Working primer · Community Development Department
Helena Unified Development Ordinance
A working concept memo proposing a structure for combining the City's zoning and subdivision regulations into one instrument under Title 76, chapter 25 of the Montana Code Annotated. Drafted at primer depth — proposed ordinance-form content with plainspoken drafting notes — so the actual Title can be written from it.
This is a planning staff proposal for a Unified Development Ordinance, offered for staff consideration. It is not an ordinance. It is not a staff recommendation to the Commission.
The full UDO rewrite is being undertaken by a consultant under Director Brink, with adoption targeted for August 2027. This proposal advances independent staff thinking about how the architecture might fit together — complete and decided enough that the Title could be drafted from it, available to inform the consultant's work.
How this site is organized
Foundations
Architecture
The 15 structural decisions the proposed UDO rests on, the legal and implementation assumptions, and the Phase 1 context.
Map
Crosswalk: Title 11/12 → UDO
Every chapter of the current zoning and subdivision codes mapped to its proposed UDO destination, with disposition notes.
Chapters 1–7 drafted
The chapters
Seven chapters proposed; all seven drafted at primer depth. Each chapter pairs proposed ordinance-form text with drafting notes available on hover.
Procedural backbone
Process Crosswalk
All twelve review types — nine administrative, three legislative — mapped to decision-maker, statutory basis, impact path, timeline, and appeal.
Interactive
Worksheets
Editable Chapter 2 use tables and Chapter 4 form/dimensional standards — drafting tools that persist your edits in the browser.
Six features
Infographics
Content blocks for the six orienting visuals: the UDO spine, the three-layer regulatory framework, the district migration, and three others.
The City Commission adopted Phase 1 conformance amendments in April 2026 — amendments bringing Title 11 and Title 12 into line with Title 76, chapter 25, MCA. The Phase 1 amendments touched Title 11 (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 16, 22, 25; new Chapter 27) and Title 12 (Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 6; new Chapter 7). Phase 1 rewrote subdivision procedures to a fully administrative model, retained the administrative minor subdivision path under 76-3-609, and codified Commercial Site Review as new Title 11 Chapter 27 (live since December 1, 2025). Phase 2 — the exhaustive code update this memo addresses — is anticipated complete by August 2027.