Planning staff recommends the Zoning Commission discuss the draft amendments to the Zoning Regulations and ask questions for clarification and suggest edits prior to the public hearings on September 5, 2023.

In February 2021, the City Council adopted a new zoning code and zoning map for the entire city. The Council directed staff to continually monitor the new code to ensure the text of the regulations was working as intended and any corrections or housekeeping changes could be made. The Council also directed staff to monitor the implementation to consider any substantive changes to adjust the code, so it continues to provide support to the development goals of the adopted Growth Policy and general policies of Billings.

Planning staff brought forward a bundle of code corrections and amendments last year (June 2022). Those amendments were approved by the Council. Planning staff has been working on more substantive amendments to the code based on staff experience implementing the new code, information from professionals who use the code, and from the Council in its reviews of zoning applications. These substantive amendments include adjustments to the Neighborhood building and siting standards, the sign code, the Planned Neighborhood Development (PND) process, open space requirements for PNDs and multifamily developments, zoning at annexation as well as the right to rebuild residential structures in mixed-use and commercial zone districts. These adjustments are not indicators of a "broken" set of regulations. Just as a new car or truck has a break-in period, so do new codes and regulations. As a completely new code, the need to monitor for glitches or "pain points" is important. These adjustments are just part of breaking in a new code. Planning staff believes this set of amendments should be the last significant adjustments needed for a few years. Planning staff and the City Council should re-visit the zoning and other land development codes regularly and when a new Growth Policy is adopted.

The City Council took action to initiate these amendments for review, public hearings and adoption at its meeting on April 24. The City Council's action was to begin the process of public review and adoptions. The City Council will act on the specific amendments once the Zoning Commission provides a recommendation and once the Council holds a public hearing. The number of amendments requires these to be brought forward in phases. This first phase included changes to the Neighborhood Districts building and siting standards, the code section on fence materials and the sign code. The City Council took action on these first amendments at its May 22, Regular Business Meeting. The Council approved the first phase of the amendments on June 12. The Council then considered the second phase of amendments on July 24, after the Zoning Commission hearing and recommendations from July 11.

Planning staff has worked with several stakeholders over the last several months to craft the draft amendments. At the May 2, 2023, hearing on the first set of amendments, the Zoning Commission asked for the next two phases to include one discussion meeting and then a public hearing meeting. The discussion meeting is intended to provide the Zoning Commission the opportunity to better study the amendments and ask questions of staff and make suggested edits prior to the public hearing. This is the discussion meeting for the third phase amendments. This phase of amendments includes the following:

• Updates to Administrative Relief provisions Section 27-1614 – Provide uniformity between administrative relief provisions for all zone districts including incorporation of landscape and off-sreet parking relief provisions
• Landscape Plan clarifications for residential (one and two family) lots Section 27-1618 – Amend the administrative provisions for a Landscape Plan to clarify plans are not required with building permits for one or two-family dwellings on individual platted lots.
• Housekeeping amendments to correct errors and cross-references in other city codes
• Special Review criteria Section 27-1623 – Amend this code section to allow the Council to require updates to existing sites or structures when considering a special review use. 
• Zoning at Annexation Section 27-1615 and 27-800 – Allow an administrative process to determine the most appropriate zone for smaller parcels with existing county zones identical to a city zone district, or when the most appropriate zone change process for a parcel of more than 10 acres is not the Planned Neighborhood Development (PND) in Section 27-800.
   

Administrative Relief
Section 27-1614 of the code allows Planning staff to grant minor relief from some code requirements such as setbacks, height, build-to-zone ranges, door and window requirements and other adjustments for new construction where a physical limitation exists that prevents an owner from following the code exactly. Administrative relief is intended to be a small adjustment to the code to fit existing circumstances. It is not a substitute for a formal variance and when a request exceeds the small amount allowed, a variance is required. Similar to variances, the Planning staff must find the request is to make an adjustment that maintains the intent of the requirement, does not adversely affect adjoining property and conditions may be applied to the approved request. The code has two additional "administrative relief" options that are not included in the process outlined in this section: Landscaping waivers and waivers of maximum (and minimum) off-street parking. The proposed draft amendment would allow all requests for administrative relief and waivers to be processed similarly ensuring there will be uniform application of criteria and standards. The draft ordinance is attached. 

