Missoula County is considering its own land use board as the city pursues code reforms

MISSOULA – As the city works to develop its new land use plan and adopt new zoning codes, Missoula County will create a new board to review its own planning decisions and serve as a resource for appeals.

Karen Hughes, director of Planning, Development and Sustainability, said Monday that the county wants to create a Missoula County Land Use Board, which would also include the county’s Board of Adjustments.

“It’s easier for the public to follow just one sign,” Hughes said. “It takes much less staff time.”

In an effort to comply with the state’s new Land Use and Planning Act, the Missoula City Council voted in July to abolish the current City-County Consolidated Planning Board and create a new onecity-specific planning commission.

Many of the committee’s responsibilities will not change initially, but eventually the committee will evolve into an appeals body for certain projects, when such appeals are permitted by law.

“A new feature has been added to use them as an appellate authority for appeals of administrative, site-specific development assessment decisions,” said Laval Means, the city’s community planning manager.

The current City-County Consolidated Planning Board also serves as a tool for the development of the county. But as the board dissolves, the county will likely move its board appointments to the new Missoula County Land Use Board.

Members of the county Board of Adjustments would round out the membership of the county’s new land use board.

“It would be relatively easy for us to put it together,” Hughes said. “They would function as a joint planning board. But they would be created to serve as a planning commission. It would do the legislative work, including the appeals.”

Members of the county’s new consolidated board would have to live outside the city limits. Most of the county’s current appointments to the Consolidated Planning Board meet this requirement.

However, board member Sean McCoy lives within the city limits and is not eligible to serve on the county board, county officials said Monday.

“If you’re leading these decisions, it makes sense that you’re the government of them,” Hughes said.

Hughes added that the county will likely wait to create the new land use board until after the city adopts its new land use plan.

“We have discussed the possibility of waiting until their plan is adopted and before they communicate on codes to make this transition,” Hughes said. “They would get their new city planning commission. We would be moving from the Consolidated Planning Board to the new Consolidated Land Use Board for the county. We are aiming for a transition in March.”

The changes come on the heels of the Legislature’s passage of the Montana Land Use and Planning Act. Among other things, it requires larger cities in the state to come into compliance by 2026.