and (j) an evaluation of the potential for fire and wildland fire in the jurisdictional area, including whether or not there is a need to: (i) delineate the wildland-urban interface; and (ii) adopt regulations requiring: (A) defensible space around structures; (B) adequate ingress and egress to and from structures and developments to facilitate fire suppression activities; and (C) adequate water supply for fire protection. (4) A growth policy may: (a) include one or more neighborhood plans. A neighborhood plan must be consistent with the growth policy. (b) establish minimum criteria defining the jurisdictional area for a neighborhood plan; (c) establish an infrastructure plan that, at a minimum, includes: (i) projections, in maps and text, of the jurisdiction's growth in population and number of residential, commercial, and industrial units over the next 20 years; (ii) for a city, a determination regarding if and how much of the city's growth is likely to take place outside of the city's existing jurisdictional area over the next 20 years and a plan of how the city will coordinate infrastructure planning with the county or counties where growth is likely to take place; (iii) for a county, a plan of how the county will coordinate infrastructure planning with each of the cities that project growth outside of city boundaries and into the county's jurisdictional area over the next 20 years; (iv) for cities, a land use map showing where projected growth will be guided and at what densities within city boundaries; (v) for cities and counties, a land use map that designates infrastructure planning areas adjacent to cities showing where projected growth will be guided and at what densities; (vi) using maps and text, a description of existing and future public facilities necessary to efficiently serve projected development and densities within infrastructure planning areas, including, whenever feasible, extending interconnected municipal street networks, sidewalks, trail systems, public transit facilities, and other municipal public facilities throughout the infrastructure planning area. For the purposes of this subsection (4)(c)(vi), public facilities include but are not limited to drinking water treatment and distribution facilities, sewer systems, wastewater treatment facilities, solid waste disposal facilities, parks and open space, schools, public access areas, roads, highways, bridges, and facilities for fire protection, law enforcement, and emergency services; (vii) a description of proposed land use management techniques and incentives that will be adopted to promote development within cities and in an infrastructure planning area, including land use management techniques and incentives that address issues of housing affordability; (viii) a description of how and where projected development inside municipal boundaries for cities and inside designated joint infrastructure planning areas for cities and counties could adversely impact: (A) threatened or endangered wildlife and critical wildlife habitat and corridors; (B) water available to agricultural water users and facilities; (C) the ability of public facilities, including schools, to safely and efficiently service current residents and future growth; (D) a local government's ability to provide adequate local services, including but not limited to emergency, fire, and police protection; (E) the safety of people and property due to threats to public health and safety, including but not limited to wildfire, flooding, erosion, water pollution, hazardous wildlife interactions, and traffic hazards; (F) natural resources, including but not limited to forest lands, mineral resources, sand and gravel resources, streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and ground water; and (G) agricultural lands and agricultural production; and (ix) a description of measures, including land use management techniques and incentives, that will be adopted to avoid, significantly reduce, or mitigate the adverse impacts identified under subsection (4)(c)(viii). (d) include any elements required by a federal land management agency in order for the governing body to establish coordination or cooperating agency status as provided in 76-1-607 . (5) The planning board may propose and the governing bodies may adopt additional elements of a growth policy in order to fulfill the purpose of this chapter. End of this MCA section

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Growth Policies: The Most Misunderstood Land Use Planning Tool By Tara DePuy, PCT/MACo Land Use Attorney Link to Article The most misunderstood land use planning tool in Montana is the Growth Policy which is authorized by Title 76, Chapter 1, Part 6, MCA. Below are the most heard comments regarding Growth Policies. If you don’t have a Growth Policy, then the County cannot impose zoning. This statement is technically true. Without a Growth Policy a county cannot impose Part 2 zoning (Title 76, Part 2, Chapter 2, MCA). However, counties can still impose Part 1 zoning referred to as citizen initiated zoning (Title 76, Part 2, Chapter 1, MCA). BUT the mere fact that a county adopts a Growth Policy does not mean a county has to adopt Part 2 zoning or abrogate it statutory power to impose zoning. Zoning is a separate statutory process. A Growth Policy affects private citizen’s private property rights. A Growth Policy