Planning board hears public concerns over zoning overhaul; Ramsey residents fear truck stop, drive‑in seeks explicit protections

Allison Malc, a consultant with Orion Planning and Design, told the Butte planning board on May 28 that the draft Zoning Ordinance 25‑1 would align the county’s zoning with the community’s 2020 comprehensive plan, reorganize and simplify the code, and introduce new districts and overlays designed to protect historic character while allowing more mixed uses.

Malc said an audit completed in 2023 found the existing code did not reflect the city’s historic development patterns, relied on variances, used outdated definitions, and offered weak enforcement. "Zoning can sometimes feel like a pretty technical situation," she said, adding the draft aims to make the rules easier to use and more predictable for both applicants and residents.

The proposed rewrite would reorganize roughly 35 chapters into about 15, add chapters on building types and environmental design, modernize parking rules (including parking maximums and shared parking), strengthen landscaping standards and enforcement, and replace a case‑by‑case short‑term‑rental process with an administratively managed framework that staff said reflects recent statutory changes.

The board published a draft zoning map May 9 and is accepting public comment through June 19; staff reported receiving 322 comments so far and said more than 75% of those have produced either a change to the draft or a documented response. The map assigns a new district to every parcel in alignment with place types adopted in the comprehensive plan.

Public comment centered on two clusters of concerns. Dozens of residents from Ramsay urged the planning board to keep the neighborhood’s existing zoning and avoid enabling large highway‑scale commercial uses near homes and the local school. "This change paves the way for a truck stop," said Jim Ays, who identified himself as a Ramsay resident and a member of the Ramsay Citizens Council, and asked the board to "maintain Ramsay's current zoning and honor the commitment the city made to Ramsay." Speakers repeatedly urged staff to visit the neighborhood and to treat Ramsay and Rocker with finer granularity on the map.

Director Crane, responding to those concerns, said the draft intentionally constrains the scale of commercial uses in the local commercial designation and that the code distinguishes small gas stations from larger 'truck stop' facilities by square‑footage thresholds. "We don't want truck stops in this neighborhood," Crane said, adding the map and code changes were intended to preserve residential character while allowing limited neighborhood services such as a corner store or small fuel station.

Operators and supporters of the Silverbo Drive‑In also addressed the board. Holly Hansen said staff’s proposed heavy‑industrial gateway overlay is a welcome step but asked that the drive‑in be explicitly listed as a permitted use in that overlay, that the seasonal operating window be extended (she suggested April 1–Oct. 31), and that the code include stronger light‑trespass and landscaping protections to preserve the outdoor‑movie experience. "We would still really like to still be a permitted use in this high GO area," Hansen said.

Staff said the overlay was drafted to protect the drive‑in as a legacy use while avoiding broad allowances for other outdoor entertainment developments that could compete with or create nuisances for the drive‑in. Staff noted the code’s nonconforming/seasonal language aims to prevent new, incompatible uses from gaining perpetual grandfathered status by short periods of operation, and that the drive‑in may operate at any time so long as it does not contradict nonconforming‑use rules.

Board members and staff agreed there will be follow‑up work. Staff demonstrated an interactive split‑view of the proposed and existing maps and explained that fundamental changes to a place type (for example, removing a 'rural crossroads' designation) would require a growth‑policy map amendment in addition to the zoning change. The planning board anticipates voting on a recommendation in July; if the board forwards the draft to the council of commissioners, the ordinance would proceed through council readings and—if adopted—become effective roughly 30 days after final adoption, with a target implementation in the fall.

Procedural actions at the meeting included approval of minutes from Feb. 26 and May 7 (motion by Bart Riley; second by Josh O'Neal) and a motion to adjourn. The planning board closed the public hearing after three calls for opponents and proponents.

Public comment remains open through June 19, and staff encouraged residents to submit specific map‑change requests (for example, requests to retain or alter the zoning of particular parcels east of Ramsay). The planning board said it will consider map edits raised in testimony before finalizing its July recommendation to the council of commissioners.