Planning staff in coordination with Engineering Division staff recommends to the City Council denial of this request to amend The Timbers Subdivision, 1st Filing, Subdivision Improvement Agreement (SIA) requesting the construction of Sugar Pine Road be removed as a construction requirement of this filing.

On June 2, 2022, David Mitchell, developer, applied for an amendment to the SIA regarding inclusion of the construction of a road in the preliminarily approved The Timbers Subdivision, 1st Filing. The subject property is generally located on the south side of Alkali Creek Road and west of Foothill Drive. The applicant has indicated there are significant costs associated with this connection therefore they would like to postpone construction to a future filing. 

If it is possible to have improvements constructed at the time of the development, that is the City's desired approach for several reasons as evidenced by requirements in the subdivision regulations. Under the existing preliminary plat approval, there are two methods in which the developer can forego actual construction of an improvement:
1. Provide to the City cash in lieu of construction
2. Create a special improvement district. 

While these methods are allowable, there are some cons. If the City accepts cash in lieu of the improvements, there are rarely enough funds when the time comes to construct the street which means the cost is borne by the rest of the City. In regard to the SID, these can happen one of two ways. The developer may create the SID while holding all of the lots, however, most lending institutions want the SID's paid off before the lot is conveyed, therefore, the developer would still bear this cost which they are trying to avoid. Additionally, if the construction didn't occur until lots were sold, even though waivers of protest are collected for the creation of SID's at the time of subdivision, the reality is it makes all of the property owners pay for the cost of the connection instead of the developer and it creates a significant amount of angst by the property owners. Also, if the work is not done for a connection such as the one in question, adjacent property owners tend to use the area over time and it creates contention when the City needs to come in and install the road. Further, delaying construction leaves an unfinished frontage along lot 55 which is part of this subdivision.

There are several reasons why staff is recommending denial of this request. First, procedurally approving this request would evade requirements of the Subdivision Regulations. Below are sections of the regulation that support this statement. 

The Timbers Subdivision, 1st Filing, received preliminary conditional plat approval on February 28, 2022.  The applicant has stated they wish to remove the construction and connection to un-platted land to the east and include it in a later filing. The City of Billings subdivision regulations discuss this issue as follows;
Section 23-406. Street and Roads.
A. Streets and Roads, General: The arrangement, type, extent, width, grade and location of all streets shall conform to any adopted area plans including, but not limited to, the Growth Policy and Transportation Plan, and must be considered in their relation to existing and planned streets, topographical conditions, public convenience and safety, and the proposed uses of the land to be served by them.
1. Relation to Undeveloped Areas: When a proposed subdivision adjoins undeveloped land, streets within the proposed subdivision shall be arranged to allow access to the adjoining undeveloped land. Street within the proposed subdivision shall be constructed to the boundary lines of the tract to be developed, unless prevented by topography or other physical conditions.

Sugar Pine Road is providing a future connection, as required by subdivision regulations, to the undeveloped land to the east. In the future, should the land to the east develop, the developer will be required to build their road network in such a way that connects to Sugar Pine Road. These connections are for convenient travel between subdivisions and also provide safety to the future residents, so they can move between subdivisions on a local neighborhood street rather than be required to go to a principle arterial street, Alkali Creek Road, to get between subdivisions. Not requiring the connection becomes a defacto variance. Variances for subdivisions may not be considered on a standalone basis, rather it must be considered with the application for preliminary plat. Procedurally, not allowing the public through the subdivision process, which requires a hearing with the Planning Board, to consider this variance is procedurally incorrect. For these reasons staff is recommending denial.

Connection between subdivisions and undeveloped land is very important. Aside from it being a good planning practice, connectivity is critical in maintaining a functioning transportation network. Further, there is a high likelihood this connection would serve the eastern property as a second access which is required when land is developed with more than 5 lots. The Morledge Family who owns the property directly adjacent to this (See Parcel D adjacent to Sugar Pine on Plat) did participate in the subdivision review process when the preliminary plat was being reviewed by the Planning Board. They submitted written correspondence advocating for connection to their property (see attached).

Lastly, relying on the developer to construct Sugar Pine with a future filing is based on an assumption that there will be a future filing. There is no preliminary plat currently under review or with conditional approval to tie the delayed construction to. There is nothing that obligates the developer to further subdivide any of their remaining lands. 

For all of these reasons listed above, City staff is forwarding a recommendation of denial of the SIA wording change to the City Council.
 

City Council may:

• Approve; or,
• Not Approve the requested amendments to the Subdivision Improvement Agreement.

Approving the agreement, would be procedurally incorrect and convey a privilege to the developer outside the parameters of the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act and the City of Billings Subdivision Regulations.

This SIA amendment will not have any fiscal effect on the Planning Division. Allowing the developer to forego their construction could put the City in a financially disadvantaged position in the future as this area develops and connections are required.