Belgrade Planning Area Zoning
The Belgrade Planning Area is a 4.5 mile "donut" surrounding the City of Belgrade's municipal boundaries. Although the Planning Area was established in 1975, it has not always been planned for in Growth Policies. Taking steps to ensure that development of this area aligns with Belgrade's vision is important for the future of the community.
State law recognizes that good planning doesn’t always follow municipal boundaries and allows the authority of a city-county planning board to extend into areas both inside an incorporated city boundary and in “contiguous unincorporated area outside the city”. As development continues to occur inside the City of Belgrade, the impacts and pressures can extend outside city limits into the adjacent planning area.
Establishing zoning the the Belgrade Planning Area is not a new concept. Multiple attempts have been made historically and more recently this specific project has undergone starts and stops due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff and budget constraints, and political changes. But now, in alignment with the Clearly Belgrade Master Plan and the recent adoption of the 2024 Belgrade Future Land Use Map Amendment, it is time to explore how this tool can implement a shared vision for the greater Belgrade area.
HOW TO USE: Click and drag the slider below to see how adopted Future Land Use (left side) translate to the proposed Draft Zoning (right side). Use the plus (+) to zoom in and minus (-) to zoom out. Click on the map and drag move across the map. Click on individual parcels to see what the adopted Future Land Use or proposed Draft Zoning is.
How we got here: Future Land Use (FLU) to Zoning
So, what is Future Land Use?
The FLU is a graphical representation of a community's preferred land use pattern over the next 20 or so years. It's based on forecasts for population, housing, and employment, and assumes that land policies will be successful in achieving the desired future. The FLU's land use categories are general and provide guidance for changes to zoning regulations, zoning districts, and boundaries. These categories define allowable land uses, population densities, and building and structure intensities.
The City of Belgrade officially updated its Planning Area Future Land Use on July 15, 2024. This includes a Future Land Use Map (shown below) and a FLU Designations Table that describes the characteristics and typical uses associated with each designation. As a part of this effort, numerous online and in-person engagement opportunities were hosted to gain feedback and community input. To learn more about this effort, you can visit the 2024 Belgrade Future Land Use Map Amendment page.
So, what is zoning?
The next step in this process then is to establish zoning regulations based on the FLU's. Zoning maps and codes are more specific than the FLU and define specific standards that must be met for each zone. While zoning codes define the development standards for each land use designation, the zoning map defines the area where those standards apply. These documents are not set in stone and can change over time; however, the primary purpose of implementing zoning in the Belgrade Planning Area is to ensure the area surrounding Belgrade aligns with community values identified in the FLU.
The DRAFT Zoning Code is currently being reviewed internally while the DRAFT Zoning Map is still under being developed with the help of your input. We'll be reaching out to various stakeholders and community groups over the course of this project to inform residents and collect feedback.
Comments / Feedback
Belgrade has already recently started getting polluted from Diesel Trucks and all the Trucking related businesses that haven't contributed anything at all to support the infrastructure.
Not to mention all the sand pits and Junkyards that are cropping up everywhere. Where are our tax dollars going? Is there anything allocated to beautify Belgrade? Can't you require these businesses to plant some trees or fences around their junk and trash? It's sad to see the City of Belgrade going in this direction and it has to stop. It had so much promise a couple of years ago. Industrial facilities should be nowhere near any of the current residential areas. I don't understand why this would even be considered, unless it's pure greed.
Please zone Lot 2A of Minor Subdivision 039C (Geocode 06-0903-10-1-01-03-0000), on Amsterdam Rd., as Business Commercial, similar to its' neighbors to the west and south.
Hello,
Please consider putting residential zoning on the areas immediately bordering and surrounding Gallatin Heights established neighborhood so we can protect home values and quality of life in this area. Please consider business and other zoning (like air polluting industrial facilities) in designated areas mear other similar businesses. This neighborhood is vulnerable to surrounding development and we just ask that it be neighborhood friendly as development continues. Thank you for listening.
The purple area on the south end of the map marked as “industrial and manufacturing” will greatly impact the residential areas surrounding it, cause our air quality to decline and property values to plummet. Industrial/manufacturing should not be located close to residential areas. We already have problems with the asphalt plant on valley center causing air quality concerns for these residential areas. This is an inappropriate zoning for already existing homes and businesses and this should be changed to a different designation.
I left a comment a bit ago but didn't finish. Sorry. The business zoned lands on the western edge of Hulbert are also not in line with the area uses - this doesn't make a lot of sense - the existing rural businesses would still be there but it doesn't seem appropriate for these to be business uses for expansion of larger commercial in the future - it abuts two residential and rural residential and ag areas - seems like RS or RR or AG makes way more sense there. Thank you.
I don't think the general manufacturing/industrial zone on the south side of the map fits with the area AT ALL. It is a gravel pit now - but that doesn't mean it should be open to having asphalt plants and other air polluters next to residential and agricultural use - it makes zero sense - the neighborhoods around there are already dealing with air quality issues form another asphalt plant and that gravel pit has a big area of standing ground water that is being exposed to pollutants. Please consider adjusting this map accordingly. The gravel pit is a non-zoned existing use - it can be zoned many different things and still operate as a gravel pit - understood. But that should not be zoned for future use for big industrial expansions. Thank you.
I own land on Love Lane that is currently a Bozeman address but Belgrade school district and is taxed as agricultural land. On your map it appears to be zoned suburban. How can I keep it zoned agricultural?
Hello - are you getting this?
Background Documents
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2020 Belgrade Public Meeting Presentation Slides (past engagement) (15.1 MB) (pdf)
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2024 Future Land Use Map Amendment (4.46 MB) (pdf)
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2024 Belgrade Future Land Use Map Amendment - FLU Designation Table
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2021 Gallatin County Growth Policy
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2020 Belgrade Growth Policy (31.3 MB) (pdf)
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2020 Triangle Community Plan (1.11 MB) (pdf)
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Gallatin Valley Sensative Lands Protection Plan
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Existing Zoning Districts
