Density Be My Destiny

The Montana Supreme Court reversed the grant of a preliminary injunction to homeowners potentially aggrieved by legislation

The 2023 Montana Legislature passed several pieces of legislation in an effort to address Montana’s affordable housing problem, including SB 323 and SB 528 (collectively, the “challenged laws”).

The injunction was sought by a group called Montanans Against Irresponsible Densification LLC

MAID is a limited liability company consisting of homeowners in single-family neighborhoods in Whitefish, Bozeman, Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Columbia Falls, and Kalispell. On December 19, 2023, MAID filed an amended complaint seeking declaratory and permanent injunctive relief prohibiting the State and its municipalities from implementing the challenged laws and two other measures not at issue in this appeal. MAID requested a declaratory judgment that the laws “may not be used by any person or governmental entity to invalidate or displace covenants that are more restrictive than those developed by Montana’s municipal governments.” Though it noted that “[a]s a matter of statutory interpretation, [the laws] do not purport to displace or supplant private covenants which are more restrictive[,]” MAID alleged that “[a]ny attempt to displace or supersede restrictive covenants, through application of [the laws] is unconstitutional as an impairment of the obligation of contracts . . .

Injunctive relief inappropriate

MAID, in contrast, offered only generalized fears and supposition about the potential effects of SB 323 and SB 528. The only evidence MAID submitted prior to the District Court’s ruling was Monahan’s affidavit alluding to “the possibility” of finding “a multi-unit building or a duplex, or an accessory dwelling unit” going up next door. Monahan’s additional alleged harms regarding public notice and participation stem from such a “possibility,” which the United States Supreme Court in Winter expressly advised is not enough to support a preliminary injunction.

(Mike Frisch)