Madison County seeks feedback on growth policy 

By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR

On Thursday, Sept. 12, Madison County Planning Department officials will host a community forum in Big Sky to hear feedback as the county updates its growth policy, which has not been updated in 12 years.  

The growth plan is meant to lay the framework for Madison County’s policies and regulations regarding land use and zoning. The plan is not a regulatory document, but it would provide an informal, community-based reference as Madison County creates regulations that impact whether new developments and subdivisions would be approved or denied, according to Cody Marxer, county planning director and floodplain administrator. 

The Big Sky event will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Moonlight Tavern, which will be open to the public at the Moonlight Lodge, 66 Mountain Loop Rd. in Big Sky. The event is part of a series of sessions in various Madison County communities, which will have the opportunity to provide input as Madison County develops its growth policy, a five-year community plan.  

“These events are organized as open-house-style, so come and go as you are able,” an event flyer states. “These forums will provide the opportunity for discussion with your neighbors about the issues that matter most to you and how Madison County can work towards responsibly balancing conservation and development.” 

For those who cannot attend, the county has issued an online survey, open broadly to full- and part-time residents, former residents, visitors, and employees who work within the county—which includes a significant share of the Big Sky community.  

The survey will remain open through September.  

“We’ve got a really good amount of [survey] feedback from Big Sky residents so far, and that’s super encouraging to me,” Marxer said in a phone call with EBS.  

Marxer is a co-host of the in-person forums, which also are scheduled for Sept. 10 at the Sheridan Senior Center, Sept. 17 at the Pony Senior Center, and Sept. 23 at the Ennis Library. All events are from 4 to 6 p.m. 

She said that although conversations around growth and development can be difficult, it’s valuable to get people together in the same room and have open discussions.  

Updates needed on ‘grossly outdated’ plan from 2012 

Montana statute requires counties to update their growth plan every five years—Madison County has fallen behind and has not updated its plan for 12 years.  

Marxer said the 2012 plan is “grossly outdated” in the wake of Madison County’s significant population and demographic changes.  

“We need a better snapshot of where we are right now… We need a better snapshot of what our resource availability is,” she said. 

The growth plan should function like a community master plan document, gauging where Madison County is today, and its vision and goals for the next five years.  

“Right now, in Madison County, we don’t have a lot of regulations, in all honesty… This growth policy is a way of checking in with the community to decide, is what we have enough? Or do we want to see more? Or do we want to see less,” Marxer said.  

She added that once the growth plan is updated, it could open the door for Madison County to apply for grant funding to pursue specific studies around resources like water or wildlife conservation. 

Marxer’s team recognizes that the large county is full of varying concerns, hence the series of meetings across the county. She expects that the updated growth policy document will reflect each region’s unique priorities, based on feedback collected in the community forums.