Newsletter Archives

City Growth Policy Implementation Moves Forward . . . s l o w l y Friends of Park County proposes interim application of anti-sprawl policies to accelerate implementation and reduce risk of litigation of city decisions. It was three years ago this month that Friends of Park County made its debut before the Livingston City Commission, calling for sweeping changes to the generic sprawl-as-usual draft city Growth Policy. For the next six months, Friends of Park County testified dozens of times to the Livingston Planning Board, presenting more than 50 pages of written testimony including data and specific language changes. …

Sewage Waste is a Terrible Thing Not to Mind More than 40 million pounds of additional sewage waste will be going into the ground from septic permits issued each year in Park County The Park County Community Foundation’s October 2023 state of the county report on issues and attitudes in Park County, We Will Park County, included this important table about septic permits: What does this mean?  It means almost 40 million pounds of additional sewage has been going into the ground each year in Park County, from sinks, showers and toilets each year on average. (Think that is an…

Three County Planning Board Vacancies to be Filled soon; Application Deadline is November 30 This is a great opportunity for residents who want to provide leadership to protect our quality of life The terms of two members of the Park County Planning Board come to an end next month – Lara Birkes and Taya Cromley.  Cromley also serves as the voting member and liaison to the City of Livingston Planning Board and was a key participant in the update of the City’s Growth Policy.  Another vacancy has been created by the selection of Bryan Wells to fill a vacancy on…

Friends of Park County Welcomes Randy Carpenter as its First Executive Director He brings more than two decades of experience helping Montanans to meet the challenge of growth and development Personnel decisions are supposed to be confidential, but this supporter update is going to violate that rule by quoting from Randy Carpenter’s application to become the first Executive Director of Friends of Park County: “I firmly believe that managing growth in a way that builds strong communities while protecting the spectacular, wholly unique, and precious natural assets we have been endowed with is the challenge of our time in Park…

Growth Policy Repeal Measure Update Friends of Park County collaborating with other organizations and residents to respond to the measure that would eliminate local control and put the County’s future in the hands of developers Friends of Park County is working with other organizations and individuals to respond to the June 2024 ballot measure that calls for repeal of the County’s 2017 Growth Policy. Repeal of the Growth Policy will mean that the voices of over 800 people – people who spent their precious time during the creation of the Growth Policy to go to meetings and express their ideas…

Nootz and Willich Elected to Livingston City Commission They will play critical roles in 2024 in implementing the city Growth Policy City Commission Chair Melissa Nootz was re-elected on November 7 and James Willich will succeed Mel Friedman on the City Commission.  Five candidates were vying for two vacant seats on the Commission.  Out of the 4,019 ballots cast, Nootz received 1,956 and Willich 956, which was about 300 more than the candidate with the next highest vote total. Nootz served on the City Commission and was the Commission’s representative on the Planning Board during the development of the 2021…

County Commissioners Select Bryan Wells to Fill County Commission Vacancy Park County Planning Board member Bryan Wells was selected to fill the vacancy on the County Commissioner by Bill Berg’s resignation in September. Wells was appointed on October 26 at the end of a process in which eleven people submitted applications and Commissioners Tinsley and Story narrowed the field to five finalists who presented their credentials and reasons for seeking the appointment at a public interview process on October 24. Wells, who owns and operates five tourist rental cabins up Emigrant Creek, has served on the County Planning Board for…

Tour Examines Options for Protecting Rural Lands and Lifestyles Around Livingston City annexation policy needs to be updated to address residents’ concerns.   On a beautiful October day, local landowners, officials, experts and Directors of Friends of Park County, (right) participated in an educational tour addressing the issue of how to protect the rural lands and lifestyle around the City of Livingston. Part of the motivation for the tour were concerns by residents of the two-mile belt (or “donut”) surrounding Livingston that the city might annex and zone for development. Livingston’s annexation policy needs to be updated to protect rural…

Livingston City Commission Denies Mountain View Commercial Subdivision Application for Second Time Commissioners split on vote to stop commercial sprawl at western gateway to Livingston   On September 19, the Livingston City Commission considered the re-application for the Mountain View subdivision of land around the western I-90 entrance to Livingston.  Under the zoning, which was changed in 2018 to “Highway Commercial”, the 24 new lots could be developed for almost anything at all – from truck stops, convenience stores and casinos to professional offices and funeral homes. In its testimony to the Commission, Friends of Park County continued its support…

Latest Park County Community Foundation State of the County We Will Report Shows High Levels of Concern About Growth and Development Online survey responses confirm public support for local planning, managing growth and development   On October 4, the Park County Community Foundation released their latest state of the county report on issues and attitudes in Park County, We Will Park County, to a large crowd at the Livingston Depot. The report includes important information about the pace of development, which exceeds the pace of population growth since much of the development is for part-time residents and tourists. Below is…

Special Meeting for Interviews and Public Comments on County Commissioner Candidates on Tuesday, October 24 Commissioners seem certain to select Bryan Wells to fill County Commission vacancy on October 26 Park County Commissioner Bill Berg resigned in September for health reasons.  The two remaining County Commissioners, Clint Tinsley and Mike Story, will appoint someone to complete the remainder of Berg’s term, which ends on December 31, 2024. The process to fill the vacancy announced by the County has four steps. First, applications were accepted until Friday October 13. Second, there was be a public hearing on Tuesday October 17 at…

