Residents urge council to allow duplexes in single‑family areas as Billings updates land‑use map
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Summary
Public commenters at Thursday’s work session urged the city to permit duplexes across single‑family neighborhoods to create 'missing middle' housing. Council members said they want written proposals and public input before deciding and may revisit the duplex question when full council is present.
Two public speakers urged the Billings City Council on Thursday to allow duplex housing across existing single‑family neighborhoods as staff presented the draft Billings 2045 future land use map and explained a new administrative zone‑change process under the Montana Land Use Planning Act.
David Redmond, a Ward 1 resident, thanked staff for planning work and argued the city’s permitting gains and modest administrative changes could help meet housing projections. "If we do nothing at the current rate, we should generate 16,160 new units over the next 20 years," he said, and suggested better data connections and modest adjustments rather than sweeping new restrictions.
Later in the public comment period, Jack Hanson, a Ward 4 resident, urged the council to allow duplexes throughout residential neighborhoods to produce "missing middle" housing for teachers, health‑care workers and others. "To be prohibited from doing so unreasonably limits my exercise of my property rights," Hanson said, and warned that restricting duplexes in zones such as N3 risks appearing as NIMBYism.
Council members said they want those arguments on the record and in writing and generally favored hearing public-comment results during the open map period before making changes. Several council members recommended delaying a final decision on whether to include duplexes as a permitted use until the full council can consider written proposals and public input after the map comment period closes April 19.
What happened: staff said the draft map and the interactive map (billings2045.com) will stay open for comments through April 19 and that parcel‑level comments help staff and the interim planning commission identify problematic designations. Council members suggested ward‑level review among councilors and encouraged putting comments directly on the interactive map for staff to ingest electronically.
What’s next: Council directed staff to collect public comments and to return with clarified options, a schedule for formal consideration and, if necessary, a full‑council vote on whether to treat certain future land use categories as single‑family only or to allow duplexes administratively.
