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Counties eyed for ADU expansion as sanitarians warn 15-day DEQ review may be too short
Summary
Senate Bill 532 would extend accessory dwelling unit rules to counties; proponents said ADUs increase housing options while county sanitarians and DEQ witnesses warned a 15-day expedited sanitation review risks public-health and workload problems and recommended longer timelines or alternative approaches.
Senator Forrest Mandeville described Senate Bill 532 to the Senate Local Government Committee as a county-level extension of the ADU (accessory dwelling unit) law the Legislature enacted for municipalities last session. "This is the county ADU bill as we have been referring to it," the sponsor said, explaining the measure largely mirrors the municipal language but allows counties to require an expedited sanitation review by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) with a proposed four-year sunset on that expedited DEQ process.
Supporters including Jake Brown (Shelter Whitefish), AARP Montana (Tim Summers), the Frontier Institute and building-industry representatives said ADUs…
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