Adopted in April by the Park County Board of County Commissioners, the Park County Growth Policy became effective in May 2017.
By definition, a growth policy is a non-regulatory, long-range plan that identifies and seeks to address key social, physical, environmental, economic and land use issues. Oversimplified, growth policies help address where a community is today, where they want to be in the future, and how they plan to get there.
Park County has experienced meaningful growth over the last 45 years. The estimated 2016 population for Park County was 16,114 people, up 3.1% from the 2010 census figure, which equates to an average of 0.50% a year. Historically, the average growth rate year-over-year in Park County since 1970 has been 0.76%. Projections show that Park County will have a population of 17,800 people by 2036, adding 1,000 people per decade growing at a rate of 10.5% over the next 20 years. This projected figure keeps in line with the growth rate realized from 2010 to 2016 of approximately 0.50% year-over-year growth.
As the population has increased, the number of housing starts in Park County has increased significantly. From 2011 to 2016, the number of housing starts per year has increased from 50 to 103 single-family houses.
Number of Park County, MT Single-Family Housing Stars Per Year
The full growth plan addresses intergovernmental coordination, water availability and water quality, infrastructure, housing, growth and development (including population projections, land use patterns, employment, and workforce mobility), planning approach, and additional requirements of law.