Districts and Use Standards

RMX — the residential-primary mixed district family

CMX — the commercial-primary mixed district family

IMX — the industrial-primary mixed district family; and

SP — the Special Purpose districts.

RMX-1. Detached small buildings on landscaped lots, with deeper front setbacks and yards forming the dominant streetscape; outbuildings, accessory dwelling units, and garages are characteristic accessory forms. Pedestrian and vehicle circulation are co-prioritized at the lower-volume scale of a residential street; the district is largely off the A-grid and form standards are calibrated to the residential-interior pattern. Living is the dominant activity; gardens, home occupations, and the limited civic and institutional uses that serve a residential area share the district. RMX-1 occupies Helena's established lower-intensity residential neighborhoods, including the city's mid- and outer-block residential interiors where the prevailing pattern is detached small buildings on individual lots.

RMX-2. A mixture of residential building types — detached small buildings, two- and three-unit dwellings, and small attached forms — on lots that read at a finer grain than RMX-1, with shallower front setbacks and a more continuous street wall. Pedestrian circulation is prioritized at the residential-street scale, with vehicle circulation accommodated; the district is grid-relevant where it fronts neighborhood-serving corridors and form standards are calibrated more strictly along A-grid frontages where they occur. Living in varied housing types is the dominant activity, with the same neighborhood-serving civic, institutional, and small-scale daycare and worship uses as the lower RMX districts. RMX-2 occupies Helena's transitional residential blocks — the established neighborhoods adjacent to corridors and to the higher-intensity residential districts — where finer-grain housing diversity is the existing or desired pattern.

RMX-3. Attached and multi-unit residential building types, typically up to three stories, addressing the street with a more continuous building wall and shallower setbacks than RMX-2; townhouses, small multi-unit buildings, and live-work configurations are characteristic. Pedestrian circulation is prioritized, with bicycle and vehicle circulation accommodated; the district is grid-relevant and form standards along A-grid frontages emphasize the continuity of the pedestrian realm. Living in multi-unit and attached housing is the dominant activity, with compatible professional offices, healthcare offices, and small-scale neighborhood-serving uses sharing the district at a scale that does not displace the residential character. RMX-3 occupies the established higher-intensity residential blocks — the lower-intensity portion of the former R-4/R-O district and the lower portion of the former TR district — typically along neighborhood-serving corridors and adjacent to the downtown core.

RMX-4. Attached and multi-unit residential building types at up to four stories, addressing the street with a continuous building wall, near-zero front setbacks, and the corner-and-frontage articulation that supports a pedestrian-oriented streetscape. Pedestrian circulation is the prioritized mode, with bicycle and transit circulation accommodated and vehicle access and parking placed to the rear or side; form standards along A-grid frontages are calibrated to the highest residential-primary intensity in the family. Multi-unit living is the dominant activity, with the same compatible office, civic, and neighborhood-serving uses as RMX-3 at a greater intensity. RMX-4 occupies the highest-intensity portion of the former R-4/R-O district and the upper portion of the former TR district, typically immediately adjacent to the downtown core and along the city's principal multimodal corridors.

RMX-5. Multi-unit residential buildings at near-downtown intensity, addressing the street with continuous frontage, zero setbacks, and active ground floors that read as part of the downtown public realm; building forms include mid-rise residential and mixed-use buildings where the upper-story residential character predominates. Pedestrian circulation is the prioritized mode, with bicycle and transit infrastructure carried through from the adopted Long Range Transportation Plan and the Downtown Helena Multimodal and Infrastructure Plan; vehicle access is managed and parking is placed to the rear or in structures, in the form-standard discipline of the downtown core. Multi-unit living at the highest residential-primary intensity is the dominant activity, with neighborhood-serving ground-floor retail and service uses, civic uses, and the small-scale entertainment and cultural uses that serve a near-downtown residential population sharing the district. RMX-5 occupies locations where the Land Use Plan supports residential intensity approaching the downtown core — the district is available citywide through the legislative rezoning process but is not initially mapped to any parcel; it is the residential-primary district intended for the parcels that the Land Use Plan or an adopted neighborhood plan identifies as near-downtown-scale residential locations.

CMX-1. Small-format commercial and mixed-use buildings on lots that read as residential at scale, with frontages addressing the street, modest setbacks, and parking placed to the rear or side; residential, civic, and small-scale commercial buildings share the district's form vocabulary. Pedestrian circulation is prioritized at the neighborhood-corridor scale, with bicycle and vehicle circulation accommodated; the district is grid-relevant along the corridors that define its frontages. Daily neighborhood-serving activities — small retail and service businesses, neighborhood offices, residential uses, and the civic uses that serve a residential neighborhood — share the district as a transition between the more intense commercial districts and the residential-primary districts. CMX-1 occupies the former B-1 neighborhood-business locations — the small commercial pockets embedded in established residential areas, typically at the intersections of neighborhood corridors.

