CITY COMMISSION ADOPTS STAFF RECOMMENDED CASINO ZONING CODE CHANGES

At its November 1, 2022, meeting, the Great Falls City Commission adopted Ordinance 3251, which revises the City's zoning code requirements for the development of casinos.

The ordinance revision was initiated by a local business owner's application to amend the City's Land Development Code. The applicant requested that the location and development of casinos be treated under the same zoning regulations as any other commercial use. In noting the difficulty in administering a complex Land Development Code, the City's Planning and Community Development staff also believe casinos may be governed under the same set of regulations as other commercial uses and drafted an amendment that was sent to the City Commission for consideration.

The City Commission approved Ordinance 3251 in support of local business owners and the Planning and Community Development's efforts to streamline the development review process.

Ordinance 3251 accomplishes the following goals: 1) it removes the special landscaping requirements for casinos, so this land use is treated like any other commercial land use in City code, and 2) it removes the more restrictive distance separation requirements between casinos and other land uses so owners only need to meet the distance separation requirements in State Law.

Casinos are still only permitted in certain zoning districts in the City. This Ordinance will not increase the number of casino licenses or businesses within the City. "Ultimately, Ordinance 3251 was proposed and adopted to eliminate the differences between local zoning regulations and State code by removing special regulations that single out casinos and impede their development efforts," stated Tom Micuda, Deputy Director of Planning and Community Development.

The adopted Ordinance can be found at https://greatfallsmt.net/ordinance/ordinance-3251. Ordinance 3251 will go into effect on Thursday, December 1, 2022.