FAQs

To be notified of opportunities to participate in long-range planning initiatives , click "Register" in the upper right-hand corner of this webpage and follow the prompts. Registering will also allow you to participate in online engagement tools like surveys, polls, etc. You will be asked to provide a username and password and must also respond to a verification email. This is important to provide security for participants and protect against impersonation, bad actors, and bots that can compromise the integrity of the   public process. Meetings and other public engagement opportunities are also  posted on this website

Public engagement for this zoning reform effort will be focused within the identified boundary, which encompasses areas of the County that are vulnerable to impacts from growth pressures. What ultimately happens (establishing zoning in unzoned areas within the boundary, targeted refinement, expansion, or merging of existing zoning districts within the boundary) will be informed by public participation determined in a public process. Ultimately, zoning reform aims to provide guardrails for development that protect the community’s most loved attributes through clear, effective zoning regulations that create greater predictability.

 Zoning is created through the public process, including multiple opportunities for community participation followed by multiple public hearings to formally adopt (put into effect) the zoning. The adopted Growth Policy and Community plans provide the foundation for zoning, but the detailed content of any zoning regulation will be determined by what comes out of these public processes. We welcome and encourage participation in this effort!

During the Community Listening Sessions on Zoning Reform, the County Commission considered a variety of options for zoning reform, including County-wide Zoning, and decided not to pursue zoning the entire County at this time.  Instead, they decided to focus on a limited area to develop quality, consistent zoning in the areas most affected by growth pressures. It is important to note that it is always possible that changes at the state level may require a different approach to zoning at some point.  

Conservation easements and private covenants are agreements between a landowner and a land trust or association. They apply only to a single property or development, cannot influence neighboring properties, and can include content based on the preferences of individual owners.

Zoning, by contrast, is established through a public process and sets consistent standards across properties to mitigate impacts on public services, natural resources, and public health and safety.

Private covenants, owners association agreements, and conservation easements are sometimes, but not always, stricter than zoning. When both apply, the stricter standard governs. Sometimes standards found in zoning can overlap with private covenants. In unzoned areas, Homeowners Associations, Property Owners Associations, or Condo Owner Associations (HOA/POA/COA)are often left handling land use issues that zoning could otherwise address.

Zoning reform is an opportunity for landowners and residents to help shape standards that reflect local needs. Public participation ensures the County's land use regulations keep pace with a growing community.

Public comment on the project, including requests to be excluded from the zoning reform boundary, may be submitted at any time. However, the zoning reform effort arose to address concerns raised by the public that the County’s current system of land use regulations is difficult to use and understand, at times has created unintentional barriers to things communities want to see (due to outdated zoning), and at times has left communities vulnerable to unanticipated developments that residents felt threatened their quality of life and enjoyment of property (due to a lack of zoning entirely, or the need for updates to zoning), along with concerns with administrative burdens associated with an increasing number of small zoning districts and other issues.  HOA rules and covenants also differ from zoning in many ways (see previous question).

The boundary was established considering the following goals, articulated by the County commission, following several months of public discussions and opportunities for public comment.

Create a contiguous project boundary, centered on the areas of the County where growth has occurred in the previous six years.

• Extend to logical boundaries such as the edge of existing zoning districts, public lands, or natural features.
• Avoid creating gaps and islands of unzoned areas on private land. 
• Include a diverse mix of areas, including those appropriate for growth and areas less appropriate for growth allowing for the drafting of a variety of zoning subdistricts, which could inform future efforts, like a zoning menu.  
• Encompass areas that have expressed recent interest in zoning and planning efforts.

We encourage all members of the public, especially those who live, work, or recreate within the boundary, to participate in outreach opportunities to help shape the content of zoning so that the outcome is locally developed zoning that is right-sized for communities and protects quality of life as interest in development in Gallatin County continues, especially in the area within the Growth Area Focused Zoning Reform project boundary

Land use on public lands is determined by the appropriate managing agency.   However, some local zoning districts do encompass public land, often for the purpose of requiring a public process for identifying a new zoning designation in the event the land is sold. Others may require a local public process prior to approval for certain proposed uses, often related to resource extraction.