is not a regulatory document (Section 76-1-605(2), MCA) and does not impact private property rights; it is a document that should guide the county in addressing private property rights. The Growth Policy process requires a public hearing (Section 76-1-602, MCA) and the Montana Supreme Court had held that all public comment on a Growth Policy must be considered on the record. A Growth Policy should reflect the planning goals of the community and as much citizen involvement as possible, including the County Planning Board (Section 76-1-603, MCA). Most Growth Policy adoption processes include community scoping meetings before the drafting of the Growth Policy and then ample opportunities for public comment on the draft Growth Policy through public hearings throughout the county and opportunities to review the Growth Policy on-line and submit written or e-mail comments. Successful planning, including the adoption of a Growth Policy, is dependent on public involvement. We have a Master Plan, isn’t that the same thing? A Master Plan was the predecessor to the Growth Policy. BUT since October 1, 2006, a Master Plan has had no legal effect in Montana. In 2003 the Montana Legislature amended the Growth Policy statutes and the contents for a Growth Policy (Section 76-1-601, MCA) and gave counties until October 1, 2006 to revise a Master Plan (Section 76-1-604(6), MCA). We have a Land Use Resource Policy/Plan; isn’t that the same as a Growth Policy? No. There is no statutory authorization for a county to adopt a Land Use Resource Policy/Plan. BUT a Land Use Resource Policy/Plan can be a part of a county’s Growth Policy. A Growth Policy guides and directs the rest of a county’s land use planning tools such as subdivision regulations, park plans, infrastructure plans, transportation plans, trail plans, natural resource plans, public facility plans and housing plans. Some federal and state grants require a county to have a Growth Policy to guide development of infrastructure and public facilities in accordance with Section 76-1-605(1), MCA. We can force a federal land management agency to cooperate and coordinate with us if we adopt a Growth Policy. While a Growth Policy can be used as a resource management plan for purposes of establishing coordination or cooperating agency status with a federal land management agency, stating that a Growth Policy can force a federal agency to cooperate and/or coordinate with a county is an overreaching statement. The Growth Policy can definitely assist in giving a county a seat at the table with a federal land management agency pursuant to Section 76-1-607, MCA which was adopted by the Montana Legislature in 2013. The Growth Policy is the only land use planning tool that statutorily authorizes a county to establish coordination or cooperating agency status with a federal land management agency. We adopted our Growth Policy in 2006 so we are good, right? Not really. A Growth Policy must be reviewed at least once every 5 years and revised if necessary (Section 76-1-601((3)(f)(iii), MCA). A record should be made every 5 years that the Planning Board (or County Commission if you don’t have a Planning Board, which is fodder for another article at a later date) reviewed the Growth Policy. In smaller counties, a revision may not be necessary every 5 years but the record should reflect why not. In other counties, a revision may just include updating demographics or a full blown revision to the document. The review and any revisions should also include ample opportunity for public comment and if a revision is made, a public hearing pursuant Section 76-1-602, MCA should be held and the process requirements in the Growth Policy for revisions and amendments should also be followed. Again, public comment should be considered on the record. It is too expensive to adopt a Growth Policy. Grants are available for the adoption of a Growth Policy through the Montana Department of Commerce. Some communities have solicited funds from local grant sources and private donors. Growth Policies can be done in-house or there are several land use planning firms in Montana a county can contract with for the adoption of a Growth Policy. We can’t use a Growth Policy to deny a subdivision, so what good is the Growth Policy? It is true that a county cannot withhold, deny, or impose conditions on any land use approval based solely on compliance with a Growth Policy. HOWEVER, a good growth policy guides the development of subdivision regulations and the county’s subdivisions regulations must be adopted in accordance with the Growth Policy (Section 76-1-605(2)(b), MCA). It follows then, that if a major revision is made to a Growth Policy, a county’s subdivision regulations may also need to be amended and updated. The required contents for a Growth Policy (Section 76-1-601(3), MCA), must include an inventory of land uses in the county, projected trends for land use, how a county defines the primary review criteria for a subdivision, how a county will evaluate and make decisions based on the primary review criteria for a subdivision and how public hearings for proposed subdivisions will be held. Then there are optional contents for a growth policy that relate to the impacts of a subdivision as well (Section 76-1-601(4), MCA). So with all of that said, the Growth Policy is the basis for a good subdivision review process. End of article.