Repeal of Park County Growth Policy on the June 2024 Ballot Passing this measure will allow developers to determine our future, to replicate what is happening around Bozeman, contrary to the opinions of voters in both parties, who think more needs to be done to manage development, not less. Ann Hallowell’s initiative to repeal the 2017 Park County Growth Policy  has qualified for the June 2024 primary election. (This assumes the County has correctly interpreted the law – see discussion later in this article.) The Vision for Park County in the Growth Policy is a good one – why would…

Promise and Peril in the Draft Livingston PUDO Higher density residential development for lands designated for protection as Natural Areas, Parks and Recreation in the Growth Policy, but also the potential for affordable housing.   And what the heck is a “PUDO?” Livingston staff is drafting a Planned Unit Development (PUD) ordinance (“PUDO”). There are some promising elements in the draft PUD ordinance – developments with more open space and affordable housing.  But there is also peril – the ordinance could be used to allow residential development in areas near the Yellowstone River designated as “Natural Areas” and “Parks and…

Mountain Journal Ceases Publication Big loss for supporters of wildlife and land conservation in the Northern Rockies In August of 2017 Mountain Journal, an online advocate for the protection of the wildlife, lands and traditional communities of the Northern Rockies had its debut.  It was the brainchild of journalist Todd Wilkinson, whose passion and knowledge infused and informed the insightful articles he wrote and helped fill the void in long-form journalism on the mainstream media. Mountain Journal described itself as “a journalistic watchdog and celebrant of Greater Yellowstone.” With “a strong readership in the Rocky Mountain region, every US state,…

Repeal of Park County Growth Policy Edges Closer to Qualifying for the June 2024 Ballot Anne Hallowell’s initiative to repeal Park County’s 2017 Growth Policy requires 1,067 valid signatures from voters in rural Park County (that is, voters who don’t live in Livingston or Clyde Park) to qualify to be on the June 2024 ballot.  The deadline for submitting those signatures is September 20. As of September 8, Hallowell and her supporters had submitted 1,155 signatures of which 906 were accepted as valid, 200 were rejected.  (Other petition sheets were blank or not otherwise accepted.) An additional seventy-one signatures were…

Welcome the New Executive Director of Friends of Park County! This could be you or someone you know! Executive Director Search Underway As reported in our last update, the generous support provided by you to Friends of Park County during the July Give A Hoot campaign has allowed us to move forward with hiring an Executive Director. Our first Director will have: Experience with rural land use planning and regulation. Experience with rural land use politics and controversies. Proven fund-raising success, primarily with individual donors. Excellent communication skills, written and oral. The ability to organize, administer and execute the work…

Anne Donahoe Schroeder honored as Friends of Park County’s Outstanding Volunteer. In front of fellow supporters, Anne Donahoe Schroeder was honored last month as Friends of Park County’s “Outstanding Volunteer” during the organizations first 30 months of existence. The long list of Donahoe’s contributions to Friends of Park County includes presenting testimony to the Livingston Planning Board on the draft Growth Policy, to the Park County Planning Board and County Commission on proposed land use regulations and other matters and reviewing and paying our invoices and overseeing our bookkeeping. Anne added a much-appreciated warm personal touch to our often stressful and…

The Great Flood of ‘22: One Year Later July 2023 And then the rains came… and came… and came. On the morning of June 13, Friends of Park County’s co-founder and Board President was in Jackson Hole to speak at a conference organized by Future West. Shortly before he was going to offer his remarks he received an urgent phone call, telling him to return home immediately because of flooding in Mill Creek threatening his property. Schroeder had a harrowing drive home through epic flooding in the region. Meanwhile, back in Jackson, evacuees from the Park began arriving in the…

Park County Planning Board Spending Months Talking about How to Engage the Public in Discussions about Their Concerns – Without Taking Actions to Address Those Concerns At its meetings since last Fall, the County Planning Board has been talking about – talking. More precisely, it has been discussing for six months a plan for consulting with the residents of Park County about … how to consult with them.  At its April joint meeting with the County Commission, the County Commission Chair urged the Planning Board to discuss various pressing issues with the public.  This was an excellent suggestion, but the…

2023 Montana Legislature Round Up May 2023 The 2023 Montana legislature adjourned on May 3.  It passed many bills relating to land use and the environment.  Important bills are summarized here, grouped under three headings: Bills weakening laws regulating the protections of lands, waters and natural resources from the impacts of rural development, bills removing zoning barriers to higher density and infill housing in cities, and the Montana Land Use Planning Act. Bills weakening laws regulating the protection of lands, waters and natural resources. SB 152 Allowing more recently created lots to qualify for review as minor subdivisions. Passed Senate …

Two Other Polls Confirm Voters’ Concerns about Sprawl and Willingness to Support Sensible Land Regulations. May 2023 Two polls of voter opinions are providing independent confirmation of the validity of Friends of Park County’s 2022 poll of Park County voters, that showed a high level of concern about development and a willingness to support sensible land use regulations. In February of 2022 New Bridge Strategies polled 300 voters in Park County on their attitudes on growth, development and other matters.  The poll was commissioned by the Park County Environmental Council (PCEC.). New Bridge Strategies is identified as a Republican oriented…

As We Predicted: A Wave of Subdivisions and Commercial Sprawl May be Headed Toward Park County and the City of Livingston May 2023 In the winter of 2021, newly formed Friends of Park County testified to the County Planning Board that it was only a matter of time before the wave of subdivisions spreading across the Gallatin Valley would wash over the pass and into Park County: We needed sensible land use regulations to avoid the fate of Bozeman and Gallatin County. But the County Planning Board and planning staff dismissed those concerns as alarmist, pointing to the low number…