Staff recommends that the City Council approve the Annexation Agreement with LMO Investment, LLC.

City Council approved the annexation of Lot 7, Sunny Cove Fruit Farms at the November 24, 2025, City Council Meeting. The property that was approved to be annexed is located west of 60th Street West along Rimrock Road.  The developer desires to develop the property as a mixed-commercial use development.  Typically, as a condition of approval of the annexation, the property owner enters into an Annexation Agreement or Subdivision Improvements Agreement with the City of Billings outlining necessary public improvements.  The Annexation Agreement outlines the off-site improvements necessary for development, including access to the site, construction of water and sanitary sewer, and storm drain.  The Annexation Agreement provides for City-required off-site improvements should the property be annexed and developed without a subdivision plat. The annexation resolution states that the Developer and City must enter into an Annexation Agreement within 45 working days from approval of the resolution.

The Annexation Agreement for this Council action generally includes the following conditions or improvements: requirement for access to the development; a requirement for water and sanitary sewer mains and services; requirements for reimbursement for existing water and sewer mains, a requirement to be assessed for a proportional share of future Rimrock Road improvements, and a requirement for a traffic study.
 

City Council may:

• Approve the Annexation Agreement with the property owner; or
• Not approve the Annexation Agreement.  If the agreement is not approved, the responsibility for infrastructure improvements would be in accordance with policies in place at the time of development.  Also, the annnexation resolution requires an annexation agreement be executed within 45 days of the annexation; therefore if the annexation agreement is not approved, the annexation would be null and void.   

There is one requirement of the Annexation Agreement that would not be required upon site development. Section 5 requires right-of-way dedication along Rimrock Road.  The financial impact of the remainder of the agreement is dependent on policy changes that may occur before development. If development occurs before any changes to the City's development policies, there would be no financial impact. If development occurs after City development policies change, the financial impact would be dependent on the changes.