What are Conditional Use Permits and Nonconforming Uses?
Local Zoning Ordinance Components: Customizing Land Use Standards in Montana Municipalities
While the state statute is broad with respect to the specific form and use requirements that a local governing body can adopt to guide development within its jurisdiction, many of the procedures and requirements common to a zoning ordinance are found only at the local level. Such matters include, but are not limited to:
• Allowable uses in each zone and definitions for each, where the ordinance specifically identifies what types of uses are allowed.
• Development standards, setting specific requirements for the physical development of land uses in the community:
• lot size (requiring a minimum or maximum size lot within the municipality, or within certain
zones in the municipality, or for certain uses within certain zones)
• building heights (restricting the height of buildings in certain zones or for certain uses),
• setbacks (requiring minimum or maximum spacing between buildings on adjacent lots, or
between a building on a lot and abutting alleys or streets)
• parking (requiring a minimum or maximum number of spaces per unit or employees or
specifying a required number of off-street spaces),
• landscaping (requiring a minimum percentage of landscaped coverage of a lot, or providing a
list of acceptable species, or requiring screening between a use and a neighboring use),
• signs (e.g., limiting the number of signs allowed per property, or placing a maximum total
square footage for signage on a lot, or restricting the illumination of signs in certain zones)
• Conditional use permits (also sometimes called “Special Reviews”), where a proposed use is allowed in a certain zone only through a quasi-judicial review and imposition of conditions to mitigate the effects on the use on surrounding properties, such as noise, traffic, or hours of operation.
• Legal nonconforming uses, where a use lawfully existing as of the date of a change in the ordinance is allowed to continue under certain conditions. Municipalities employ a variety of options for allowing or restricting the expansion of nonconforming uses and structures or allowing development on nonconforming lots of record under certain conditions.
• Allowable uses in each zone and definitions for each, where the ordinance specifically identifies what types of uses are allowed.
• Development standards, setting specific requirements for the physical development of land uses in the community:
• lot size (requiring a minimum or maximum size lot within the municipality, or within certain
zones in the municipality, or for certain uses within certain zones)
• building heights (restricting the height of buildings in certain zones or for certain uses),
• setbacks (requiring minimum or maximum spacing between buildings on adjacent lots, or
between a building on a lot and abutting alleys or streets)
• parking (requiring a minimum or maximum number of spaces per unit or employees or
specifying a required number of off-street spaces),
• landscaping (requiring a minimum percentage of landscaped coverage of a lot, or providing a
list of acceptable species, or requiring screening between a use and a neighboring use),
• signs (e.g., limiting the number of signs allowed per property, or placing a maximum total
square footage for signage on a lot, or restricting the illumination of signs in certain zones)
• Conditional use permits (also sometimes called “Special Reviews”), where a proposed use is allowed in a certain zone only through a quasi-judicial review and imposition of conditions to mitigate the effects on the use on surrounding properties, such as noise, traffic, or hours of operation.
• Legal nonconforming uses, where a use lawfully existing as of the date of a change in the ordinance is allowed to continue under certain conditions. Municipalities employ a variety of options for allowing or restricting the expansion of nonconforming uses and structures or allowing development on nonconforming lots of record under certain conditions.