Bridger Canyon
Property Rights
Coalition
FIGHTING FOR HOME OWNER RIGHTS IN BRIDGER CANYON
Photography by Wendy Dickson
​A grassroots group of Bridger Canyon home owners, residents and advocates working to restore property rights in Bridger Canyon Zoning.
BRIDGER CANYON PROPERTY RIGHTS COALITION
Thank you to all who participated.
On Dec 12, our strategy for property rights led us to pull the Zone Text Amendment at this time.
Be assured - The process to preserve property rights continues.
We are simply working a different strategy that we believe will have greater success. We are working full time with professionals to reverse the taking of rights to rental income from every Bridger Canyon Property Owner without cause or due process.
Our goal remains the same - to promote responsible regulation that protects property rights and encourages continuity of ownership to help preserve the Bridger Canyon that we all love.
Thank You to all who attended
meetings for Property Rights
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Why we are here ...
Recent decisions by the Gallatin County Planning Department have taken away inherent property rights historically understood to be compliant with zoning regulations.
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On Feb 8, 2024, Gallatin County set a enforcement precedent that bans Short Term Renting of a primary residence for every Bridger Canyon home owner, not because Short Term Renting is restricted in Bridger Canyon Zoning text, but because it is NOT in the zoning text at all.
Whether you support Short Term Rentals or not, all Bridger Canyon Property Owners are at risk of losing basic property rights and our freedom of self-determination. For example, short term renting is an essential tool to help any home owner endure hard times and also helps our community by promoting continuity of ownership.
In 2021, Commissioners added Part 1 Administrative Regulations that changed the previous
policy of enforcement from “not prohibited = allowed” to a new standard of interpretation
“not listed = not allowed” putting in danger numerous common land uses so fundamental the original authors did not think they were necessary to list in the zoning text. Now numerous land use activities not listed in zoning are at risk of being declared illegal.
Even worse, this new interpretation nullifies the “grandfather clause” meant to mitigate hardship caused when zoning regulation changes made previously legal land uses no longer legal. According to the Planning Department now, anything not listed was never allowed, therefore never legal and so not eligible for protection by the “grandfather clause.”
Short term rentals may be new to other places, but they are not new in Bridger Canyon. With two ski areas and numerous popular recreational sites, Bridger Canyon has always had a few vacation rental homes, dating back decades. This is evident not only through personal experience but also through documentation showing that Bridger Bowl served as the booking agent for numerous short term rentals as far back as the 1990s.
The shocking lack of respect for the history and traditions of renting (any duration) as a necessary and fundamental property right to sustain local ownership is one of my biggest disappointments from the planning department and county commissioners.
What will they ban next? We deserve better.