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MORE ABOUT GEOPLAND

Geopland LLC is owned by Joel Nelson and is a one-person land use planning firm based in the Polson, Montana area.  Geopland specializes in providing contract planning services for cities and counties across Montana. Geopland also provides private sector planning services for private property owners, businesses, and developers. Whether you are a local government in need of professional planning services, a landowner seeking permit approvals, or a developer in need of a representative to lead you through subdivision or zoning-related processes, Geopland is here to do the job correctly and efficiently. 

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Background:

After earning a Bachelor's Degree in Geography at the University of Montana in Missoula in 2004, Joel soon began working as a GIS technician at S & K Technologies in St. Ignatius. In 2005, Joel became a Planner for the Lake County Planning Department in Polson. After five years of planning, Joel became the Lake County Planning Director in 2010, during which time he directed all department activities and served as the Floodplain Administrator, Zoning Administrator, Lakeshore Protection Administrator, and Subdivision Administrator, among other roles. 3 1/2 years later, Joel was hired as a Community Planner for Land Solutions, based out of Charlo, and entered private sector planning.

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During his nine-year tenure at Land Solutions, Joel provided planning services across the State of Montana and parts of North Dakota. Examples of public sector clients and projects Joel worked on include: 

  • Provided contract planning support for Richland County for the County Planner, including reviews of subdivisions, zoning applications, and buildings for lease or rent. 

  • Provided contract planning support and on-the-job training for the City of Miles City's Planners in-training for nine years. 

  • Assisted Miles City with updates to the city's Growth Policy. Joel also assisted with regulatory updates and led development of the city's annexation and extensions of services plan. 

  • Assisted Williams County, North Dakota with comprehensive updates to the county zoning and subdivision ordinance and zoning maps. 

  • Assisted with updates to the Missoula County Growth Policy. 

  • Assisted with updates to the City of Polson's Development Code and zoning map. 

  • Provided community outreach for the Montana Department of Commerce's Community Technical Assistance Program to determine project assistance, education, and training priorities for state assistance to communities across Montana. 

  • Led efforts to write subdivision regulations for the Town of Ekalaka and successfully move the regulations through the review and adoption process. 

  • Led efforts to write comprehensive updates to the Town of Fairview zoning regulations and map, and successfully led the town through the review and adoption process. 

  • Assisted the City of Deer Lodge with updates and public outreach to a zoning overlay district specific to an EPA superfund site. 

  • Wrote comprehensive updates to the Town of West Yellowstone zoning and subdivision regulations. 

  • Led Lake County's comprehensive updates to the county's Growth Policy and public outreach process, through successful adoption. 

  • Provided contract planning services for the Lake County Planning Department and staff training. 

  • Assisted with writing and led mapping for updates to the City of Boulder Growth Policy and Downtown Revitalization Plan.  

  • Wrote comprehensive updates to the City of Boulder zoning and subdivision regulations and assisted through adoption. 

  • Assisted with comprehensive updates to the Lincoln County Growth Policy. 

  • Provided contract planning and floodplain management services for Mineral County and the Town of Superior, acting as the County Planner. 

  • Provided contract planning services (development review, including zone changes, growth policy amendments, and annexations) for the City of Bozeman.

  • Under the Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire (CPAW) Program of Headwaters Economics, provided an evaluation of potential funding sources and recommendations for fire protection related improvements to be incorporated into Jefferson County's Capital Improvements Plan. 

  • Wrote zoning and subdivision regulations and created a zoning map for the City of Belt and led public outreach efforts.

  • Provided contract planning services for Richland County and the Town of Fairview, serving as the County Planner for three years. 

  • Led the City of Libby's comprehensive updates to the city's Growth Policy, public outreach process, through successful adoption process. 

 

In addition to the above public sector projects, Joel also assisted multiple clients with successful subdivisions and exempt land divisions. 

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At the end of 2022, Joel helped the owner of Land Solutions close out all contracts so the business could be put to rest indefinitely so the owner could focus on his other full-time position and family. At that time, Joel started Geopland LLC to continue to provide similar planning services. With Geopland, Joel now serves as the contract City Planner for Miles City. 

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