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Red Lodge URA to ask planning board to pursue form‑based overlay for North Entrance URD
Summary
At a regular Urban Renewal Agency meeting, members agreed to recommend a form‑based zoning overlay for the North Entrance Urban Renewal District, attach a consultant’s form‑based code discussion, and pursue grant funding for a citywide Safe Routes/action plan and sidewalk repairs.
The Red Lodge Urban Renewal Agency recommended that the city’s Planning Board consider developing a form‑based zoning overlay for the North Entrance Urban Renewal District and agreed to attach consultant Jeremy’s form‑based code discussion to the submission, the chair said.
The chair described the overlay as a guiding vision for the URD that would not replace the planning board’s ongoing zoning work but would sit on top of it to produce “more predictable outcomes,” and to make it easier for property owners and developers to understand what the rules will allow. “We’d like to recommend that the Red Lodge Planning Board consider developing a form based overlay of zoning for the North Entrance Urban Renewal District,” the chair said.
Members discussed program details and next steps: the agency will reorganize and finalize a short resolution and attach Jeremy’s materials; the package is to be sent to Planning Board chair Jeff and member Tara for review and slated for presentation on Aug. 12, according to meeting remarks. The agency also agreed to circulate the draft to members by email for comment before the Planning Board packet is finalized.
The meeting included discussion of related measures the agency hopes the overlay will enable: a city 50/50 sidewalk match program for repairs and a federal Safe Routes to School grant that requires a citywide action plan. A staff member described the existing pilot sidewalk program as a 50/50 match in which property owners submit a contractor bid and the city performs a site inspection before approving funding, and members said the grant‑funded action plan could cost “probably over $100,000” to complete.
Agency members linked the overlay to housing objectives, saying form‑based rules could create incentives for mixed‑use development and affordable apartments in the URD. They discussed accessory dwelling units (ADUs), tiny‑home developments and RV parks as tools to increase rental supply, while noting constraints such as minimum lot sizes, building code and utility hookups. The chair noted state infrastructure funds authorized in “House Bill 819” could support projects that meet program thresholds, and the group discussed how an overlay could be designed to allow denser housing where appropriate.
Next steps: the Urban Renewal Agency agreed to finalize the draft resolution, attach Jeremy’s form‑based code discussion, circulate the package to planning board contacts for feedback and present the recommendation to the Planning Board at the public meeting on Aug. 12. No formal policy change will occur until the Planning Board and, if required later, the city council review the proposal.
