The Planning Advisory Board, which also sits as the Zoning Commission, advises the CityCommission on Great Falls area growth and development: amendments to the growth policy, zoning, land subdivision, annexation, transportation planning, roadway improvements and general planning.
Created by Ordinance 2913 and recreated by Ordinance 2923, September 2005, as part of the Land Development Code — Title 17 of the OfficialCode.
Membership — seven citizen members appointed by the City Commission. No City employees or elected officials. All must reside within the city limits. Three-year terms.
Meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 3:00 pm in the Commission Chambers of the CivicCenter. Work sessions may be held at 4:00 pm on the preceding Monday. The City estimates two to six hours a month of reading and meetings.
Staffed by PlanningAndCommunityDevelopment.
Every annexation, planned unit development, rezoning and conditional use permit that reaches the Commission has been through this board first, with a staff report and a recommendation. Its recordings are catalogued under the file prefix PABZC — see MeetingRecordings.
Appointments to the board were made at CityCommission2025-05-06, carried 3-1, and at CityCommission2026-03-03, carried 3-0 with one abstention.
Board meetings for which a City-190 recording exists but no online packet, so far all 2023 and 2024:
PlanningAdvisoryBoard2023-02-28 · PlanningAdvisoryoard2023-04-25? · PlanningAdvisoryBoard2023-07-11 · PlanningAdvisoryBoard2023-08-22 · PlanningAdvisoryBoard2023-11-14 · PlanningAdvisoryBoard2024-01-09 · PlanningAdvisoryBoard2024-02-13 · PlanningAdvisoryBoard2024-03-26 · PlanningAdvisoryBoard2024-04-09 · PlanningAdvisoryBoard2024-05-14 · PlanningAdvisoryBoard2024-06-11 · PlanningAdvisoryBoard2024-10-08
The MontanaLandUsePlanningAct changes what the board does. City staff have been reviewing code changes for compliance, including which body hears variances and appeals — see WorkSession2026-01-20 and BoardOfAdjustment.
Planning/Zoning Commission: https://greatfallsmt.gov/444/PlanningZoning-Commission Agenda Center: https://greatfallsmt.gov/AgendaCenter