- 2025
69th Legislature 2025 SB0243.3
- 1 - Authorized Print Version – SB 243
1 SENATE BILL NO. 243
2 INTRODUCED BY E. BOLDMAN, D. ZOLNIKOV
3
4 A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT AMENDING ZONING REGULATIONS TO ALLOW TALLER
5 BUILDINGS IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES; AND AMENDING SECTIONS 76-2-304 AND 76-25-303, MCA;
6 AND PROVIDING A DELAYED EFFECTIVE DATE.”
7
8 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
9
10 Section 76-2-304, MCA, is amended to read:
11 "76-2-304. (1) Zoning regulations must be:
12 (a) made in accordance with a growth policy; and
13 (b) designed to:
14 (i) secure safety from fire and other dangers;
15 (ii) promote public health, public safety, and the general welfare; and
16 (iii) facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks, and other
17 public requirements.
18 (2) In the adoption of zoning regulations, the municipal governing body shall consider:
19 (a) reasonable provision of adequate light and air;
20 (b) the effect on motorized and nonmotorized transportation systems;
21 (c) promotion of compatible urban growth;
22 (d) the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses; and
23 (e) conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout
24 the jurisdictional area.
25 (3) In a city with a population of at least 5,000 residents, duplex housing must be allowed as a
26 permitted use on a lot where a single-family residence is a permitted use, and zoning regulations that apply to
27 the development or use of duplex housing may not be more restrictive than zoning regulations that are
28 applicable to single-family residences. - 2025
69th Legislature 2025 SB0243.3
- 2 - Authorized Print Version – SB 243
1 (4) (a) In a municipality that is designated as an urban area by the United States census bureau
2 with a population over 5,000 as of the most recent census, the city council or other legislative body of the
3 municipality shall allow as a permitted use multiple-unit dwellings and mixed-use developments that include
4 multiple-unit dwellings on a parcel or lot that:
5 (i) has a will-serve letter from both a municipal water system and a municipal sewer system; and
6 (ii) is located in a commercial zone.
7 (b) Zoning regulations in municipalities meeting the requirements of subsection (4)(a) may not
8 include A REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE a requirement to provide more than:
9 (i) a requirement to provide more than one off-street parking space for each unit and accessible
10 parking spaces as required by the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. 12101, et seq.; or
11 (ii) a requirement to provide more than an equivalent number of spaces required under
12 subsection (4)(b)(i) provided through a shared parking agreement; or
13 (iii) a height restriction on buildings to be fewer than 6 stories OF LESS THAN
14 60 ON BUILDINGS THAT ARE LOCATED, HEAVY COMMERCIAL, OR INDUSTRIAL ZONES.
15 (5) As used in this section, the following definitions apply:
16 (a) "Duplex housing" means a parcel or lot with two dwelling units that are designed for residential
17 occupancy by not more than two family units living independently from each other.
18 (b) "Family unit" means:
19 (i) a single person living or residing in a dwelling or place of residence; or
20 (ii) two or more persons living together or residing in the same dwelling or place of residence.
21 (c) "Mixed-use development" means a development consisting of residential and nonresidential
22 uses in which the nonresidential uses are less than 50% of the total square footage of the development and are
23 limited to the first floor of buildings that are two or more stories.
24 (d) "Multiple-unit dwelling" means a building designed for five or more dwelling units in which the
25 dwelling units share a common separation like a ceiling or wall and in which access cannot be gained between
26 units through an internal doorway, excluding common hallways.
27 (e) "Single-family residence" has the meaning provided in 70-24-103."
28 - 2025
69th Legislature 2025 SB0243.3
- 3 - Authorized Print Version – SB 243
1 Section 76-25-303, MCA, is amended to read:
2 "76-25-303. (1) A local government acting pursuant to this part
3 may not:
4 (a) treat manufactured housing units differently from any other residential units;
5 (b) include in a zoning regulation any requirement to:
6 (i) pay a fee for the purpose of providing housing for specified income levels or at specified sale
7 prices; or
8 (ii) dedicate real property for the purpose of providing housing for specified income levels or at
9 specified sale prices, including a payment or other contribution to a local housing authority or the reservation of
10 real property for future development of housing for specified income levels or specified sale prices;
11 (c) prevent the erection of an amateur radio antenna at heights and dimensions sufficient to
12 accommodate amateur radio service communications by a person who holds an unrevoked and unexpired
13 official amateur radio station license and operator's license, "technician" or higher class, issued by the federal
14 communications commission of the United States;
15 (d) establish a maximum height limit for an amateur radio antenna of less than 100 feet above the
16 ground;
17 (e) subject to subsection (2) and outside of incorporated municipalities, prevent the complete use,
18 development, or recovery of any mineral, forest, or agricultural resources identified in the land use plan, except
19 that the use, development, or recovery may be reasonably conditioned or prohibited within residential zones;
20 (f) except as provided in subsection (3), treat the following differently from any other residential
21 use of property:
22 (i) a foster home, kinship foster home, youth shelter care facility, or youth group home operated
23 under the provisions of 52-2-621 through 52-2-623, if the home or facility provides care on a 24-hour-a-day
24 basis;
25 (ii) a community residential facility serving eight or fewer persons, if the facility provides care on a
26 24-hour-a-day basis; or
27 (iii) a family day-care home or a group day-care home registered by the department of public
28 health and human services under Title 52, chapter 2, part 7; - 2025
69th Legislature 2025 SB0243.3
- 4 - Authorized Print Version – SB 243
1 (g) except as provided in subsection (3), apply any safety or sanitary regulation of the department
2 of public health and human services or any other agency of the state or a political subdivision of the state that is
3 not applicable to residential occupancies in general to a community residential facility serving 8 or fewer
4 persons or to a day-care home serving 12 or fewer children; or
5 (h) prohibit any existing agricultural activities or force the termination of any existing agricultural
6 activities outside the boundaries of an incorporated city, including agricultural activities that were established
7 outside the corporate limits of a municipality and thereafter annexed into the municipality; or
8 (i) enact a height restriction that would violate 76-2-304(4)(b)(iii).
9 (2) Regulations that condition or prohibit uses pursuant to subsection (1)(e) must be in effect prior
10 to the filing of a permit application or at the time a written request is received for a preapplication meeting
11 pursuant to 82-4-432.
12 (3) Except for a day-care home registered by the department of public health and human services,
13 a local government may impose zoning standards and conditions on any type of home or facility identified in
14 subsections (1)(f) and (1)(g) if those zoning standards and conditions do not conflict with the requirements of
15 subsections (1)(f) and (1)(g)."
16
17 NEW SECTION. SECTION 3. FFECTIVE DATE. [THIS ACT]OCTOBER 1, 2026.
18 - END -