A widely opposed proposal to rezone 280 acres of land along Holmes Gulch Road in northern Jefferson County was shut down last week when the Jefferson County Commission voted unanimously to deny the proposal. The commission’s 3-0 decision aligned with a staff report and a unanimous Planning Board vote that both recommended denial, as well as an outpouring of public comments exclusively opposed to the proposal, which would have allowed residential lots of 5–10 acres on land where current zoning allows one lot.
Area residents, particularly those living near the property—in Helena’s South Hills about 3 miles west of the Montana City interchange, but still within Jefferson County—packed into the Montana City Fire Hall’s meeting room April 26, just as they did for a Planning Board hearing on the proposal held at the fire hall on April 14. No members of the public commented in support of the proposal at either hearing.
The land in the proposal is currently zoned basic resource. Landowner Timothy Bompart, of Rego Park, New York, signed a zoning map amendment application on Dec. 10, 2020, requesting that the property be redesignated as residential R-3. The amendment would have changed the allowed density from a minimum lot size of 160 acres to lots of 5–10 acres each. The staff report concluded that the proposal should be denied because it did not meet the review criteria outlined in the North Jefferson County Zoning Regulations, including compliance with the 2009 Jefferson County Growth Policy, road accessibility, appropriate fire coverage and availability of potable water.
