Livingston planners propose mixed-use zoning, short‑term rental permitting and new 'Heritage' overlay

City planning staff and consultant SCJ Alliance presented a set of recommended zoning changes to the Livingston City Commission on June 17 as part of a multi‑phase overhaul of the municipal code.

The package proposes a new Livingston Heritage overlay to consolidate earlier preservation and gateway controls, revisions to residential and commercial districts (including a new Residential Transition zone), updated height limits, parking minimum reductions centered on the Central Business District and a short‑term rental (STR) permitting and inspection program. The Land Use Board recommended the mixed‑use zoning decisions that affect some annexed parcels.

Why it matters: The proposals would change where and how the city allows housing and commercial development, and would create an ongoing regulatory program for short‑term rentals — a topic that has drawn sustained public interest and could affect housing supply, visitor lodging and neighborhood character.

Most of the work described by Mike Banning of SCJ Alliance and Planning Director Jennifer Severson is guided by more than 1,000 public comments collected through surveys and focus groups conducted since the project began in 2024. Key proposals include:

- Short‑term rentals: A permit with annual base fee, a two‑type classification (Type 1: owner‑occupied; Type 2: non‑owner‑occupied), a required local contact within a 45‑minute drive for Type 2 units, and a basic safety inspection requirement. The consultant recommended allowing STRs in most zones except light industrial, industrial, capital facilities and planned unit developments (PUDs). Commissioners asked staff to return with estimates of enforcement costs and program staffing needs before adopting a permanent policy.

- Parking minimums and structures: In the Central Business District the draft reduces off‑street minimums to 50% of current table standards and proposes an optional further reduction to 25% in certain CBD contexts. Focus groups discussed parking structures downtown as a possible mitigation for peak‑season congestion; staff said such an option would need site‑specific study and funding.

- Livingston Heritage overlay: The overlay would consolidate the existing preservation zoning district, the design review overlay and the gateway overlay into a single set of design standards intended to protect downtown character, encourage adaptive reuse and guide gateway signage and landscaping. Routine minor renovations would be exempt.

- Height limits: The draft sets a 60‑foot maximum in key commercial districts (consistent with state legislation that establishes minimum downtown heights), with lower caps in transition and residential districts (36 feet for transition; 30–36 feet for residential depending on roof pitch). Planning staff said the change will align local limits with recent state direction while preserving neighborhood view considerations.

- Reworked districts: The proposal reconfigures residential zones (merging manufactured‑home rules into R2, eliminating a standalone mobile‑home district and handling mobile home communities through performance standards or conditional review) and renames commercial districts to C1 (light/neighborhood commercial) and C2 (general/highway commercial). A revised mixed‑use district would allow higher density in appropriate places.

Commissioners and members of the public pressed for details on implementation: how STR registration and inspection would be staffed and paid for, whether shifting mobile‑home communities to a conditional use would make them harder or easier to create, and how the city would enforce heritage overlay standards. Planning director Jennifer Severson and City Manager Grant Gager said additional cost and ordinance language would return to the commission for deliberation, and that utilities and fire/building code compliance would be required when sites connect to city services.

The packet identifies Montana House Bill 492 (effective Oct. 1, 2026) as relevant to parking rules, and staff said they will align local requirements with that statute. The Land Use Board recommended approval of the mixed‑use designation for a recently annexed parcel at 38 Loaves Lane; the commission later adopted the rezoning ordinance by roll call vote.

Next steps: Staff will draft specific ordinance language and implementation cost estimates (particularly for STR administration and enforcement) and return the zoning code amendments for further readings and formal adoption.