The Jefferson County Planning Board approved a new draft of an updated county growth policy document at its Feb. 12 meeting. The board has tentatively scheduled open houses on Mar. 31 and April 2-3 to receive community feedback that will be incorporated into a final document to be presented to the Jefferson County Commission for approval and adoption.
“This document is the foundation for how we steer growth in the county,” said Jefferson County Commissioner Cory Kirsch. “It also opens up the door to us getting more grant applications out. Instead of wasting time completing a lot of the individual study or document requirements fresh for each new grant application, we’ll just be able to point to the growth policy, given whatever need is addressed in there.”
A growth policy is described, though not strictly required, by Montana statute. It is intended to help guide decisions about a community’s future — specifically about land use, infrastructure, and local services, but also with regard to public safety, recreation and other issues. Having an updated growth policy is often an explicit requirement for state and federal grant applications. It can also be used in grant applications to fulfill community survey and environmental study requirements, among other things.
