Despite the Ongoing Housing Shortage, New Zoning Laws Continue to Receive Backlash

Efforts to overhaul zoning laws and address the housing crisis are facing significant pushback from single-family homeowners across the U.S. Over the past several years, governments at the state and local levels have rolled back single-family zoning to allow more multifamily housing. However, this has been met with criticism from pro-NIMBY ("not in my backyard") homeowners, who believe the addition of housing that boosts density would increase traffic, strain infrastructure, and disrupt existing neighborhoods. According to Route Fifty, this battle—observed in communities across the U.S.—was most recently evident in Montana, where the Montana Supreme Court issued a decision that encourages more multifamily housing and accessory dwelling units despite homeowner objections.

In 2023, Montana lawmakers were lauded for a bipartisan effort dubbed the “Montana Miracle,” a collection of measures that overrode local zoning ordinances to encourage more multifamily homes and accessory dwelling units, or ADUs—smaller secondary cottages or in-law apartments within or on a lot of a single-family home. The laws, championed by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, were supposed to go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.

But in December, a consortium of single-family homeowners from across the state called Montanans Against Irresponsible Densification, or MAID, filed a complaint. The group argued that the state had unconstitutionally taken away homeowners’ property rights and would wrest local control from cities and counties. The lawsuit warned, in part, that the laws meant new construction could begin down the block without notice.

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