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Belgrade council adopts public participation plan required under Montana land‑use law
Summary
The Belgrade City Council unanimously approved a draft public participation plan Tuesday that lays out how residents will be involved in the city’s forthcoming land use plan process under the Montana Land Use Planning Act (MCA).
The Belgrade City Council unanimously approved a draft public participation plan Tuesday that officials said is required under Montana’s land‑use law and intended to front‑load public engagement for the city’s land use plan.
Brad Stein, the city’s senior planner, told the council the draft “outlines the city's plan moving forward on how we would partake in public participation as a requirement of the Maloopa process and Montana Code Annotated.” Stein said the interim planning commission voted 3‑0 to recommend the plan to the council.
The draft, Stein said, is designed to gather public input early — through meetings, surveys and document dissemination — so that later steps such as zoning and subdivision approvals may be streamlined. “The idea is that we want to do public meetings, we want to compile that, we want to have surveys … take all that data and analysis and incorporate that into our land use plan,” Stein said.
City Manager Cardwell told the council the city has notified the county that Belgrade will withdraw from the city–county planning board once Maloopa is adopted within the city limits. “For the general most part, this Maloopa and this board will be the land use body that the council receives its recommendations from, and there will no longer be county members that the city oversees when this is complete,” Cardwell said, describing a shift in jurisdictional responsibilities.
Council members emphasized the work behind the draft: one said the plan represents “a culmination of thousands of hours” of staff and consultant effort and noted the document is intended to be ongoing and subject to future tweaks. Stein and staff said additional items — including zoning code and subdivision regulation changes — will follow after the plan’s approval.
A council member moved to approve the public participation plan “as required for the Montana Land Use Planning Act pursuant MCA section 76‑2‑5106”; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote with the mayor announcing the motion passed unanimously.
Next steps noted by staff include presentations to the planning commission, ongoing public engagement through surveys and meetings, and further ordinance updates aimed at meeting statutory timelines. Officials said they are aiming to complete the remaining land‑use materials by March and to meet state submission deadlines if feasible.
