2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 76. Land Resources and Use › Chapter 2. Planning and Zoning › Part 3. Municipal Zoning › 76-2-304. Criteria and guidelines for zoning regulations

76-2-304. Criteria and guidelines for zoning regulations.
(1) Zoning regulations must be:
(a) made in accordance with a growth policy; and
(b) designed to:
(i) secure safety from fire and other dangers;
(ii) promote public health, public safety, and the general welfare; and
(iii) facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks, and other public requirements.
(2) In the adoption of zoning regulations, the municipal governing body shall consider:
(a) reasonable provision of adequate light and air;
(b) the effect on motorized and nonmotorized transportation systems;
(c) promotion of compatible urban growth;
(d) the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses; and
(e) conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the jurisdictional area.
(3) In a city with a population of at least 5,000 residents, duplex housing must be allowed as a permitted use on a lot where a single-family residence is a permitted use, and zoning regulations that apply to the development or use of duplex housing may not be more restrictive than zoning regulations that are applicable to single-family residences.
(4) (a) In a municipality that is designated as an urban area by the United States census bureau with a population over 5,000 as of the most recent census, the city council or other legislative body of the municipality shall allow as a permitted use multiple-unit dwellings and mixed-use developments that include multiple-unit dwellings on a parcel or lot that:
(i) has a will-serve letter from both a municipal water system and a municipal sewer system; and
(ii) is located in a commercial zone.
(b) Zoning regulations in municipalities meeting the requirements of subsection (4)(a) may not include a requirement to provide more than:
(i) one off-street parking space for each unit and accessible parking spaces as required by the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. 12101, et seq.; or
(ii) an equivalent number of spaces required under subsection (4)(b)(i) provided through a shared parking agreement.
(5) As used in this section, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Duplex housing" means a parcel or lot with two dwelling units that are designed for residential occupancy by not more than two family units living independently from each other.
(b) "Family unit" means:
(i) a single person living or residing in a dwelling or place of residence; or
(ii) two or more persons living together or residing in the same dwelling or place of residence.
(c) "Mixed-use development" means a development consisting of residential and nonresidential uses in which the nonresidential uses are less than 50% of the total square footage of the development and are limited to the first floor of buildings that are two or more stories.
(d) "Multiple-unit dwelling" means a building designed for five or more dwelling units in which the dwelling units share a common separation like a ceiling or wall and in which access cannot be gained between units through an internal doorway, excluding common hallways.
(e) "Single-family residence" has the meaning provided in 70-24-103.
History: En. Sec. 3, Ch. 136, L. 1929; re-en. Sec. 5305.3, R.C.M. 1935; R.C.M. 1947, 11-2703; amd. Sec. 17, Ch. 582, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 87, L. 2003; amd. Sec. 11, Ch. 446, L. 2009; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 445, L. 2023; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 499, L. 2023.