Staff recommends the Board of County Commissioners conditionally approve the preliminary plat of Creekside Estates Subdivision, adopt the Findings of Fact as presented in the staff report and approve the requested variance.

On March 1, 2022, the Planning Division received an application for major preliminary plat approval for the proposed Creekside Estates Subdivision, 2nd Filing.  The property is generally located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Grand Avenue and 62nd Street West. This subdivision would create 8 lots from a 17.55-acre parcel of land.  The applicant is proposing to develop a residential subdivision, the land is zoned Rural Residential 1 (RR1).  The land was historically used as farmland.

VARIANCES REQUESTED
A variance is being requested for this subdivision.  The applicant has requested a variance from Yellowstone County Subdivision Regulations Section 4.14.C. 2, Major, Commercial, and Subsequent Minor Subdivision. The regulations require that the subdivider shall provide an approved, single, minimum thirty thousand (30,000) gallon underground water storage tank for fire suppression. Per the regulations, developers are able to use tanks located within 1/2 road mile. When a County subdivision is within one half (1/2) road mile of a pressurized municipal hydrant the developer shall pay a fee in lieu of hydrant installation to the Fire Department serving the proposed subdivision. This development is further than 1/2 road mile, it is .58 road miles, therefore the variance is requesting that the distance of 1/2 road mile be waived to allow use of the pressurized hydrant .58 miles away. If the variance is approved the required fee to the Billings Fire Department shall be paid. Staff is recommending approval of the variance requests. Further explanation and analysis can be found in Attachment A.

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 protect public health and safety, prior to final plat approval, the applicant will receive approval from the MDEQ for the proposed water systems, septic systems and the proposed storm water management. Further, to ensure future lot owners are aware of the water and sanitary restrictions on lots 7 & 8, the SIA, under Conditions That Run With the Land shall include language to inform lot purchasers of these restrictions.
2. To protect public health and safety and meet County Public Works requirements for driveway separations, prior to final plat approval, the applicant will show they can meet those requirements for accesses from the cul-de-sac off of Grand Avenue.
3. To ensure the correct users on the private driveways proposed in this subdivision, prior to final plat approval, the applicant will provide easement documents listing the two lots that have use of those easements.
4. To protect public health and safety with proper fire suppression, prior to final plat approval, the applicant will submit construction drawings to Billings Fire Department for review and approval, this includes the area for the fire departments to access the tank and the tank construction. Once installed the applicant will request Billings Fire Department test the system to ensure it works correctly and get a sign off from Billings Fire Department. The applicant will also create a public easement where the tank is installed and an RSID for the dry hydrant system.
5. To protect public health and safety and to meet Yellowstone County Resolution No. 19-53, prior to final plat approval, should the variance request be granted, the applicant will provide a reimbursement to the county for the use of a municipal pressurized fire hydrant.
6. To minimize the effects on local service prior to final plat approval, the applicant will coordinate with the USPS for locating and providing the correct amount of space for safely delivering the mail to the residents.
7. To minimize effects on the natural environment, prior to final plat approval a weed management plan and property inspection shall be completed by the County Weed Department.
8. To ensure future home construction on the lots meets the requirements of County Zoning, prior to final plat approval the applicant will add language in the SIA under Conditions That Run With The Land that informs lot purchasers of the requirement to obtain a zoning compliance permit before construction begins on the lot.   
9. Minor changes may be made in the SIA and final documents, as requested by the Planning and/or Public Works Departments to clarify the documents and bring them into the standard acceptable format.
10. The final plat shall comply with all requirements of the County Subdivision Regulations, rules, regulations, policies, and resolutions of the Yellowstone County, including laws regarding moving houses onto or off the property, and the laws and Administrative Rules of the State of Montana.  

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

• Pre-application meeting June 16, 2021
• Initial completeness review submitted November 11, 2021
• Subsequent completeness review submitted February 1, 2022
• Preliminary plat application submitted to Planning Division March 1, 2022
• Departmental review meeting March 17, 2022
• Preliminary plat resubmitted March 26, 2022
• Planning Board plat review April 12, 2022
• Planning Board public hearing April 26, 2022
• Preliminary plat to Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners May 17, 2022
• 60 working-day preliminary plat review period ends May 23, 2022

PLAT INFORMATION

General location:                                            Northeast corner of the intersection of Grand Avenue and 62nd Street West

Legal Description:                                          Lot 104A, Sunnycove Fruit Farm

Owner/Subdivider:                                         John Poukish

Engineer/Surveyor:                                         IMEG / Territorial-Landworks, Inc.

Existing Zoning:                                             Rural Residential 1 (RR1)

Existing land use:                                            Former Farmland

Proposed land use:                                          Residential

Gross and Net area:                                         17.55 acres / 16.99 acres

Proposed number of lots:                                8

            Max. lot size:                                       3.59 acres
            Min. lot size:                                       1.17 acres
Parkland requirements:                                   The requirement for this subdivision is 0.68 acres. The applicant is proposing a private park of 1.6 acres, maintained by the HOA.
 

There are no stakeholder responses at this time. Stakeholder input will be received at a public hearing scheduled for this subdivision on April 26, 2022.

This plat will have no fiscal impacts on the City/County Planning Division.

One of the purposes of the County’s subdivision review process is to identify potential negative effects of property being subdivided. When negative effects are identified it is the subdivider’s responsibility to mitigate those effects.  Various County departments, private service/utility providers and the affected school district(s), have reviewed this application and provided input on effects and mitigation.  The Findings of Fact, which are presented as an attachment, discuss potential negative impacts of the subdivision and conditions of approval are recommended as measures to further mitigate any impacts. In this case, there were found to be some impacts from this proposed subdivision.