Pondera County, along with the City of Conrad and the Town of Valier, is in the process of creating a growth policy.

State law requires local government entities adopt a growth policy before enacting land use regulations, but the real reason for a policy is to define a path that will get us where we want to be and to make Pondera County competitive for stimulus monies and other grant opportunities.  A growth policy is NOT a regulatory document, but rather a proactive decision making tool so we’re not reacting to events after they have occurred.  For more information, please go to the Montana Department of Commerce, Community Development Division website at http://comdev.mt.gov.

There will be three separate policies developed simultaneously: one for Pondera County, one for the City of Conrad and one for the Town of Valier.  The policy development is being guided by Growth Policy Committees, who will present the policies to their respective Planning Boards, who will in turn make policy recommendations to each governing body.  Click here to see Growth Policy Committee members.

Cossitt Consulting Team is assisting with the development of all three policies.  The project is divided into phases with the summary of the first phase here.  The initial meeting was held on April 28th at the Conrad Library.  The minutes are available here.