Building permits, zoning and land rules in Valley County, Montana

At a glance

Building permit

No county permit; a state permit applies only to non-exempt buildings, and a typical single-family home (fewer than five units) is exempt¹²

Zoning

None countywide; only Glasgow, Fort Peck and Nashua have their own zoning inside town limits³⁵

Septic permits

Valley County Sanitation Department (County Sanitarian)⁴

Driveway / access permit

An Access Encroachment Permit is required for a house located outside a platted subdivision⁶

Floodplain permit

Required near a river, from the county Floodplain Administrator, housed in the Sanitation Department⁷

Wells

A water right permit is needed unless your use stays at or under 35 gallons per minute and 10 acre-feet per year⁸

Short-term rental

A Property Manager license is generally required statewide unless you qualify for an exemption; the application fee is $50⁹

Who to call

Contact details are copied from each office’s official page and were checked against it on September 24, 2026.

Do you need a building permit in Valley County, Montana?

Unincorporated Valley County issues no countywide building permit of its own¹. Montana does require a state building permit before construction of any non-exempt building, but the state's own exemption list covers most of what a rural buyer actually builds: farm and ranch buildings, private garages and storage buildings for the owner's own use, and, critically, any residential building with fewer than five dwelling units². In practice, that means a typical single-family home in unincorporated Valley County needs neither a county permit nor the state permit. If you're building something the exemption doesn't cover (a small apartment building, a commercial structure, or housing that serves transient guests), the state permit still applies, and it must be issued before plumbing, mechanical or electrical permits can follow¹⁰.

Who handles permits in Valley County, and how do you reach them?

For septic, contact the Valley County Sanitarian at the Valley County Annex in Glasgow¹¹. The same Sanitation Department also houses the county's Floodplain Administrator, who issues floodplain permits if your property is near a river⁷. If your house sits outside a platted subdivision, the Access Encroachment Permit for your driveway comes from the Valley County Commissioners' office, also at the Court Square annex¹². For the rare non-exempt building that does need a state permit, Montana's Building Codes Program handles applications and plan review out of Helena¹³. If your land is inside Glasgow, Fort Peck or Nashua, permits and zoning run through that town's own office instead of the county⁵.

Does Valley County have zoning?

There is no countywide zoning ordinance for unincorporated Valley County³. Zoning only exists inside the incorporated towns: contact the City Engineer in Glasgow, the Fort Peck Town Office in Fort Peck, or the Nashua Town Office in Nashua for zoning and building permits in those places⁵. Montana law lets a county commission adopt its own zoning once it has adopted a growth policy, so this could change; as of this research, Valley County hasn't gone that route¹⁴. Even without zoning, the county does regulate subdivisions: dividing land within Valley County's jurisdictional area is governed by the county's own subdivision regulations, last updated in 2024, and a proposed subdivision within one to three miles of a city or town (depending on its class) must be sent to that city or town for review¹⁵.

How do septic and floodplain permits work in Valley County?

If your house won't be hooked up to a public wastewater system, you need a septic permit from the Valley County Sanitation Department¹¹¹⁶. The Sanitarian issues septic permits and inspects installations for adherence to both state and local regulations¹⁷. Statewide, Montana's drainfield-permit rule applies even to land that already has a Certificate of Subdivision Approval; a COSA does not replace the separate drainfield permit from the local health department¹⁸. If your property is near a river, budget for a second permit: the county's Floodplain Administrator, based in the same Sanitation Department, issues floodplain permits for property in a designated flood hazard area⁷¹⁹. If you're not on a public water supply, you'll also need to sort out your well: Montana exempts a groundwater well from the state water-right permit only if use stays at or under 35 gallons per minute and no more than 10 acre-feet a year, and even then you must file a Notice of Intent with DNRC before putting the water to use⁸.

Can you live in an RV or tiny home on your land in Valley County?

No official Valley County page directly addresses long-term RV or tiny-home occupancy on private unincorporated land, so treat this as unconfirmed rather than settled. What you can rule out is that Montana's public-land camping limits don't apply to your own property: the 7-night camping cap that applies within Fish, Wildlife & Parks public-use sites governs state-managed land, not a private parcel you own²⁰. Since Valley County has no countywide zoning, there's also no county zoning ordinance setting a minimum dwelling size or barring an RV or tiny home on unincorporated land³. That absence of a rule isn't the same as an official yes, though, so confirm your plans with the county before you commit, and check separately if your parcel is inside Glasgow, Fort Peck or Nashua, where municipal rules would apply instead⁵.