CMX-2. Walkable commercial and mixed-use buildings, typically two to four stories, addressing the street with zero or near-zero setbacks, continuous storefronts, large transparent ground-floor frontages, and the awning-and-entrance vocabulary of a pedestrian shopping district; on-street parking and structured or rear-of-building off-street parking serve the district, but surface parking on primary-street frontages is excluded. Pedestrian circulation is the prioritized mode, with bicycle and transit infrastructure prioritized at the corridor scale; A-grid frontages carry the most intensive form discipline, B-grid frontages receive defined relief. Walking-scale commercial activity is the dominant character — retail, restaurants, service businesses, and offices on the ground floor, with residential and office uses on upper stories. CMX-2 occupies the portions of the former B-2 district along walkable commercial corridors where the existing or desired pattern is a pedestrian-scale shopping environment, typically the corridors connecting to the downtown core and the historically walkable neighborhood-commercial streets.

CMX-3. Auto-tolerant commercial and mixed-use buildings serving large catchments, typically one to three stories, with the form designed to accommodate vehicle circulation while maintaining a coherent street wall along primary frontages; surface parking is permitted but managed through placement standards, and the form-standard discipline ensures the pedestrian realm remains continuous where the building meets the sidewalk. Vehicle circulation is prioritized for through-traffic at the corridor scale, with pedestrian and bicycle circulation accommodated within the district and at intersections; A-grid frontages carry the form-standard discipline that maintains the pedestrian environment along the corridor itself. Broad-catchment commercial activity is the dominant character — the range of retail, restaurant, service, and office uses that serve large portions of the city, including the auto-oriented uses (vehicle services, drive-through restaurants, fuel sales) the corridor pattern supports. CMX-3 occupies the portions of the former B-2 district along the city's principal commercial corridors and entryway corridors — the corridors that connect Helena to the regional highway system and serve as the city's primary auto-accessed commercial environments.

CMX-4. Large-format commercial buildings on large lots, with the building set back from the street to accommodate surface parking, loading, and operational space; the form is calibrated to operational needs more than to pedestrian frontage, but landscape and screening standards manage the visual and pedestrian-realm consequences. Vehicle circulation is the prioritized mode at the site scale, with pedestrian and bicycle circulation accommodated to and within the site; the district is typically off the A-grid, and form standards are calibrated to the large-format pattern. Large-format commercial activity is the dominant character — the warehouse-club, big-box retail, and large-footprint commercial uses that require the large lots and operational space the district provides. CMX-4 occupies the portions of the former B-2 district that have developed at large-format scale, typically along the city's outer commercial corridors where parcel size and access conditions support the pattern.

CMX-5. The downtown form — multi-story mixed-use buildings, zero setbacks, continuous storefronts, high ceiling heights at the ground floor, large transparent shopfront frontages, articulated upper stories, and the historic-context-sensitive design vocabulary the existing downtown carries; surface parking on primary frontages is excluded, and parking is provided in structures or to the rear, in the form-standard discipline already operative in the current Downtown district. Pedestrian circulation is the prioritized mode without qualification, with bicycle and transit infrastructure prioritized at the corridor scale and the multimodal infrastructure the adopted Downtown Helena Multimodal and Infrastructure Plan calls for; vehicle access is managed through the downtown street network and the off-street parking system the Parking Commission maintains. The full mixed-use program of a downtown core is the dominant activity — ground-floor retail and restaurants supporting upper-story residential and office uses, the civic and cultural institutions concentrated in the historic core, and the entertainment and gathering activities that make a downtown vibrant. CMX-5 occupies the city's historic downtown core — Last Chance Gulch and the blocks immediately surrounding it, including the Great Northern and Fire Tower subareas the Downtown Neighborhood Plan identifies — the single concentrated district where the highest-intensity mixed-use form is mapped.

IMX-1. Live-work, maker, and small-scale production buildings, typically one to three stories, with the form addressing the street rather than turning away from it; the buildings carry industrial program in their lower floors and may carry residential or office uses above, in a configuration compatible with adjacent commercial and residential districts. Pedestrian and vehicle circulation are co-prioritized at the corridor scale, with the form-standard discipline maintaining the pedestrian realm along A-grid frontages; bicycle and transit circulation are accommodated. Making, repairing, and small-scale producing are the dominant activities — artisan production, maker spaces, light fabrication, repair services, and the small-format light-industrial uses that fit at the seam between industrial and commercial-residential areas — with compatible residential, office, and live-work configurations sharing the district. IMX-1 is a net-new district in the proposed UDO; it occupies locations where the Land Use Plan or an adopted neighborhood plan identifies a transition between the industrial-primary districts and the commercial- or residential-primary districts, typically along corridors where the existing pattern already mixes light-industrial and commercial-residential uses.

