On November 30, 2015, the Planning Division received an application for preliminary plat approval for the proposed Glynn Abbey Subdivision, a major residential subdivision. The property is located on the north side of Rimrock Road between the intersection of 54th Street West and Rimrock Road and the intersection of Mickey Wright Lane and Rimrock Road. The subdivision is proposed to include 33 lots for single family residential development and one lot for open space/parkland/stormwater management area. Planning Board reviewed the plat at its meeting on January 12 this meeting and will conduct a public hearing at this meeting.

Staff recommends that the Planning Board recommend that the City Council conditionally approve the preliminary plat of the Glynn Abbey Subdivision and adopt the Findings of Fact as presented in the staff report.

PROPOSED CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL
Pursuant to Section 76-3-608(4), MCA, the following conditions are recommended to reasonably minimize potential adverse impacts identified within the Findings of Fact.

1.  To minimize effects on agriculture and agricultural water user facilities, prior to final plat approval the subdivider will add language to Section VIII of the SIA  as to the maintenance responsibilities of the relocated and piped irrigation ditch and documentation in writing that ditch user Ted McFarland has accepted the maintenance plan for the relocated piped ditch.
2. To minimize the effects on local services, prior to final plat approval the subdivider will receive approval from the City Engineering Division for the content of the City of Billings Right-Of-Way Easement and prepare the easement document for execution and recording at the time of final plat approval.
3. To minimize effects on local services and ensure ongoing operation of electric utilities, prior to final plat approval the subdivider will provide written documentation that the Yellowstone Country Club has approved relocation and burying of the overhead power line that crosses the subject property and serves the Yellowstone County Club.
4. To minimize the effects on local services and address management of stormwater in the subdivision as per City Engineering Division specifications, prior to final plat approval the subdivider will update language in Section V of the SIA to read: “The existing property does not have any existing or active storm water detention or retention facilities located onsite.  The development will include installation of four (4) storm water ponds used for routing and detention.  Total detention volume within the central open space area will be sized in accordance with the Storm Water Management Manual for a commercial site.  Water will be pumped to the Cove Ditch from the ponds to reduce pond volume to pre-storm volume within 72 hours.  All ponds shall be maintained by the Home Owner’s Association.” The subdivider also will submit a copy of the agreement with the Cove Ditch for pumping storm water and the easement necessary to pump storm water to the ditch where it crosses Yellowstone Country Club Property to City Engineering for review  and approval prior to final plat approval.
5. To minimize the effects on local services and address management of stormwater in the subdivision as per City Engineering Division specifications, prior to final plat approval the subdivider will submit the Glynn Abbey HOA language regarding maintenance of the stormwater facilities to City Engineering for review and approval.
6. To minimize effects on local services and as specified in Section III (A) of the SIA , prior to final plat approval the subdivider will provide the required cash contribution to the City Engineering Division equivalent to construction of half a residential street to fund the future reconstruction of Rimrock Road adjacent to the subdivision to a Principal Arterial Street standard.
7. To minimize the effects on local services and public health and safety, and to ensure emergency access to the subdivision, prior to final plat approval the subdivider will receive approval from the City Fire Department and City Public Works Department that the access gates at the entrances to the subdivision are designed to meet all City requirements for emergency and maintenance access.
8. To minimize the effects on local services and ensure that the park land requirements are met, prior to final plat approval the subdivider will provide public access easement documents for review and recording and will show public access easements on the plat over the park land/open space areas of the subdivision to ensure public access is maintained for the park land areas.
9. To minimize the effects on local services and ensure public pedestrian access on the 20-foot-wide utility easement on the western boundary of the subject property, prior to final plat approval the subdivider will provide a revised public access and utility easement documents for recording that ensures that both utility and public pedestrian access is allowed on the 20-foot-wide utility easement on the west boundary of the subject property.
10. To ensure connectivity between the subject property and existing neighborhoods to the west, the subdivider will update Section III (B) of the SIA to clarify that at time of construction of the sidewalks and trails within the subdivision, a 6-foot wide sidewalk will be constructed from where the public right-of-way for Mickey Wright Lane and Arnold Palmer Drive meet the subject property line and the 20-foot-wide public access and utility easement to where the 8-foot-wide trail between Lot 14 and Lot 15 is being built to connect to sidewalk on Glynn Abbey Way and the internal trail system in the open space of the subdivision.
11. To minimize the effects on local services, prior to final plat approval the subdivider will provide a letter from the United States Postal Service acknowledging its agreement with the placement of mail delivery facilities in the subdivision.
12. To minimize the effects on public health and safety, prior to final plat approval the subdivider will provide documentation that the subdivision has completed a Conditional Letter of Map Revision process through FEMA on the impacts the proposed project may have on the Special Flood Hazard Area of the Cove Creek Drainage, and an approved Floodplain Permit issued by the City of Billings Floodplain Administrator. The Cove Creek 100-Year Floodplain also will be delineated on the final plat.
13. Minor changes may be made in the SIA and final documents, as requested by Planning and/or Engineering/Public Works to clarify the documents and bring them into the standard acceptable format.
14. The final plat shall comply with all requirements of the City Subdivision Regulations, rules, regulations, policies, and resolutions of the City of Billings, and the laws and Administrative Rules of the State of Montana.

Two variances have been requested from the City of Billings Subdivision Regulations for this proposal.