Landscape Plan
Section 27-1618 of the Administrative Procedures section of the code specifies how and when landscape plans shall be submitted for approval. Typically, these plans are submitted along with a building permit, a master site plan, a zoning compliance permit (county), or special review application. The first set of housekeeping amendments in 2022, clarified the street frontage landscaping required for single and two-family lots in Section 27-1203. A similar clarification and amendment is required in Section 27-1618, to ensure conformity throughout the code related to landscape plans for residential developments. Unless the development of one or two-family homes is covered by a master site plan approval (unit ownership, condominiums, townhomes), landscape plans are not required. Each lot is still required to provide one street tree for each 40 feet of street frontage, but these are not required to be shown on a building permit or zoning compliance permit for lot development or re-development. There are also inconsistencies between Section 27-1200 and 27-1618 that will be resolved with this amendment. The draft ordinance is attached.

Housekeeping Amendments
Small corrections and adjustments are still coming to light as we work with and apply the new zoning code. These adjustments will bring more clarity and reduce confusion for builders, architects, engineers, lawyers and planners as we apply the code to new projects and buildings. These housekeeping amendments include changes to the zoning regulation as well as adjustments to other parts of the city code that have incorrect references to the zoning code. The draft ordinances are attached.

Special Review Criteria
Section 27-1623 includes criteria for decision makers including the types of issues or areas where conditions may be imposed. The current code does not specify that deficiencies in existing site development can be addressed through the special review process. For example, a site may have some but not all the required street frontage landscaping, the type of planting required for a buffer yard, less than the required off-street parking for the existing or proposed use, or a sign type or sign area that is nonconforming to the code. These deficiencies are not mentioned in the special review criteria, but improvements could have a beneficial or mitigating impact on the proposed special review use. The amendment will add language to the decision criteria so the Zoning Commission and Council can consider upgrades to existing sites for new uses requiring special review. The draft ordinance is attached.

Zoning at Annexation
Section 27-1615 and 27-800 govern how zoning is changed and applied at the time of annexation to the city. The City and County now only have a handful of zone districts that are identical - Heavy Commercial (CX), Light Industrial (I1) and Heavy Industrial (I2), and the Public zone districts (P1-3). Some properties close to the city limits also have other "urban" zone districts applied to match the existing development pattern such as Neighborhood Residential 1-3, Mixed Residential 1-3 and Mixed Use zone districts. All of these properties can be annexed with the existing zoning in place and do not require a change to the zoning. During the past two years, the city has also annexed parcels that are inappropriate to apply the Planned Neighborhood Development zone change process because of the size, location and intended use of the property. These properties include a 20-acre parcel added to the Billings Operations Center on Midland Road and a few others. There were other annexations that were required to submit a zone change application even though the city zone district choice was obvious - an annexation of an N4 County zoned parcel surrounded by N3 City zoning. These situations are not uncommon. The current code does not consider these situations. The proposed amendment will set parameters when a zone change application is not required, when a landowner may choose to not go through the PND process, and what happens when an annexation is approved, but the zoning is not. The draft ordinance is attached.
 

Planning staff has sent the draft ordinances to a stakeholders group of builders, developers, consulting engineers and architects as well as neighborhood task forces. There have been phone calls or written communication concerning these amendments to the zoning code. Planning staff will publish a legal ad, post the final draft ordinances to the city's webpage and mail postcards to the stakeholders group when the time, date and location of the public hearing is finalized. Planning staff is prepared to bring these amendments to a public hearing with the Zoning Commission on September 5.

This is a discussion meeting. The Zoning Commission should discuss and make recommendations on changes, if any, to the draft ordinances.

This discussion will have no impact on the Planning Division budget.

The Zoning Commission should review the draft amendments and make suggestions for changes, if any, so the ordinances can be finalized for public hearings in September.