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Billings

City/County Planning Division, City of Billings Planning & Community Services Department

In short

City/County Planning Division, City of Billings Planning & Community Services Department issues 6 permits we publish for Billings, last verified 2026-09-12. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Family/Group Day-Care Home Zoning — Permitted Use under 76-2-412 MCA (Billings)only if it applies to youCity/County Planning Division, City of Billings Planning & Community Services DepartmentNo feenot applicable2026-09-12
Sign Permitonly if it applies to youCity/County Planning Division, City of Billings Planning & Community Services DepartmentA $2.50-per-square-foot Sign application fee plus a $1.50-per-square-foot Sign permit fee (FY26 rates, effective July 1, 2025).one-time, per sign — not stated in the published fee schedule2026-09-12
Zoning Clarification (Zoning Verification)only if it applies to youCity/County Planning Division, City of Billings Planning & Community Services Department$92–$171 per request: $92.00 (written response) or $171.00 (on-site visit), FY26 rates effective July 1, 2025one-time, per request — not stated in the published fee schedule2026-09-12
Special Review (functional Conditional Use Permit)only if it applies to youCity/County Planning Division, City of Billings Planning & Community Services Department$1,299–$1,776 one-time, per application: $1,299.00 (residential) or $1,776.00 (commercial), FY26 rates effective July 1, 2025, plus postageone-time, per application; an approval expires one year after issuance unless substantial work has commenced, or once the use has ceased for more than six months (BMCC Sec. 27-1623.H)2026-09-12
Zone Changeonly if it applies to youCity/County Planning Division, City of Billings Planning & Community Services Department$1,719 one-time, per application (FY26 rate, effective July 1, 2025, plus postage)one-time, per application2026-09-12
Temporary Use Permitonly if it applies to youCity/County Planning Division, City of Billings Planning & Community Services Department$289.00 for the initial review, plus $191.00 for an annual renewal, plus a separate $1,650.00 bond for a Group 3 use only (FY26 rates, effective July 1, 2025).annual renewal after the initial review2026-09-12

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

About each permit

Family/Group Day-Care Home Zoning — Permitted Use under 76-2-412 MCA (Billings)

Under Montana's statewide statute, 76-2-412 MCA, a state-licensed family or group day-care home is 'a permitted use in all residential zones, including but not limited to residential zones for single-family dwellings,' and 'A city or county may not require a conditional use permit in order to maintain a day-care home.' Under that statute, no Billings Special Review or conditional use permit applies to such a home in a residential zone, so no fee applies at the zoning stage. This is separate from Montana DPHHS's own state Child Care License, recorded at the Montana state layer. A stand-alone commercial day-care center is not named in this exemption and instead follows the same ordinary Building Permit, Certificate of Occupancy, Zoning Clarification, and Special Review path recorded in the other Billings records for any other commercial use of comparable size.

Sign Permit

Administered by the Planning & Community Services Department. A separate Fence Permit is priced at a flat $40.00 on the same current schedule. The City's Planning Application Fee Schedule (Exhibit A, FY 25 & 26) shows the sign application fee rising from $2.00 per square foot in FY24 and FY25 to $2.50 in FY26, and the sign permit fee from $1.00 to $1.50 per square foot over the same years.

Zoning Clarification (Zoning Verification)

A written confirmation from Planning that a proposed use complies with the Zoning Code at a given property — commonly requested for financing, leasing, or licensing purposes rather than legally mandatory before every business opens, so it is treated as conditional. A separate $105.00 Code Interpretation fee and a $216.00 (FY25)/$277.00 (FY26) fee for Minor Modifications to Approved Applications appear on the same current schedule.

Special Review (functional Conditional Use Permit)

Billings calls this process 'Special Review' rather than 'Conditional Use Permit,' but it works the same way. BMCC Sec. 27-1623 calls special review uses 'special exceptions to the general terms of this zoning code,' and only a use marked SR for that district in Table 27-1000.1 can be approved this way. A use that is neither SR nor otherwise allowed in the district needs a text amendment or a rezoning (Sec. 27-1623.A.3). The City's Zoning Information page, written jointly for City and County applicants, left open who takes final action inside city limits. The codified zoning code, read directly, settles it: the Billings City Council. Chapter 27 'applies to all lands within the City of Billings' (Sec. 27-103.A). The five-member City Zoning Commission holds a public hearing and 'shall make a recommendation to the city council' to approve, conditionally approve or deny (Sec. 27-1623.E.1). The council then holds its own hearing and approves, conditionally approves, denies, allows withdrawal, delays up to 30 days or refers the application back once (Sec. 27-1623.E.2). Sec. 27-1609.A.1(c) lists 'To review and decide on special review applications' among the council's powers, and Table 27-1600.1 names the council as the deciding body, with appeal to District Court. Sec. 27-1623 gives the Yellowstone County Commissioners no role, and the City Board of Adjustment 'does not have the authority to hear or decide on special review requests' (Sec. 27-1609.C.3(c)). Which businesses actually meet this process is set by Table 27-1000.1 and the use-specific standards, which is why only five industries are listed for it. A day care center is SR in the seven residential districts (N3, N2, N1, NX1, NX2, NX3, RMH) and permitted outright in NO, NMU, CMU1, CMU2, DX, CBD and CX. Minor vehicle repair (5,000 square feet or less) is SR in CBD, and major vehicle repair (over 5,000 square feet) is SR in CMU2. A restaurant with a drive-thru, which covers a coffee shop under the code's definition of a restaurant, is SR in NMU and DX, and any restaurant drive-thru that adjoins residentially zoned property 'is subject to special review' (Sec. 27-1005.N.1). A retail store with a drive-thru is SR in NMU. Four uses are not SR in any district, in either the primary-use table or the accessory-use table (Table 27-1000.6): a small-animal veterinary clinic, a personal-service business such as a barber shop (the code's own example of personal services), a fitness centre (which the code counts as a studio or instruction service) and a contractor yard. Where the table does not list them as permitted, only a text amendment or a rezoning can allow them. A licensed family or group day-care home is exempted from Special Review entirely by Montana state law (recorded separately below).

