Events aim to collect input for housing and land use guides in Gallatin County
By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
On Sept. 19, residents took seats in front of a projection screen at the Gallatin Gateway Community Center. The room, marked by an elk mount above the entrance, has been a longstanding community gathering place for events like blood drives, government candidate forums and community meals.
On this particular Thursday, the Gallatin County Planning Department presented its drafts of the Future Land Use Map and Housing Strategy, two components that will build upon the current Gallatin County Growth Policy.
Following community input meetings in the spring, GCPD used feedback to create separate drafts: one is a map that visually represents how county residents want to deal with growth, and the other is a document outlining the role of the county in supporting, preserving and increasing affordable housing. Meetings throughout September, including the one last week in Gallatin Gateway, educated residents about the draft FLUM and HS, answered questions and collected the last round of feedback before a public hearing in front of the Gallatin County Commission later this year.
Ashlie Gilbert, associate planner with the planning department, said Big Sky’s meeting about the drafts had a diverse group of people from nonprofit representatives to homeowners. Across the board, towns have been receptive.
“Communities across the county have shown interest in the plans,” Gilbert said. “We really have tried to get to different corners of the county where we usually might not make it.”
In an effort to grasp the entire county’s desires for the future use of lands, the planning department added West Yellowstone and Belgrade on their list of locations to visit.
“I think it’s really hard for everyone when we don’t kind of have a road map that shows us where we want development to go as a community,” Gilbert said. “You know, the FLUM isn’t just what the planning department thinks we should do. It isn’t just what one neighborhood group thinks we should do. It should be a reflection of what most of the community, most of the county, wants to see in their area.”
The interactive map is divided into growth areas, which point toward locations and regions that are best suited for different types of development. The Big Sky area consists of an urban growth area in the meadow from Little Coyote Road to just beyond Rainbow Trout Run, and a surrounding managed growth area for moderate development. A teal color denotes open and working lands, which exhibit physical constraints for development and are typically a mix of open, environmentally sensitive areas and working, agricultural land.
The planning department understands the challenges in bridging technology know-how. Assistant Planner Shea Ramaker encouraged county residents to reach out with any questions.
“It’s definitely been a learning curve for a lot of people, but we’ve been reaching out in as many ways as we can saying, come into the office and talk to us .. we will directly show you, we’ll print out the materials for you.”
The housing strategy is not a mapping exercise, though it does outline housing recommendations and solutions in an area that’s struggled with growth. According to the planning department, Gallatin County saw median home sale prices reach $662,000 in 2023. In Bozeman, that number ballooned to a median of $825,000 in 2023.
To manage affordability, the HS lists five top priorities: incentivized development through zoning and land use, voluntary inclusionary housing ordinance, a dedicated housing fund, a land banking strategy and an accessory dwelling unit incentive program. All this to say: the HS aims to improve supply, maintenance, access and implementation of affordable housing measures.
Meghan Hazer Alvarez, senior planner at the planning department, said that a lot of the residents she’s spoken with are concerned about rapid growth.
“There’s fears about people losing their quality of life. Many of the very specific things that people care about [are] wildlife, water, agriculture,” Hazer Alvarez said. “There [are] fears that growth’s happening too fast, so we need to manage it.”
She said that most feedback has been positive and she expects to see detailed feedback from Big Sky residents.
“We’re hopeful that we continue to get it right,” Hazer Alvarez said about the next step of the process.
Gallatin County residents can submit feedback through an online survey until Sept. 30. After considering feedback, the two plans will be presented in front of the Gallatin County Commission for a public hearing. The planning department hopes the final drafts will be adopted into the existing growth policy by December.
