Gallatin County Zoning Reform Listening Session
March 25 @ 6:00pm
One event on March 13, 2025 at 1:30pm
One event on March 25, 2025 at 6:00pm
Gallatin County Zoning Reform Listening Session
3rd floor, 311 W Main,
Bozeman and virtually via Zoom
Implementing Envision Gallatin:
Community Listening Sessions on Zoning Reform
Residents have shared many challenges and gaps regarding the County’s planning and zoning framework. The County Commission is interested in hearing perspectives from the public about how to address these issues and exploring various zoning reform options together.
Join an upcoming listening session to share your thoughts about potential zoning reform options with the County Commission, Planning and Zoning Commission, Planning Board, and Planning staff! More information about the listening sessions below.
February 18th, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
County Commission & Planning staff present
March 13th, 2025, from 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM
County Commission, Planning and Zoning Commission,
and Planning staff present
March 25th, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM
County Commission, Planning Board, and Planning staff present
All listening sessions will be held in the Gallatin County Courthouse Community Room, 3rd floor, 311 W Main, Bozeman and virtually via Zoom [Links coming soon]
LISTENING SESSION INFORMATION: Listening sessions will consist of a brief presentation by Planning staff about how zoning and land use planning works in the County, challenges with the current system, and potential options the County Commission can pursue to reform, update, or expand existing zoning districts and/or create new zoning districts in the County.
After the staff presentation, there will be an opportunity for the public to share verbal feedback about County zoning reform. Please keep in mind that, depending on how many people are present at the sessions, the meeting chair may set a time limit of around 3-5 minutes for comments to ensure that everyone gets a chance to share their thoughts.
If you do not feel comfortable with public speaking, that’s okay! Your feedback can be emailed to envision@gallatin.mt.gov or give us a call at 406-582-3130. Or, if you don’t want to give feedback at all that’s okay too – this is a great opportunity to learn about how zoning and land use planning works in the County.
PRE-LISTENING SESSION RESOURCES: We are fortunate to live in a place where people care deeply about the County and how it develops. There will be many different perspectives about what should be done, and we are committed to providing information that encourages meaningful and respectful conversations about zoning and land use planning. Leading up to the listening sessions, Planning staff will publish resources on this webpage to help residents understand the County’s planning framework and its challenges.
To be alerted when these are ready, follow the County on social media, sign up for the County Bulletin, and/or sign up for the project email list by emailing us at envision@gallatin.mt.gov.
WHY WE ARE HOSTING LISTENING SESSIONS: The County has a very complex planning and zoning framework consisting of 22 zoning districts that operate independently of one another. Due to this framework, zoning regulations are difficult to modify when needed and may be outdated or insufficient in many areas to avoid preventable impacts resulting from increasing growth and development. In many ways, our current zoning framework is reactive rather than proactive. Additionally, about 75% of private land in the County is not zoned, which means that there are few local review mechanisms available to ensure that any impacts of development on water quality and quantity, agriculture, wildlife, roads, and more are mitigated. The County Commission, Planning and Zoning Commission, Planning Board, and Planning staff want to begin this conversation by hearing from YOU about how the current planning framework is and is not working, and what outcomes the community is interested in seeing.