Building a home in Valley County: the steps, in order

1. Confirm your parcel is outside Glasgow, Fort Peck and Nashua; if it's inside one of those towns, that town's office handles zoning and permits instead of the county⁵.
2. Check whether your project is exempt from the state building permit; a typical single-family home under five units usually is, along with farm, ranch and private garage buildings².
3. If your project isn't exempt, apply to Montana's Building Codes Program in Helena before you start construction¹³.
4. Apply to the Valley County Sanitation Department for your septic permit if you won't be on a public wastewater system¹¹¹⁶.
5. If your land is near a river, get a floodplain permit from the county Floodplain Administrator before you build⁷¹⁹.
6. If your house sits outside a platted subdivision, apply to the Valley County Commissioners for an Access Encroachment Permit for your driveway¹²⁶.
7. If you're not on a public water supply, confirm whether your well use qualifies for the 35-gallon-per-minute, 10-acre-foot-per-year exception, and file your Notice of Intent with DNRC if it does⁸.

What to check before you buy land in Valley County

This is dry, open country: Valley County gets only 13.8 inches of precipitation a year and spends 17.9% of years in severe drought, with just 1% of the county wooded, so plan your water strategy around a dry climate rather than a forested one²¹²²²³. Federal land covers 39.2% of the county, so confirm your parcel's boundaries against adjacent public land before you buy²⁴. Soils for a conventional septic drain field are limited: only 8.6% of the county's soils are free of severe limits, so get a Sanitarian site evaluation before you count on a standard system²⁵. The terrain itself is manageable, with 76.4% of the county at 15% slope or less²⁶. If your driveway will cross a state highway rather than a county or town road, Montana requires a separate approach permit or right-of-way agreement from the MDT district office, and a change in how you use an existing approach also triggers a new permit²⁷. Property taxes run an effective rate of 1.1%, with a median bill of $2,185 a year, against a typical home value around $198,940²⁸²⁹³⁰.

Watch-outs

• Whether long-term RV or tiny-home occupancy is allowed on private unincorporated land in Valley County isn't addressed by any official county page found in this research; the absence of zoning isn't the same as an official yes³.
• The Valley County permit guide lists a phone number for state building permit questions that differs from the current number on the state's own Building Codes Program page; this guide uses the state's own current contact¹³.
• If your land is inside Glasgow, Fort Peck or Nashua rather than unincorporated Valley County, zoning and building permits come from that town, not the county⁵.

Sources

1. Valley County Planning - Permits (PDF) (2026 county census)
2. Certified City, County and Town Programs, quoted and re-checked
3. Valley County Planning - Permits (PDF) (2026 county census)
4. Sanitarian | Valley County, MT (2026 county census)
5. Valley County Planning Permits PDF, quoted and re-checked
6. Building Permits, quoted and re-checked
7. Valley County Floodplain Administrator (Sanitation Department) (valleycountymt.gov)
8. Exceptions To Permit Requirements, quoted and re-checked
9. Property Management Program (Montana statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
10. Building Permits (Montana statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
11. Valley County Sanitarian (Sanitation Department) (valleycountymt.gov)
12. Valley County Commissioners (valleycountymt.gov)
13. Montana Building Codes Program (Building & Commercial Measurements Bureau) (bsd.dli.mt.gov)
14. 76-2-201. County zoning authorized, MCA (Montana statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
15. Valley County Subdivision Regulations, quoted and re-checked
16. Building Permits, quoted and re-checked
17. Sanitarian | Valley County, MT, quoted and re-checked
18. Engineering Infrastructure & Subdivisions (Montana statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
19. Stream Permitting (Montana statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
20. Public Use Rules and Regulations (Montana statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
21. Annual precipitation: Bolthole Index county data
22. Share of years in severe drought: Bolthole Index county data
23. Wooded share of land: Bolthole Index county data
24. Federal land share: Bolthole Index county data
25. Share of soils without severe limits for a conventional septic drain field (USDA SSURGO): Bolthole Index county data
26. Share of land at 15% slope or less: Bolthole Index county data
27. Approach Manual for Landowners and Developers (Montana statewide rule), quoted and re-checked
28. Effective property tax rate: Bolthole Index county data
29. Median property tax bill: Bolthole Index county data
30. Typical home value (Zillow): Bolthole Index county data

Written September 24, 2026 from the rules quoted below, each taken from an official source and re-checked by an independent reviewer. This is research, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the office before you buy or build.