Staff recommends the City Council hold a public hearing. In this case, a joint public hearing that considers both the annexation and associated zone change. Upon completion of hearing, staff recommends the City annex the petitioned property with the staff recommended conditions of approval. 

NOTE: Though a joint hearing is being held, individual action will need to be taken on each item. 

Mary and Joe Dyk submitted a petition to annex land using the provisions of Section 7-2-4600, MCA. Since submission of the annexation petition, the property has been sold to TKJ Development LLC. TKJ Development is continuing with the petition. The property is located at King Avenue West and 48th Street West. The property is described as Tracts of Land situated in the SE 1/4 of Section 9 and the SW 1/4 of Section10, T.1S., R.25E, P.M.M., Yellowstone County, Montana, more particularly described as follows: Tract 2-C of Certificate of Survey 983, Tract 2 Amended, recorded February 15, 1979, under Document No. 1119356; Tract 14 of Certificate of Survey 983, Amending Tracts 2B & 13, recorded May 31, 1983, under Document No. 1266982; Tracts 2-G-1 and 2-H-1 of Certificate of Survey 983, Amended Tracts 2G and 2H of Plat Amending Tract 2-F, recorded November 24, 2020, under Document No. 3948933; Including that portion of adjoining Yellowstone County Road easement for South 48th Street West, also described as a portion County Road Petition Number 20, Petition filing date April 6, 1911, date road Granted May 18, 1911 The annexation contains 66.925 gross and 63.711 net acres, more or less.

The property is zoned Agricultural Open Space, a county zone that is not recognized by the City of Billings. There is an accompanying application to change the property to a mixed use PND, incorporating multiple zones and open space. The Mixed Use PND is a newly adopted tool specifically designed to incorporate 1 Mixed Use district, 1 Neighborhood district and open space. Applicants can choose to add more mixes of districts if so desired.

It is the City’s custom to have staff prepare a brief analysis of predicted impacts to services and facilities. Staff finds the proposed annexation complies with the adopted Annexation Policy criteria as follows:

1. The area is located within the City's Annexation Petition Area on its Limits of Annexation Map.
2. The City is able to provide adequate city services within a time period mutually agreed to by the property owners requesting annexation and the city.
3. Existing or proposed public improvements within the area to be annexed will meet City standards.
4. All property owners within the area to be annexed must sign a Waiver of Right to Protest future Special Improvement Districts. 
5. If annexed, any proposed land use will comply with the zoning. 

Departmental Response: City and County Departments were given the opportunity to comment on this annexation. City departments responded favorably and detailed responses are provided below. The County Public Works Department did not respond to this annexation request. 

• Water and Sanitary Sewer: The parcel will be served by extending 24-inch water main along King Avenue West to 48th Street West. For sanitary sewer, the parcel will be served by extending sanitary sewer main along King Avenue West to 48th Street West. Developer will be required to provide a cash contribution for half of the cost of installation of a 12-inch sanitary sewer main extension in 48th Street West for the extent of the property.
• Storm water: Any development will be compliant with the adopted Stormwater Management Manual. 
• Transportation: The subject property fronts King Avenue west, a principal arterial. Given the property is proposing a mixture of housing types with some commercial zones the transportation network should not be an issue, as principal arterial roadways are designed to carry higher volumes of traffic.
• Fire Stations: The subject property is currently served by the Billings Fire Department through the Billings Urban Fire Service Area and the Billings Fire Department will continue to serve the property upon annexation. The Billings Fire Department stated that as this and other annexations are built out, additional fire department resources will be needed. The nearest fire station is Station Fire Station #7, located on Saint Andrews Drive, about 2.98 road miles or 4 minutes driving time to the subject property.
• Parks: The development must provide at least 2% of the net area as open space, additionally, during a subsequent subdivision cash in lieu or the remaining parkland requirement must be dedicated during that time. Private parkland can be maintained by homeowners but public parkland will require a maintenance SID.
• School facilities: It is anticipated the school district will be impacted by additional housing units.

General City Services: These are the City services that are provided to all residents and businesses in the City, such as police and fire protection, street and storm drain maintenance, and garbage collection and disposal. The service providers that responded did not object to the annexation of this property, however the Fire Department in its comments above did note its concerns as additional property is annexed into the City.

• Transit: The property location is approximately .4 miles away from existing transit line, with the closest point being the intersection of King Ave W and Montana Sapphire Drive. With the established business and residential presence already in the area, as well as anticipated growth, MET Transit plans to continue service in the area for the foreseeable future.  As future growth occurs, transit expansion in the area is likely. 
• Police: The Police Department staff stated that while additional patrol staff have been approved, continued annexation without additional resources may affect response times and the ability to deliver services. 
• Public Utilities: The Public Works-- Distribution and Collection Division had no concerns with the annexation request.
• Public Works -Street and Traffic Division: The Street and Traffic Division stated that it has no concerns with serving the property.
• Public Works-Solid Waste: The Solid Waste Division had no concerns with annexing the property, but pointed out that State Law allows the property owner to choose what garbage hauler may service the property after it is in the City. 
• Ambulance Service: The City does not provide ambulance service, however it does dictate the level of service provided by American Medical Response (AMR). By City ordinance, 90% of ambulance calls must be answered within 8 minutes. This property may be within the area of acceptable response time.
• Legal and Finance: General Fund services, such as the Legal and Finance Departments should not be negatively impacted by this annexation. Other Departments: City/County services including Library, Planning, and Environmental Health are only slightly affected by the annexation since they will continue to serve the property whether it is in the City or the County. The Planning Division staff supports the annexation because staff find the annexation policy criteria have been met. This annexation is appropriate as the city limits are adjacent to the east and south. Continued development in this area of King and 48th is contributing to major infrastructure development. It should be expected this area will further develop. The already established residential creates little to no impact across multiple city departments and services. All departments were consulted and there was no opposition.

Annexation by petition does not require notification of adjoining landowners; however, it does require that the City Council conduct a public hearing, advertise the hearing, and post the property with information on the annexation petition and public hearing. Notice of the public hearing was posted on August 6th, 2021.

The City Council may approve or deny the petition for annexation. Denial of the petition will mean the City Council cannot consider other agenda items related to this property regarding the development agreement and zoning. On July 7, 2021, the annexation petition was submitted to the Planning Division by the owner's agent.  On August 23, 2021, the City Council is scheduled to take action on the petition in combination with considering a zone change and subdivision.

Action tonight approves the annexation plan in whole, however, as designed by the PND, the annexation is also phased. Council action approves an all-encompassing annexation and zoning plan. As specifically designed by the PND, the annexation approval does not annex immediately all involved parcels, but rather identifies two phases for annexation. Phase 1 consists of the southern three parcels along King Avenue West and 48th Street West. Further, Phase 1 parcels are legally described as Tracts 2-G-1 and 2-H-1 of Certificate of Survey 983, Amended Tracts 2G and 2H of Plat Amending Tract 2-F, recorded November 24, 2020, under Document No. 3948933; Tract 2-C of Certificate of Survey 983, Tract 2 Amended, recorded February 15, 1979, under Document No. 1119356; including all adjacent rights of way. It is also anticipated that a subsequent subdivision application will be forthcoming this fall for Council's preliminary plat approval. Phase 2 conditions of approval are part of the associated Development Agreement.

It is anticipated a forthcoming subdivision will employ the use of phases. If the subdivision phases do not align with the existing parcels and legal description of Phase I, the Resolution of Annexation will have to be amended by City Council to reflect the new boundary.
 

This application has no impact on the Planning Division Budget.