Zoning questions? Zoning can be very important in the decision to purchase property. Zoning is put in place by a governmental body – here in Montana it is at the county level. Regulations usually have guidelines that would affect a larger geographic area. We can assist you in determining the current zoning before you buy, plus it is a good idea to check what zoning neighbors your property to see how that might affect you. Zoning sets regulations like setbacks from boundary lines, density (how many homes per acre), uses of the land (ie residential, commercial, apartments, agriculture, etc), building heights and land use to name a brief list.
Sometimes there are properties where you see there is an situation where a building or use doesn’t conform to the zoning and someone will use the phrase “grandfathered-in”. That simply means that the specific use or building was put into place prior to the county zoning and so it can continue to be used in that manner. However anyone new would not be able to. Here are links to our local planning and zoning offices in our region of NW Montana:
