2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 76. Land Resources and Use › Chapter 25. Montana Land Use Planning Act › Part 3. Zoning › 76-25-303. Limitations on zoning authority

76-25-303. Limitations on zoning authority.
(1) A local government acting pursuant to this part may not:
(a) treat manufactured housing units differently from any other residential units;
(b) include in a zoning regulation any requirement to:
(i) pay a fee for the purpose of providing housing for specified income levels or at specified sale prices; or
(ii) dedicate real property for the purpose of providing housing for specified income levels or at specified sale prices, including a payment or other contribution to a local housing authority or the reservation of real property for future development of housing for specified income levels or specified sale prices;
(c) prevent the erection of an amateur radio antenna at heights and dimensions sufficient to accommodate amateur radio service communications by a person who holds an unrevoked and unexpired official amateur radio station license and operator's license, "technician" or higher class, issued by the federal communications commission of the United States;
(d) establish a maximum height limit for an amateur radio antenna of less than 100 feet above the ground;
(e) subject to subsection (2) and outside of incorporated municipalities, prevent the complete use, development, or recovery of any mineral, forest, or agricultural resources identified in the land use plan, except that the use, development, or recovery may be reasonably conditioned or prohibited within residential zones;
(f) except as provided in subsection (3), treat the following differently from any other residential use of property:
(i) a foster home, kinship foster home, youth shelter care facility, or youth group home operated under the provisions of 52-2-621 through 52-2-623, if the home or facility provides care on a 24-hour-a-day basis;
(ii) a community residential facility serving eight or fewer persons, if the facility provides care on a 24-hour-a-day basis; or
(iii) a family day-care home or a group day-care home registered by the department of public health and human services under Title 52, chapter 2, part 7;
(g) except as provided in subsection (3), apply any safety or sanitary regulation of the department of public health and human services or any other agency of the state or a political subdivision of the state that is not applicable to residential occupancies in general to a community residential facility serving 8 or fewer persons or to a day-care home serving 12 or fewer children; or
(h) prohibit any existing agricultural activities or force the termination of any existing agricultural activities outside the boundaries of an incorporated city, including agricultural activities that were established outside the corporate limits of a municipality and thereafter annexed into the municipality.
(2) Regulations that condition or prohibit uses pursuant to subsection (1)(e) must be in effect prior to the filing of a permit application or at the time a written request is received for a preapplication meeting pursuant to 82-4-432.
(3) Except for a day-care home registered by the department of public health and human services, a local government may impose zoning standards and conditions on any type of home or facility identified in subsections (1)(f) and (1)(g) if those zoning standards and conditions do not conflict with the requirements of subsections (1)(f) and (1)(g).
History: En. Sec. 20, Ch. 500, L. 2023.