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Senate panel hears hours of testimony on bill that would favor property owners in ambiguous zoning cases
Summary
The Senate Local Government Committee heard extensive testimony on SB214, a measure from Sen. Greg Hertz that would require ambiguous zoning and nonconforming-use questions to be decided in favor of property owners; proponents cited Bridger Canyon short-term rental disputes, while counties and preservation groups warned the language is too broad and could weaken historic-review authority.
Sen. Greg Hertz introduced legislation, Senate Bill 214, that would add a presumption in Montana law favoring the "free use of property" when a zoning use is nonconforming or ambiguous, a change supporters say would protect longtime owners from abrupt reinterpretations by local officials.
Supporters told the Senate Local Government Committee that local governments in places such as Bridger Canyon and around Flathead Lake have recently reinterpreted zoning rules to prohibit uses—especially short-term rentals—that owners say existed for decades. Kendall Cotton, president and CEO of the Frontier Institute, urged the committee to adopt the bill to restore the ordinary legal principle that conduct is permitted unless expressly prohibited in law. "If Montanans have a fundamental right to use their property, that means the rule…
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