The city of Great Falls has released a draft of its new growth policy, a document that aims to guide development decisions in Montana’s slowest-growing major city.
The new document introduces a future land use map, which focuses on neighborhood characteristics and infrastructure to identify the types of commercial and residential densities that make sense for different parts of town. That planning incorporates requirements passed by the 2023 state Legislature.
Brock Cherry, the city’s director of planning and community development, said that promoting mixed-use, infill development within the city has been a priority. This kind of work adds to the property tax base without necessitating the expansion of city services like water, sewer or public safety response areas.
To guide potential development, the policy document outlines and maps 10 different categories for land use.
“That’s one of the things that we’re most excited about with how we’ve made these future land use types is that they’re more mixed and more comprehensive,” Cherry said.
Some categories are less dynamic and unlikely to change, such as the airport, outdoor recreation spaces and legacy industrial zones. Major commercial corridors are typically located along major thoroughfares, such as 10th Avenue South and Third Street Northwest.
For other parts of town, particularly residential areas, the land-use designations gain a bit more nuance and intentionally avoid pigeonholing them as strictly single-family residential or commercial. There are “rural fringe neighborhoods,” which are expected to have low growth and are on the outskirts of the city’s boundaries. Lower River Road and Central Avenue West neighborhoods received this designation.
There are so-called “traditional neighborhoods,” still relatively far from the city’s core but with a greater mix of single-family homes, apartments and some small businesses. This includes much of the Fox Farm area, Riverview neighborhoods and some far southern areas of Great Falls.
The core of Great Falls is designated as an “urban neighborhood” and features the potential for higher-density residential development with different kinds of single-family homes, multi-family housing and commercial services. These neighborhoods surround the downtown area and feature some of the town’s older homes.
Given their proximity to businesses and amenities like parks, these areas could be considered for higher-density housing, which can be more affordable for residents.
“A residential area doesn’t just have to be single-family housing,” said Joe McKenney, a city commissioner who also works in real estate. “It can be single-family housing. It can be duplexes. It can be townhouses. And it can be small retail or even grocery stores.”
Redevelopment in the “traditional” and “urban” neighborhoods has the highest return in terms of tax revenue, given the density and existing city services, according to the draft growth policy. Infill development generates tax revenue without requiring the city to pay for the maintenance of new water and sewer lines, for example.
“Infill is empty lots, empty space or under-utilized space,” McKenney said. “From a city government standpoint and funding city services, that’s at the top of the list. And the reason it’s at the top of the list is because we don’t have to put infrastructure in. It’s already there.”
The challenge is attracting developers to take on those projects, officials say. City commissioners last year approved infill developments like Meadowview Village, which aims to build 163 homes on Great Falls’ east end. But there is limited space to build at that kind of scale within city limits. Renovations of homes on a single lot are less likely to attract big developers and are more often locally or privately funded.
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Montana population growth slows, though some hot spots remain
Montana’s population growth rate has declined from the rapid-fire increases of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, though certain communities including East Helena and Kalispell remain hot spots.
One example is a project from NeighborWorks Great Falls, which has plans to demolish a vacant home on Second Avenue South and build an affordable home in its place. Agency director Sherrie Arey told city commissioners last year that the organization will take on these projects “one house at a time” if necessary.
Cherry said that part of the effort going forward will be to encourage more small-scale infill development. The Montana Legislature passed bills aimed at encouraging affordable infill development. Those measures included the right to build accessory dwelling units — backyard “granny cottages” — on a single-family home parcel. Duplexes are also allowed in any zoning district.
“We need to do a better job at helping those folks that aren’t your average developer,” Cherry said.
The draft growth policy places a high priority on accessory dwelling units, smaller lot sizes and duplex and tri-plex construction on traditionally single-home lots. These measures are intended to support infill development that adds to the tax base and, in theory, provides affordable housing options.
Great Falls is an outlier among the bigger Montana cities for its achingly slow population growth. The previous growth policy, finalized in 2013, made a bullish projection of nearly 16% population growth by 2025.
The actual population grew at about 2% and was estimated to be about 60,301 in 2024, according to figures released by the city. Elementary school enrollment in 2025 was approximately 400 students fewer than in 2013.
The new draft growth policy considers four population scenarios over the next 20 years, ranging from roughly 5,000 new residents by 2045 to a gain of more than 11,000. The most aggressive scenario would involve a population increase of more than 18%.
Cherry said that through the years, as the growth picture becomes clearer, the growth policy document will be revisited and updated.
“We review it every year, and our aim is to provide a report to the city commission every year of where we’re at, which could consist of recommendations of things that can be modified or changed,” he said.
Right now, the draft growth policy document is available for public review. The comment period ends Feb. 28. After that, city staff will incorporate public comments and make revisions before presenting the final policy document to the city commission for its approval. That’s expected in late spring.
The draft growth policy, along with information on how to provide comments, is available here.
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