Belgrade on The Bozeman Daily Bee

Belgrade 'Donut' Finally Gets Development Plan; Residents Still Unclear What the 'Donut' Is

Mon, 04 May 2026 07:30:00 -0600

The City of Belgrade and Gallatin County announced this week that they have reached an agreement to transition development oversight of the “Belgrade Donut,” a ring of unincorporated land surrounding the city that has confused residents, frustrated developers, and delighted exactly one category of person: people who enjoy explaining obscure zoning terminology at parties.

“The Donut is the area outside Belgrade city limits but within its planning jurisdiction,” said Gallatin County planning director Steve Erickson. “It’s not technically Belgrade, but it’s not not Belgrade. The development standards have historically been — let’s say — ambiguous.”

BEE INVESTIGATION: The Belgrade Donut — Who Decides What Gets Built in the Hole?

Sat, 02 May 2026 16:00:00 -0600

For years, a ring of unincorporated land surrounding Belgrade — known locally and bureaucratically as the “Belgrade Donut” — has existed in a jurisdictional twilight zone where development rules are applied with the consistency of a coin flip and the transparency of a gravel pit.

The Bozeman Daily Bee spent two weeks investigating who, exactly, decides what gets built in the Donut. The answer, it turns out, is: it depends on who you ask.

Belgrade Residents Gather 700 Signatures Against Roundabout, Still Unsure What Roundabout Does

Fri, 01 May 2026 09:15:00 -0600

More than 700 Belgrade residents have signed a petition opposing the city’s proposed roundabout at Broadway and Main, making it the largest organized civic action in Belgrade since the 2019 fireworks ordinance debate and roughly 700 more signatures than any Belgrade city commission meeting has ever attracted.

“We don’t want it,” said petition organizer Vicki Stanhope, 53, when asked to summarize the document. When asked what specifically about the roundabout concerns her, Stanhope said, “All of it. The round part. The about part. The whole concept.”

Roundabouts Are a Coastal Conspiracy and I Will Not Be Moved

Fri, 01 May 2026 08:00:00 -0600

I have driven through Belgrade’s four-way stop at Broadway and Main approximately 11,000 times in my life, and not once has it required a circular intervention imported from Europe.

A four-way stop works on a simple principle: you stop, you look, you go. If the other person got there first, they go first. If you both got there at the same time, the person on the right goes. If neither of you can remember who got there first, you do the little hand wave. This system has functioned without incident for decades, and by “without incident” I mean with a manageable number of incidents.