City of Belgrade Growth Policy Update

Cushing Terrell completed Belgrade’s Growth Policy Update and parks and recreation master plan. This plan will provide guidance for both short- and long-range planning for the City of Belgrade and its 4.5-mile planning jurisdiction by integrating community input, and by identifying future land use needs, economic development, community goals, and recreation planning standards. The City’s rapidly growing planning jurisdiction contains a population of approximately 20,000 people. Our team worked with City Planning and Public Works staff, the Belgrade Parks & Recreation Board, and the Belgrade City-County Planning Board in order to make recommendations to the Belgrade City Council and the Gallatin County Commission for the adoption of the updated growth policy and parks and recreation master plan.

Coming off of the busiest year in its history in 2018, the Gallatin Airport Authority met with the project team to describe how they are continually adapting and expanding to meet growing demands and to discuss the importance of collaboration between the City and the airport. Controlling about 2,200 acres of land and employing about 1,000 people — many who live in Belgrade — the airport is possibly the largest stakeholder affecting the physical environment around the community. Existing Airport Influence Area Zoning is currently in place to regulate surrounding land uses and to prevent nuisances between aviation and urban uses. Lands to the south of the airport adjacent to the incorporated municipal boundary that may be appropriate for commercial uses are likely to be held by the Authority until development or market conditions change.

More recently, Cushing Terrell worked with the City to rewrite the development code as well as to conduct an urban renewal project for Belgrade’s downtown urban renewal district.