Park County Unveils a More Accessible Community Planning Process

Park County is considering improvements to its land-use planning processes that could lead to greater transparency, stronger community engagement, and clearer pathways for residents to shape the future of their neighborhoods and communities. We are encouraged by this effort.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the County Commission will consider advancing a proposal for an Enhanced Citizen Initiated Zoning District (CIZD) Process to a public engagement phase. If the Commission moves this proposal forward, planning staff have recommended a public process that includes community meetings and opportunities for public input before any changes are adopted.

On January 20, the Commission directed Planning Department staff to evaluate potential improvements to the existing CIZD process. In response, staff reviewed planning approaches used in other Montana counties, including neighborhood planning frameworks and county-initiated zoning models, to identify opportunities for improvement.

After this evaluation, the Planning Department created a draft intended to preserve the citizen-led nature of the CIZD—a unique Montana framework that allows a supermajority (60%) of local landowners to map out their own neighborhood's future and establish custom guidelines for growth. For example, Suce Creek residents recently used a CIZD to prevent commercial and industrial development in their rural valley.

The new proposal would make it easier and less expensive for communities to create these districts. The County would provide educational materials, guidance, and example tools to help residents navigate the process without needing to hire consultants, attorneys, or other experts. Standardizing the process would also minimize additional staffing and administrative impacts to the County.

The enhanced CIZD process emphasizes early communication with neighbors, public engagement prior to petition circulation, and documented outreach efforts. These changes are designed to encourage broad participation among property owners and ensure that proposals do not advance without meaningful local discussion and awareness.

We believe this proposal is a positive step, as it provides a standardized process that should make it easier for residents to create a CIZD. In our initial review of the proposal, there is a lot we like. We look forward to digging deeper into the proposal, understanding how it would work in practice and offering constructive input as the process moves forward.

Please help us to encourage the County Commission to move this proposal forward for public review and further community discussion.