Columbia Falls planning commission outlines 20-year land-use update, seeks consultant and public outreach

The Columbia Falls Planning Commission on Monday reviewed its timeline and next steps for producing a 20-year land-use plan required under the Montana Land Use Planning Act, and staff urged an early push on public engagement and consultant selection.

The planner said the city will seek a land-use consultant to lead public participation, prepare a draft future land-use map and help identify study needs for housing, water and wastewater. "We want to reinvigorate the conversation about Montana Land Use Planning Act and our path forward and give you an update of where we're going on each of the major steps of that," the planner said.

Why it matters: Montana adopted the Land Use Planning Act (SB 382) in 2023 and amended it in 2025. The law requires municipalities that opt in to prepare multi-decade land-use plans and accompanying regulations; staff told commissioners that portions of the city's prior growth-policy materials are now superseded and that the city must align its timeline and documents with the updated state requirements. The planner said the goal is a roughly 20-year plan (to 2045) with multiple monthly planning-commission touch points, open houses and an anticipated second-reading approval target in…