The ‘Montana Miracle’ Vindicated in Court
Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Rent Free. This week’s stories include:
- One major victory (and one defeat) for private property rights in Montana.
- DOGE-inspired termination of federal grants to fair housing groups.
- A new report on the promise of single-stair reforms.
In Montana, One Victory for Private Property Rights…
On Monday, a judge in Gallatin County, Montana, roundly rejected single-family homeowners’ legal challenge to a suite of four new zoning and planning reforms passed in 2023 to increase housing production.
The reforms, dubbed the “Montana Miracle”, received wide bipartisan support in the Montana Legislature and were enthusiastically championed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte.
But they attracted the opposition of some single-family homeowners organized under the group Montanans Against Irresponsible Densification (MAID), who sued to stop the implementation of the new laws in late 2023.
By preempting local zoning restrictions on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and duplexes but leaving similar private covenants in place, MAID alleged that the new laws violated the Montana and U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection guarantees.
The group also claimed that the state violated substantive due process protections by arbitrarily lifting local zoning restrictions without any legitimate government interest in mind.
In a 55-page decision, Gallatin District Court Judge Mike Salvagni rejected most of MAID’s arguments.
The state’s decision to reform local zoning codes while leaving private covenants untouched did not violate Equal Protection guarantees given the inherent differences between local laws and private contractual relationships, he ruled.
“A covenant is a contract and an ordinance is not,” wrote Salvagni. “A restrictive covenant is not a provision of a zoning code.”
This is a surprising reversal on Salvagni’s part. In December 2023, he granted MAID’s request for a preliminary injunction against Montana’s ADU and duplex laws on the grounds they would likely succeed on their equal protection claims.
The Montana Supreme Court reversed that injunction in September 2024 while still allowing the lawsuit to go ahead.
Contra MAID’s claims that the new laws were completely arbitrary, Salvagni ruled that “clearly, housing affordability is a legitimate governmental concern and the new laws at issue relate to that concern.”
Salvagni did side with MAID’s challenges to Montana’s new planning law, which limits citizens’ ability to challenge local approvals of individual projects and site plans. Those limitations violated the Montana Constitution’s public participation guarantees, he ruled.
Supporters of Montana’s zoning reforms cheered Salvagni’s Monday decision.
“Today’s ruling by Gallatin District Court to uphold critical pro-housing reforms is a victory for all Montanans striving for affordable, attainable housing,” Gianforte said in a post on X.
My statement on the pro-housing district court ruling out of Gallatin County: pic.twitter.com/KmpnmVXxw0
— Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) March 3, 2025
While MAID’s lawsuit was playing out, the rest of the state was generally moving ahead with the 2023 reforms.
Local governments in places like Missoula, Montana, have been incorporating the changes into local laws.
That allowed Da
Article from Reason.com
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