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Store Size Cap – Ravalli County, Montana

In April 2006, the Ravalli County Commission unanimously adopted an ordinance limiting stores to no more than 60,000 square feet. The ordinance is an interim measure that will remain in effect for one year while the community works on a permanent ordinance.

Ravalli county is home to the town of Hamilton, has a population of 44,000, and is about an hour south of Missoula.

The size cap was proposed by the Bitterroot Good Neighbors Coalition, which has been working since 2004 to build public support for limiting large-scale retail development.

Nearly 1,400 people turned out at a public hearing on the proposed cap. The measure blocks Wal-Mart's plans to build a supercenter just outside of Hamilton.

UPDATE November 2006: Working through a local front group, Wal-Mart gathered signatures to place the size cap law on the ballot. With $100,000 from Wal-Mart, the front group produced a flurry of ads and other campaign materials against the cap. In November 2006, voters overturned the cap by a very narrow margin. See our Hometown Advantage story "Big Boxes on the Ballot" for more details.