How YIMBYs Won Montana
A wave of legislation designed to reform local zoning rules and boost housing is sweeping this GOP-led state, thanks to an unusual left-right coalition of supporters.
Future home sites outside of Culbertsomn, Montana. Rising home prices and fears of sprawl are fueling a flurry of pro-housing legislation.
Photo by Ken Cedeno/Corbis via Getty Images
Lawmakers in Montana’s state legislature advanced bills in April that would shake up zoning, land use and building codes, making it much easier for property owners to build new housing — and much harder for local authorities to stop them.
A flurry of five separate “Yes In My Backyard” bills — all five sponsored by Republican legislators — are winding their way through various committees. One would require cities to permit backyard flats and other accessory dwelling units by right. Another law would allow duplex homes to be built in places zoned for single-family housing. If Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, also a Republican, signs even a couple of these bills into law, Montana will have leapfrogged several East and West Coast states that have struggled to respond to housing shortages at home.