Planning staff recommends the City of Billings City Council conduct a public hearing and receive public comment on the Alkali Creek Elementary School project, located at 681 Alkali Creek Rd, to install an electronic message display wall sign, contrary to the local zoning regulations. The City Council may also provide comment and suggestions to the applicant.

State law governing the application of local zoning regulations to public agencies, local or state, have been on the books since 1981. The purpose of this code section - MCA 76-2-401 and 402 - was to ensure the ability of public agencies to accomplish the mission and purpose of their agency while giving local communities the opportunity to comment when those projects were contrary to locally adopted zoning. Public agency is defined in the law as "a board, bureau, commission, department, an authority, or other entity of state or local government." The term captures many local or state entities, from the Department of Natural Resources Conservation (DNRC) to local school districts or even city departments. The law does not apply to federal agencies or departments. The law excludes public projects on land that is privately owned. For example, if the DNRC has partnered with a landowner to complete a project on private property, it is not exempt from local zoning and is not covered by MCA 76-2-402.

In 2021, the Legislature amended this section of state law. The previous convening body for Land Uses Contrary to Zoning was the appointed Board of Adjustment. In addition, the law had language that implied the Board of Adjustment could not provide its own advice, opinion, or summarize the public comments for the applicant's consideration. The changes adopted in 2021 place these types of projects in front of the local governing body (city or county) for public hearing and allows the governing body to provide input, opinion and advice to the project sponsors. The change in law however, does not give the City Council the ability to impose conditions of approval or deny the proposed project.

Alkali Creek Elementary School currently has a manually operated reader board wall sign on the west side of the building that faces Alkali Creek, but the letters and update method are outdated. The school plans to replace the existing sign with a new Electronic Message Display (EMD) wall sign measuring 6' 3" by 3' 5", as shown in the attached documentation.

In 2021, the City of Billings adopted a revised zoning code that included updates to the sign regulations. Under the previous sign code, EMD signs were permitted for specific "uses" rather than being tied to a zoning district. Schools, churches, and other institutional uses had a dedicated section allowing EMD signs regardless of location. The prior code also imposed size restrictions, limiting EMD wall signs to 10 square feet and freestanding EMD signs to 50% of the total sign area. Additionally, EMD signs were required to be incorporated into a permanent graphic sign. The 2021 adopted sign code amendments exclude EMD signs from certain zone districts that are generally within or in proximity to residential neighborhoods. This includes Neighborhood Office (NO), Neighborhood Mixed Use (NMU), Public 1 - Parks and Open Space, and Public 2 - Public, Civic and Institutions. Schools, churches, and small public property developments outside of downtown were placed in the Public 2 (P2) zone district. Schools and churches may have EMD signs that were permitted prior to the code change and these would be considered legal nonconforming signs.

The Planning staff has not received any public comment as of the date of this report.

City Council may:

• Open the public hearing and take public comment and provide input and suggestions to the project sponsor, Alkali Creek Elementary School.

The Council does not have the ability to approve or deny the land use contrary to zoning but may provide feedback and concerns to the project sponsor.

Holding the public hearing and the land use contrary to zoning will have no impact on the Planning Division budget.