Commissioners adopt revised addressing and road-naming policy

Yellowstone County commissioners adopted Resolution 25-77 on June 3, 2025, revising the county's addressing and road-naming policy at a public meeting in the county commissioners' chambers in Billings.

The policy change clarifies how the county ties address issuance to approved approach permits and formalizes recent inspection procedures intended to reduce unsafe or noncompliant driveway approaches. County staff and a representative of the Home Builders Association described the change as necessary to protect sight distance, stormwater controls and emergency response, while builders said the timing of address issuance creates logistical problems for construction and utility hookups.

Kim Wells, chief executive officer of the Home Builders Association, told commissioners that the addressing change “presents a problem for us logistically, with our builders on the addressing side of things because getting that address when the approach permit was put in ... it's virtually impossible to get an address on the home or to get a service on the home without an address.” Wells asked the county to consider options such as an ad hoc committee, bonds for builders or temporary measures that would allow utilities and suppliers to work during construction.

Monica, the county's public works director, urged caution about decoupling addresses from approach permits. “Approaches are related to safety, whether it be sight distance, or otherwise,” she said, and explained the county does not operate a building-permit program like the city. That, she said, leaves the county’s approach permit as its primary enforcement leverage: if the approach location is not enforced, the county “lose[s] a leveraging point.”

Staff described a process in which an applicant marks a proposed approach location, a public works staff member reviews it in the field and, once approved, the addressing office is notified to release the address. Mark, a county staff member who described the GIS/addressing workflow, said: “The address is assigned when they get the permit, the approach permit. Which is before construction.” County staff also said they added a post-installation inspection requirement and increased fees for unpermitted approaches less than three months before the meeting to address recurring noncompliance.

Commissioners debated the topic briefly and then voted to approve Resolution 25-77. A motion to adopt the resolution carried on a voice vote; the transcript records the vote as “Aye.” The board did not record a roll-call tally in the meeting minutes excerpt.

Following the vote, commissioners encouraged county staff and the Home Builders Association to meet to explore practical adjustments. Monica and Wells agreed to discuss options, including whether any changes belong in the county’s road policy rather than the addressing policy.

The policy change will take effect as adopted by Resolution 25-77; staff will return to commissioners if further amendments are proposed.