IMX-2. Light-manufacturing and commercial-light-industrial buildings on lots sized for operational needs, with the form accommodating loading, storage, and vehicular service while maintaining a coherent frontage along primary-access streets. Vehicle and freight circulation are the prioritized modes at the corridor and site scale, with pedestrian and bicycle access accommodated to and within the site; the district is generally off the A-grid. Light manufacturing, commercial-service uses, contractor operations, light-industrial uses, and the warehouse and storage uses that serve regional commerce are the dominant activities. IMX-2 occupies the former CLM (Commercial-Light Manufacturing) district — the established commercial-light-industrial corridors and parcels positioned to use the city's transportation infrastructure while limiting impact on residential neighborhoods.

IMX-3. General- and heavy-industrial buildings, operational yards, and large-scale industrial site configurations on lots sized for industrial operations, with the form designed for operational and freight access; substantial site layout, loading, screening, setback, and buffering standards manage the relationship between the industrial site and any adjacent non-industrial districts. Freight and vehicle circulation are the prioritized modes, with rail and highway access defining the corridor pattern and pedestrian and bicycle access accommodated for site workers; the district is off the A-grid. Manufacturing, processing, distribution, and the full range of industrial activities — including heavy manufacturing, heavy industrial processing, fuel and storage facilities, junkyards, motor vehicle wrecking, and the large-impact industrial uses that require separation from less intense districts — are the dominant activities. IMX-3 occupies the former M-I (Manufacturing and Industrial) district — the established general-industrial areas positioned for rail, highway, and utility access, separated from residential neighborhoods by distance, screening, or buffer districts, including the city's outer industrial edges and the rail corridor where heavy-industrial activity is the established or planned land use.

OSR (Open Space and Residential). Detached low-intensity residential buildings on large lots or in cluster configurations, with the building form sited and oriented to respect topography, vegetation, drainage patterns, and natural hazards; the form vocabulary is that of hillside residential development rather than of the city's flatter residential districts. Vehicle circulation is the prioritized mode, with pedestrian and bicycle circulation accommodated on the trail and pathway system the topography supports; the district is off the A-grid. Low-intensity living, hillside residential development, and the limited civic and recreational activities compatible with environmentally sensitive terrain are the dominant activities. OSR occupies Helena's hillsides and environmentally constrained lands — the parcels where slopes, wildland-fire risk, stormwater flooding potential, soil erosion potential, or other environmental hazards make low-intensity, topography-responsive development the appropriate pattern.

PLI (Public Lands and Institutions). The building form is determined by the public institution the site serves — a government building, a school, a civic center, a public-utility facility — with the form vocabulary of the specific institution rather than a single district-wide form. Pedestrian, vehicle, and bicycle circulation are co-prioritized at the institutional scale, with the prioritization within any specific site determined by the institution’s operational program. Government and school-district activities, public-service activities, and governmental educational uses for the general benefit of the city’s residents are the dominant activities. PLI occupies parcels owned or operated by the City of Helena, Lewis and Clark County, the State of Montana, the federal government, or Helena School District No. 1 for civic, governmental, educational, or public-service purposes — the district is defined by ownership and public mission, not by the institutional character of a use; the district applies where those conditions of government or school-district ownership and operation exist. Uses that are institutional in character but privately owned or operated — including religious assembly, private medical facilities, and private nonprofit organizations — are not assigned to PLI; those uses are accommodated in the RMX and CMX families on the same terms as comparable secular or commercial uses. Publicly owned land used for operational or industrial purposes is assigned to IMX-2 or IMX-3 as appropriate to the intensity of operations.

Airport. The building form is determined by the operational program of the airport — terminal buildings, hangars, aeronautical-related manufacturing buildings, and the supporting commercial buildings that serve airport users — with substantial open operational areas for runways, taxiways, and aprons defining the dominant site pattern. Aircraft, freight, and vehicle circulation are the prioritized modes, in the operational sequencing the airport's design and FAA regulation determine; pedestrian and bicycle circulation are accommodated for terminal access and worker access. Airport operations, aeronautical-related manufacturing, and the retail, service, public-institutional, and limited recreational uses associated with airport operations are the dominant activities. The Airport district occupies the Helena Regional Airport site and any associated parcels the airport's operational program and the federal aeronautical-zoning regulations encompass.