The Yellowstone County Board of Planning established the Suburban Subdivision Design Standards Committee in early 2016 to draft enhanced subdivision development requirements suitable to the suburban areas around Billings in the County.  The Committee has met 8 times and has had participation from Planning Board Members, private consultants and developers, a Council Member, a County Commissioner, and staff from both the City and County. The Planning Board at its meeting on January 24 reviewed the proposed changes. A public hearing is scheduled for this meeting so that the Board may take public comment and make a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners for action on these amendments.

The Planning Board had found that the current County Subdivision Regulations do adequately address impacts created by higher density subdivisions including, but not limited to, increased traffic, storm water runoff and pedestrian safety.  Further, the current County regulations have created situations where County subdivision development close to the City of Billings is built to standards that require significant reconstruction of infrastructure if annexed into the City, making the costs to property owners significant and the retrofitting projects complicated. Further, Lockwood is developing with water and sewer infrastructure to a more urban community and these changes to the regulations will help the Lockwood community gradually develop and redevelop with consistent road and pedestrian infrastructure that serves its residence and makes installation of utilities easier in existing road rights-of-way.
 
Suburban areas, such as Lockwood and the west end of Billings on the City/County fringe, impact the motorized and non-motorized transportation network, surface water quality and public health and safety more than rural subdivisions. However, the County has only one level of development requirements for all development in the County.  The developer is held to these requirements at time of subdivision, but the purchasers of lots are responsible for future subdivision improvements and maintenance. Further, some developers choose to make added improvements for pedestrian access that are not completed in adjacent developments and so inconsistent street design makes neighborhoods disconnected and pedestrian travel safer in some areas than in others.
 
Enhanced subdivision development requirements for the suburban areas of the County would ensure these subdivisions are initially constructed to reduce the cost burden of future lot owners, alleviate the County’s share of providing certain improvements, and protect public health and safety. The proposed regulations would be incorporated into the County Subdivision Regulations and apply to property within the Unified Zoning Jurisdiction.

SUBURBAN SUBDIVISION DESIGN CRITERIA PROCESS
This Special Committee of the Planning Board is comprised of members of the public, developers and consulting engineers, Lockwood Steering Committee representatives, and both City and County governing bodies and staff. The Committee has met eight times since March 2016 and has also conducted four outreach presentations and provided information to the Lockwood Steering Committee, Lockwood Pedestrian Safety District, Billings Association of Realtors, Billings Home Builders Association, and local engineers and surveyors involved in development in the County.
 
The Committee is now preparing to bring the proposed County Subdivision Regulation amendments back to the Planning Board for review and public hearing before forwarding a recommendation to the Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners for consideration.  The Committee expects the process to be complete in March 2017. Here is the proposed schedule for review and action on the regulation amendments:

• January 3, 2017 – City Council Work Session Presentation (Completed)
• January 23, 2017 – BOCC Discussion (Completed)
• January 24, 2017 – Planning Board Review (Completed)
• February 14, 2017 – Planning Board Public Hearing and Recommendation to BOCC
• February 28, 2017 – BOCC Resolution of Intent to Amend Regulations, Set Public Hearing
• March 21, 2017 – BOCC Public Hearing and Resolution to Adopt

 
 

There is no direct financial impact to the County if these regulations are adopted. Staff will continue to administer the regulations as subdivisions are reviewed and approved. There will be some limited staff time in the City-County Planning Division and County Public Works Department to ensure the new regulations are distributed for the public and to make sure that the new road cross-section information and the sidewalk construction standards are available for developers to utilize during construction. The main cost will be on the development side for the installation of sidewalks in the areas where these regulations apply. It has been estimated by developers that have participated on the Special Committee that these changes could add about $4,000 per lot (depending on lot sizes) for the design and construction of sidewalks.

The Suburban Subdivision Design Criteria Committee recommends that the Planning Board conduct a public hearing and forward a recommendation to the Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners to adopt these changes to the County Subdivision Regulations.