Missoula now allows two units on every parcel — and says covenants still govern
Missoula now allows two units on every parcel — and says covenants still govern
2026-09-15 · Montana · Regulation
What happened. Montana's most aggressive municipal upzoning took effect in early March 2026. For a covenanted Missoula subdivision, the practical result is that the zoning code stopped being a backstop and the declaration became the only restriction.
The adoption
Missoula City Council adopted the Unified Development Code unanimously on February 2, 2026, after more than five hours of deliberation. It took effect 30 days after approval — early March 2026 — with applications filed within 120 days allowed to elect review under the old or new code.1
What it does
- Apartments permitted in 89 percent of residential and mixed-use districts, up from 64 percent
- A minimum of two units per parcel allowed citywide, with rural areas limited to single-family and duplex
- Parking minimums eliminated for all residential uses and for commercial and industrial districts
- At least duplexes in all residential areas; triplexes in limited-urban and urban zones
- Zoning districts cut from 38 to 22; all overlays removed except airport hazard and four historic districts
It implements the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan, adopted unanimously on December 16, 2024, and targets 1,100 to 1,500 new housing units annually. The driver was the Montana Land Use Planning Act compliance deadline of May 2026.
What the city says about covenants
Missoula's own guidance is unusually direct, and worth quoting because it is the answer a board will need:
“Zoning sets the citywide rules, but HOAs and covenants can add their own requirements” … “Only homeowners can change those private agreements, not the City.”2
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Related Montana HOA Topics
- “Missoula looks to increase housing with new zoning regulations,” Montana Free Press, Feb. 3, 2026 — adoption, effective date and code contents ↩
- “What if my neighborhood has an HOA or development covenants?” — City of Missoula, Our Missoula FAQ ↩
- Mont. Code Ann. § 70-17-210 — the 2025 definition of “enforcement action” and the abandonment defence (official) ↩
- Montanans Against Irresponsible Densification, LLC v. State, 2026 MT 53 — vacating the district court's covenant declaration (Montana Judicial Branch) ↩
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