One variance is regarding provision of sidewalks on both sides of all of the internal streets in the subdivision. The applicant is requesting a variance to provide boulevard style sidewalk on only the north side of Glynn Abbey Way and not on either side of Aston Bay Circle. In lieu of complete boulevard sidewalk within the subdivision, the applicant is proposing to utilize an internal trail network that runs behind the lots on the south side of Glynn Abbey Way and may provide pedestrian connections to the lots in the subdivision. Justification for the variance request is provided by the applicant in an attachment to this memo. It is important that the Yellowstone County Board of Planning understand that it is the Board that may choose to recommend to the City Council that the sidewalk requirements be waived or modified for local residential streets as per Section 23-406 (B)(13) CSR.

Planning and Engineering staff are not in support of the proposed sidewalk variance and recommend that boulevard sidewalks be installed on both sides of Glynn Abbey Way and Aston Bay Circle throughout the subdivision. Staff's recommendation is based primarily on the safety of pedestrians circulating within the subdivision and access for pedestrians to neighboring lots in the subdivision. Other benefits of boulevard sidewalks include snow storage, off-street and off-sidewalk location for garbage and yard waste bins, landscaping, and in some cases mail delivery.

The second variance is regarding the requirement Section 23-406( A)(8) that streets in a new subdivision that are aligned with existing streets shall have matching names. The proposed internal Glynn Abbey Way is aligned with 58th Street West where it intersects Rimrock Road on the west side of the subdivision. The applicant is proposing that 58th Street West not continue across Rimrock Road but have the name change to Glynn Abbey Way when it enters the subdivision. The City's Address Coordinator, City Fire Department, and County GIS (manages the street name database for emergency services), all support this variance request for the change in street name on the 58th Street West alignment.

Planning Division staff presented the proposed subdivision and proposed conditions of approval. Members of the Planning Board asked questions regarding the utility easement on the west side of the subject property, stormwater drainage between the subject property and the Yellowstone Country Club property to the north, access for pedestrians with the privacy gates on Glynn Abbey Way, pedestrian crossing improvements on Glynn Abbey Way at the trail/sidewalk crossings, and pedestrian improvements along the Rimrock Road frontage.There also was discussion and clarification regarding the variance request for sidewalk only on one side of the streets in the subdivision.

The Planning Board questioned whether the existing 20-foot-wide utility easement along the west side of the property also included public access to facilitate pedestrians using the proposed sidewalk from Mickey Right Lane and Arnold Palmer Drive to Glynn Abbey Way. Planning Division Manager Wyeth Friday said he was not sure how the easement was written and he would follow up with City Engineering on the issue. Since the plat review, staff has checked the easement language and it currently does not provide for public pedestrian access. A new condition has been added to address this issue (See Condition #9).

Planning Board President Darell Tunnicliff stated that there are drain tiles along the southern property of the Yellowstone Country Club north of the subject property that may direct water onto the subject property. The subdivider's agent Craig Dalton with Performance Engineering and Consulting, clarified that this was true but that the Country Club pumps the water back up into its property and away from the subject property. He also clarified as described in the Findings of Fact and conditions that the subdivison as per stormwater drainage requirements intends to pump stormwater north across the Country Club property to the Cove Ditch and will be coordinating permission to do this with the Country Club.

The Board asked how the public would access the open space/park areas with the privacy gates at the entrances to the subdivision on Glynn Abbey Way. Craig Dalton explained that the privacy gates would be open from 5 am to 9 pm, similar hours to City parks, so that the public could access the area throughout the day. The Board also asked what kind of fence was contemplated across the front of the subdivision on Rimrock Road and it was stated that it would likely be a mix of berming and intermittent masonry wall. In follow up to this issue, Planning staff wants the Planning Board to be aware that if berms and an intermittent masonry wall are contemplated along the Rimrock Road frontage these elements must be considered in the floodplain permitting and stormwater design for the property.

The Board also asked about a second pedestrian crossing on Glynn Abbey Way where the internal trail comes out headed east. It was noted that a crossing was planned where the trail intersects with Glynn Abbey Way on the west. Wyeth Friday and Craig Dalton agreed that this was a possibility and they could follow up with City Engineering staff. Wyeth did discuss this with Staff Engineer III Chris Hertz after the plat review and Chris stated that a second crossing on the east side of the development to reach form the trail to the sidewalk on the north side of Glynn Abbey Way would be okay, however the City would recommend staying away from speed bumps and just look at a standard crossing. 

The Board asked about a trail or sidewalk along the property frontage on Rimrock Road. Wyeth explained that a sidewalk had been contemplated but the large ditch along the road and the fact that Rimrock Road was not going to be improved at the time of development of this subdivision could result in the sidewalk not being able to be installed and maintained properly.
Subdivider Max Griffin explained the cash contribution the subdivision must make to the future reconstruction of Rimrock Road. He said that while he understood the cash contribution need, he would like to propose that some of the contribution be used by him to make landscape improvements along the frontage of the subdivision that might include some sort of trail off of his current proposed trail in the middle part of the development. Planning staff followed up after the plat review with City Engineering on this suggestion. 
Engineering staff stated that the cash contribution for Rimrock Road will be utilized for the construction of Rimrock Road in the future and could not be utilized for landscaping or a trail at this time.  Engineering staff stated that if the developer wants to landscape the boulevard, Engineering is open to allowing that. 

The Board also asked how often variances requests for allowing sidewalk on only one side of streets in a subdivision had been granted before. Planning staff noted that Ironwood Subdivision north of the subject property had been built with no sidewalks on the street but with a trail network running through the development that was to act as pedestrian walkways within the development. Staff also reiterated that Planning and Engineering were not in support of the sidewalk variance due to concerns of pedestrian safety moving through the subdivision.

Craig Dalton stated that the applicant had submitted a request for the Variance not to have boulevard sidewalks as this is a private, low traffic subdivision.  Mr. Dalton stated the developer has concerns with the boulevard maintenance and he foresaw using this area as an extension of the front yards instead.