Oppose SB382 Public Comment from Mayre FlowersAimee Brunckhorst
From: Mayre Flowers <MayreFlowers@montanasky.net>
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2023 10:28 PM
To: Doug Russell; Aimee Brunckhorst; Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Cc: Mayre Flowers
Subject: EXTERNAL Why Montana Cities With Populations Of 5000 Or More Need to Quickly
Oppose or Insist on Changes to The Montana Land Use Planning Act SB 382
Attachments: The Amended Montana Land Use Planning Act Is Bad for Cities-SB 382 3-28-2023.pdf
[NOTICE: This message includes an attachment -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you know the
content is safe.]
Hello all, Please share this attached memo with your city council. I hope you and the council will give serious
consideration to this one page attached analysis of what's wrong with SB382 —The Montana Land Use Planning Act--- as
amended and act quickly to contact the Director of the League of Cities and Towns --Kelly Lynch, at 406-442-8768
or kelly.lynch@mtleague.net as well as local Flathead legislators to get this bill tabled or amended as suggested in the
attached memo. Please also reach out to other cities and share this memo.
Thank you.
Mayre Flowers
755-4521
mayreflowers@montanasky.net
Why Montana Cities With Populations Of 5000 Or More Need to Quickly
Oppose or Insist on Changes to ..IIL.IIh�..._I II„ Il ......L iir�i !......s ..._�I;)III Ii�li�liilg Act 5V 382
pp g g ........w ........
3/28/23 by Mayre Flowers, 406 755 4521, irm7, ,yirc;'llr, rc;irs„ ,irm7, ir7;u; ,ir7, slk.,y;;,ir7et. I have worked 30 years in the private planning sector in Montana
This 49-page bill is a comprehensive rewrite of Montana's the land use planning, zoning and
subdivision laws the product of an effort largely led by the Montana League of Cities and
Towns. It was intended to create an upfront process to identify where and how communities
want to grow and streamline the decision -making process.
What was intended to be a bill that set forth a more effective, fact -based, and streamlined
planning process for cities and counties has recently been amended into a bill that now
excludes counties from compliance and now, more than ever intended, dictates what cities of
5000 or more shall do. As now amended SB382 will do more harm than good.
Section 19 (pages 22-23) of the bill is a good example of a hodgepodge of amendments to the
bill that purport to give cities a menu of options of ways to increase density of housing, but
which has now been so heavily amended as to severely restrict and dictate a city's ability to:
impose impact fees, to retain any single-family housing, to require parking, to set lot sizes, to
impose setbacks or building heights, or require design standards for multifamily housing.
Additionally, the bill not only greatly reduces opportunities for public notice and comment, but
it removes final decision -making authority on many planning decisions from elected city
councils and endows unelected city planning directors with unprecedented authority to
approve numerous development proposals.
By putting additional restrictions on the cities without including the surrounding county areas,
the bill is more likely to increase pressure to build outside of town, which is counter to good
planning. Furthermore, the bill while dictating density cities shall provide, gives these cities
absolutely no tools to ensure that at least some portion of housing being built, particularly in
fast growing towns, is not priced out of reach of the local workforce. Unfortunately, this is the
case in the Flathead and elsewhere around the state where, despite meeting their housing
goals for number of units housing, prices are increasingly out of reach of the local workforce.
It is time for cities and the public at large to tell the League of Cities and Towns and their local
legislators to table this bill for this session for more study, or at the very least to amend this
bill to allow cities to opt -out of compliance, just like counties can do now in the amended bill.
If both a city and the county, it is part of, want to try this new planning process, they could
both jointly opt in. This would allow a limited number of cities and the county they are part of
to test out this bill as the city of Missoula and Missoula County have indicated they might want
to do. Then, between now and the 2025 legislature, this bill/law can be given further review
and consideration for expanded compliance.
The time for quick action is now! SB382 was passed by the Senate and has had a committee
hearing in the House, but is on hold only briefly while numerous proposed amendments are
hammered out. If passed by the House Local Government Committee, SB 382 will go to full
votes in the House. Cities should contact the League of Cities Director, Kelly Lynch, at 406-442-
8768 or Ik...II„II„y..11„yii��Il�„ li ti 11 „ghu .lid ti To contact your local legislator type in your address at this
link https:Happs.montanafreepress.org/capitol-tracker-2023/#find-district.