Item #1:  County Zone Change #659:  The applicant is requesting a zone change from Agriculture Open Space (A-1) to Agriculture Suburban (A-S) on Tract 7B of C/S 2085, a 9.2 acre parcel of land.  The property is generally located at 1800 43^rd Street West.  The applicant conducted a pre-application neighborhood meeting on March 15, 2015 at the subject property, Tax ID D04723G.

The Planning staff is forwarding a recommendation of approval based on the 11 criteria for zone changes.

OWNER: Thomas and Cheryl Morgan
AGENT: None
LEGAL DESCRIPTION: C/S 2085, Parcel 7B
ADDRESS: 1800 43rd Street West
CURRENT ZONING: A-1
EXISTING LAND USE: Residential / Agricultural
PROPOSED USE: Same
SIZE OF PARCEL: 9.2 acres

None

Subject Property:
None
 
Surrounding Properties:
 Zone Change #433 – A zone change from Agriculture-Open Space (A-1) to Agriculture Suburban (A-S) on Tract 2, C/S 2084, was approved on October 20, 1992.
 
Zone Change #434 – A zone change from Agriculture-Open Space (A-1) to Agriculture Suburban (A-S) on Tract 5, C/S 2084, was approved on October 20, 1992.
 
Zone Change #462 – A zone change from Agriculture-Open Space (A-1) to Agriculture Suburban (A-S) on Tract 6, C/S 2084, was approved on October 5, 1995.
 
Zone Change #615 – A zone change from Agriculture Suburban (A-S) to Residential Professional (RP) on a one acre parcel of land the south ½ of Lot 3, Block 1 of Carl’s Subdivision, generally located at 4239 Grand Avenue was approved in March 2008.
 
On January 6, 1999 Carl’s Subdivision was created from Tract 6 of Certificate of Survey 2085.  On December 12, 2003 Cornerstone Subdivision was created from Tract 1 of Certificate of Survey 2085.  It was also annexed on December 12, 2003 with zoning changed to Residential 9600. This is the current location of Cornerstone Community Church and private school. 

NORTH:	Zoning: A-1 Land Use: Residential / Agriculture
SOUTH:	Zoning:  A-S and A-1 Land Use: Residential / Agriculture
EAST:	Zoning: Residential 9600 (R-96) / Inside Billings City Limits Land Use: Residential
WEST:	Zoning: A-1 / A-S Land Use: Residential / Agricultural

The applicant is requesting a zone change from Agriculture Open Space (A-1) to Agriculture Suburban (A-S) on Tract 7B of C/S 2085, a 9.2 acre parcel of land.  The property is generally located at 1800 43^rd Street West.  The applicant conducted a pre-application neighborhood meeting on March 15, 2015 at the subject property. The property currently has an existing house with out buildings and some agricultural uses occur on the property.
 
Certificate of Survey 2085 was recorded on June 17, 1981, creating 8 tracts.  At that time, all of the tracts were just over 10 acres with a zoning of Agriculture Open (A-1) which requires a 10 acre minimum lot size. All of the tracts complied with the zoning at the time. On July 14, 1983, Tract 7 was split into two parcels creating 7A of 1.028 acres, and 7B of 9.1970 acres with zoning of A-1. Tract 7B is the subject property now requesting the variance. There have been a series of plats since the 1980s that have divided surrounding properties into various sizes.

Variances granted by the County Board of Adjustment between 1988 and 2005 allowed the splitting of Tracts 3, 7, and 8 into lots that do not meet the zoning requirement of a 10 acre minimum lot size. In April 2015 the owners of Tract 3A and 3B went through the Variance process requesting to increase Tract 3A to 8.365 acres and to reduce Tract 3B to 3.29 acres in A-1 zoning. The variance was granted. Zone Changes from A-1 to A-S granted by the County Commissioners allowed Tracts 2, 5, and 6 to rezone and then they were divided into parcels smaller than 10 acres.
 
As evidenced in this memo, this C/S has a long history of zoning applications both for rezoning and variances from required zoning.  The proposed zoning of Agricultural Suburban is the same as the zoning on properties to the south and to the west of the subject property.  This property is also right next to the city limits to the east where the zoning is Residential 9600 and Residential 7000.  The city limits are also just to the north of this parcel of land. The proposed zoning requires appropriate setbacks, limits building heights and lot coverage.  The property is adjacent to existing residential uses and farm land. The zoning regulations for the county requires that any proposed building obtain a zoning compliance permit before construction on the lots.   
 
The applicant conducted a pre-application meeting on March 15, 2015, four people attended the meeting. Concern was expressed by some about future plans for the land should the zone change be approved.  The proposed zoning would allow for 1 acre lots where current zoning only allows for 10 acre lots.  It was pointed out that the Covenants, Codes and Restrictions (CCR’s) require 5 acre minimum lot size.  Others attending the meeting did not appear to object to the proposed zone change.
 
Should the application for the zone change be granted and the applicants moves forward with a plan to subdivide the property further they would have to address the CCR’s if they intend to create lots smaller than required by the CCR’s.
 
Planning staff has reviewed this application and is forwarding a recommendation of approval for the proposed zone change based on the 11 criteria for zone changes.  The proposed A-S zoning district is adjacent to other A-S zoning to the south and west, with A-1 zoning to the north and a mix of zoning to the east with land to the east being inside the City of Billings.  This property now adjoins the city limits on the east, Goodman Subdivision, and farther north across the Big Ditch, Rimrock West Estates Subdivision. At some point in the future, property owners may request to be annexed and the lot size allowed by A-S zoning will be closer in size to lot sizes within the city limits. 

Staff recommends approval of Zone Change #659 and adoption of the 11 criteria for this zone change.