Zone Change

Applies only when a business's intended use is not permitted under the zoning classification already on the property and the property owner seeks to change that classification entirely, rather than seeking an exception under the Special Review or Variance processes recorded as separate Billings records.

Temporary Use Permit

The City and County's own current Temporary Use Permit application sets out three groups by how long the use stays in one place — Group 1 (under 73 hours in one place, at least 5 feet behind all property lines, not parked on the street): NO PERMIT REQUIRED; Group 2 (73 hours to 90 days in one place): permit required; Group 3 (more than 91 days in one place, and no wheels or axles, e.g. a kiosk): permit required. A typical food truck moving between sites and parking under 73 hours at any one location falls in Group 1 and needs no permit under this process at all; only a food truck or mobile vendor left standing at one specific site for 73 or more consecutive hours (Group 2), or a genuinely fixed, wheel-less installation (Group 3, which by its own terms excludes a wheeled vehicle), triggers this permit; it does not apply to every food-truck site placement. The application form itself states 'Fee: Call (406) 657-8247 for current fee' rather than printing a dollar figure, but the City's own separate, dated Planning Application Fee Schedule (Exhibit A) remains the stronger, itemized source for the actual dollar amounts recorded above; a Group 3 use also requires a City business license covering the address of the temporary use and, if installing a structure/kiosk, the $1,650.00 surety bond.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Billings
Phone
(406) 657-8247

Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.

Sources

Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

  1. 76-2-412, Montana Code Annotated (Relationship of foster homes...and day-care homes to zoning) — the statewide preemption making a licensed day-care home a permitted use in every residential zoneMontana Legislature · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
  2. Billings, Montana City Code (BMCC) Sec. 27-1623 (Special review uses): only uses marked SR in Table 27-1000.1 qualify; the City Zoning Commission 'shall make a recommendation to the city council'; the City Council's final action; one-year and six-month expiry rulesCity of Billings, Montana, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
  3. BMCC Sec. 27-1002 (Uses by district), Table 27-1000.1 (Permitted Primary Uses): P (permitted) or SR (special review) by zone district for day care centers, restaurants and retail with drive-thru, vehicle repair, veterinary clinics, personal services, studio or instruction services and contractor yardsCity of Billings, Montana, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
  4. BMCC Sec. 27-1005 (Standards for commercial uses), subsection N.1: a restaurant drive-thru that adjoins residentially zoned property 'is subject to special review'City of Billings, Montana, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
  5. BMCC Sec. 27-1008 (Accessory uses), Table 27-1000.6: the only accessory uses marked SR are accessory dwelling units, drive-through facilities, outdoor sales lots and fowlCity of Billings, Montana, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
  6. BMCC Sec. 27-103 (Scope): 'This chapter applies to all lands within the City of Billings'City of Billings, Montana, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
  7. BMCC Sec. 27-1609 (Review and decision-making bodies): the City Council's power 'To review and decide on special review applications', the five-member City Zoning Commission, and the Board of Adjustment's lack of special review authorityCity of Billings, Montana, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
  8. BMCC Sec. 27-1803 (Definitions): 'Restaurant' (food and drinks available to the general public for consumption on the premises) and 'Studio or instruction service' (including 'fitness centers')City of Billings, Montana, via Municode · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-18
  9. EXHIBIT A FY 25 & 26 City of Billings Planning Application Fees (dated 7/12/2024) — the current Planning fee schedule for Signs, Zone Changes, Special Reviews, Variances, Zoning Clarifications, and Temporary Use PermitsCity of Billings, Montana, Planning & Community Services Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12
  10. Zoning Information — the City's own page describing Special Review, Variance, and Zone Change processes and the Boards/Commissions that decide themCity of Billings, Montana · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-12

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