The City Council held its first reading public hearing for Zone Change 992 on June 28, 2021, and approved the zone change on first reading. The Zoning Commission had recommended approval of Zone Change 992, based on the findings of the 10 review criteria. A second reading and public hearing is required to approve the ordinance. Staff recommends the City Council vote to approve the zone change on second reading.
 

This is a zone change request from N3 – Suburban Neighborhood to N2 – Mid-century Neighborhood on Lot 2, Block 29 of Lake Hills Subdivision, 5th Filing, an 15,466 square foot parcel of land. The purpose of the zone change is to allow an existing two-family dwelling to be conforming to the zone district. 

The Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing on June 1, 2021, and received the staff report, testimony from the applicant, Eric Schnelbach, who concurred with staff's recommendation. No other testimony was received.  The Zoning Commission voted 3-0 to recommend approval of the zone change and adoption of the findings of the 10 review criteria. 

The City Council held its first public hearing and first reading on June 28, 2021, and received the Zoning Commission recommendation and testimony from the applicant. There were no other comments from the public. City Council Member Neese asked if there had been any comments or concerns from the public regarding the change, and if the structure were destroyed, how many units could they rebuild. Staff explained that there were no concerns and one comment in favor of the zone change had been received, and there could be a maximum of two units on the property if the change is approved.  Council Member Purinton asked if the need for a zone change to make the property conforming was due to ReCode, and if this would be a recurring issue because of ReCode.  Staff explained the previous zoning of this property would have required a zone change to be in conformance with zoning as well, and one of the objectives of ReCode was to bring properties in Billings into conformance with zoning and reduce the instances that would require zone changes and variances. However, sometimes zone changes will still occur. Council Member Purinton asked what triggered this zone change request. Staff responded the requirement for a rebuild letter is from the financing institutions, in some cases properties may have had financing prior to this requirement, or had alternative financing solutions.  The applicant and property owner for this property may have not needed financing in the past but recently applied for refinancing and is required a rebuild letter, in order to rebuild as a duplex a zone change is required.

The City Council approved the zone change on first reading with a unanimous vote.

The City Council may:

• Adopt the findings of the 10 criteria as recommended by the Zoning Commission and approve the application; or
• Amend the findings of the 10 criteria as recommended by the Zoning Commission and approve or deny the application; or
• Delay action up to 30 days.

The approval or denial of the requested zone change should have no effect on the Planning Division budget.