On July 1, 2016, In Site Engineering for Regal Land Development, Inc., applied for preliminary major plat approval for Skycrest Subdivision.  The proposed plat creates 94 lots for single-family residences on a 64.31-acre parcel of land. The subject property is generally located between South 64^th Street West and South 72^nd Street West, north of O’Donnell Lane and south of King Avenue West.  The property is outside of zoning. The Planning Board conducted a plat review at its meeting on August 9 and is conducting the public hearing at this meeting. The proposal will go to the Board of County Commissioners for action on September 13, 2016.
 

Staff recommends that the Planning Board recommend that the Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners conditionally approve the preliminary plat of Skycrest Subdivision and adopt the Findings of Fact as presented in the staff report.
 
PROPOSED CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL
Planning staff recommends the following conditions of approval:
 

To provide for the maintenance of the community water system and minimize effects on local services, prior to final plat approval the applicant will create a Home Owner Association (HOA) with the requirement in the HOA documents that the residents will contribute to and maintain the community water system for the subdivision. The subdivider may set up maintenance of the community water system through a third party to do the maintenance and repair of the system, but it must be clarified in the Subdivision Improvement Agreement as stated in Condition #2 that the property owners in the subdivision are ultimately responsible for the water system and its maintenance. To ensure there is notice to future property owners of their responsibility to maintain the community water system, prior to final plat approval the applicant will add a paragraph in the SIA under Conditions That Run With The Land informing property owners of their obligation to pay for the maintenance of the community water system for the subdivision whether it is handled by a third party contractor or through the HOA.  To mitigate impacts on local services, prior to final plat approval the subdivider shall create a Rural Special Improvement District – Maintenance (RSID-M) for future maintenance of the new internal roads and the dry hydrant system.  To improve traffic safety and reduce traffic conflicts, prior to final plat approval the applicant will place a ‘1 foot no access easement’ on the south side of Skycrest Drive from the northwest corner of Lot 4, Block 4 to South 64th Street West, excluding the dedicated rights-of-way for the six cul-de-sacs off of Skycrest Drive on the south. Also, an opening will be left on the park frontage for access to the park.  To improve traffic safety and reduce traffic conflicts, prior to final plat approval the applicant will place a ‘1 foot no access easement’ along the north side of Skycrest Drive from the southeast corner of Lot 34, Block 3 to the southwest corner of Lot 46, Block 3, excluding the dedicated rights-of-way for the four cul-de-sacs off of Skycrest Drive on the north.  To minimize the effects on local services, prior to final plat approval a 60-foot wide dedicated road right-of-way shall be shown on the face of the final plat for this subdivision for O’Donnell Lane where it fronts South 72nd Street West. The 60-foot right-of-way shall be either entirely on the subject property or 30 feet may be on the subject property and the other half may use the 30-foot Road Tract 4-B, with the right-of-way centered on the north edge of Road Tract 4-B, if the applicant can show proof of right to use the 30-foot Road Tract 4-B. If the applicant is not able to show proof of right to use Road Tract 4-B, the applicant may petition the portion of Road Tract 4-B needed for access to the proposed subdivision to the County for acceptance and build it to County paved road standards.  Amendments shall be made to the final Subdivision Improvements Agreement to reflect whichever scenario is secured for the dedicated public roadway.  To minimize the effects on local services, prior to final plat approval a 60-foot wide dedicated road right-of-way shall be shown on the face of the final plat for this subdivision for South 71st Street West where it fronts O’Donnell Lane and proceeds north to Skycrest Drive. The applicant will need to either gain the right to use the 30-foot road easement on the adjacent property it does not own to the east and provide the additional 30 feet on its property for a total 60-foot road right of way, or the applicant will need to provide the entire 60 foot right of way on its property. Amendments shall be made to the final Subdivision Improvements Agreement to reflect whichever scenario is secured for the dedicated public road right-of-way.  To provide for proper fire suppression within this subdivision, prior to final plat approval the applicant will add language in the SIA under Emergency Service defining the phasing of the subdivision and that the 30,000-gallon dry hydrant fire suppression system will not be built in Phase I, but will be required before release of the next phase.  The system will be inspected and signed off by BUFSA before any subsequent phases after Phase I can begin development.  To ensure public park land is being used in accordance with County Park Board requirements, prior to final plat approval and before any construction of the dry hydrant system, the applicant will receive permission from the County Park Board to install the 30,000-gallon dry hydrant system in the O’Donnell Park.  To mitigate impacts to the parks used in the subdivision and to ensure park land is able to be maintained, prior to final plat approval the applicant will create a Park Maintenance District to provide for the maintenance of new parks in the subdivision.  To minimize the effects on local services, prior to final plat approval the subdivider shall provide written verification that the US Postal Service has approved the mail facilities and locations for this subdivision.  To ensure proper documentation for the proposed phasing of Skycrest Subdivision, prior to final plat approval the applicant will include a Declaration of Restriction of Transfers, a Release, and a Certificate for each proposed phase of Skycrest Subdivision.  To minimize the effects on the natural environment, prior to final plat approval a weed management plan and property inspection shall be approved by the County Weed Department.  To ensure proper easement placement for a proposed future trail along the Big Ditch, prior to final plat approval the applicant will move the easement depicted as being a 20-foot trail easement measured from the center of the Big Ditch to be measured 20 feet from the edge of the east bank of the Big Ditch.  To provide for the installation of the needed private utilities within the subdivision, prior to final plat approval the applicant will coordinate with private utility companies and provide easements on the plat, if needed, and easement documents for those easements.  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.  The final plat shall comply with all requirements of the County Subdivision Regulations, rules, regulations, policies, and resolutions of the Yellowstone County, and the laws and Administrative Rules of the State of Montana.

None requested.

A presentation was given to the Planning Board by staff about the proposed Skycrest Subdivision.  The discussion was then opened to the Board for questions.

Board Member Dennis Cook asked about the private road tracts and how they become a County road and public. He asked if the access would ever be a problem in the future for this subdivision. Staff explained that the applicant could petition the road into the County by building it to County paved road standards.  Petitioning it into the County would make it a public road and an RDIS-M could be placed on it for maintenance.  If that were to take place, then the future residence would not have a problem in the future for access.

Board Member Saldivar asked who determines whether roads in a subdivision will be private of public?  Staff responded that the decision is up to the developer.  Board Member Bass asked why the developer wasn’t proposing to use city water and sewer instead of wells and septic systems?  Staff responded that there are no services available in the area.  The nearest water and sewer lines are approximately 2.5 miles away.  As a follow up question, Board Member Bass asked why the development is not using the irrigation water that is available for them to use for yards?  Staff responded that the question would be better addressed to the applicant because staff did not know the specifics of water shares or their use. 

Board Member Goodrich asked when the surrounding neighbors would be notified of the proposed development.  Staff responded that the neighbors have been notified about the proposed subdivision and that the public hearing would be on August 23^rd.  As a follow-up question, Board Member Goodrich asked if staff has heard from any neighbors.  Staff responded that they had talked with one neighbor who had questions about sewer and water and what is the process for that to be approved.

Board Member Tunnicliff asked about the road tracts and ownership issues that are associated with the tract.  He asked how someone can petition a road tract into the County when they don’t have ownership and how the process is done.  Staff responded that anyone can petition a road tract into the County for acceptance if the road on the tract is to County standards. However, staff has provided additional clarification from County Legal following the August 9 meeting in the Findings of Fact and as follows: 

When the County creates a petitioned County road, it accepts easements for the road right-of-way.  Usually, it does not accept an ownership interest in the road right-of-way.  If a property owner has filed a deed that conveys a road tract, a road right-of-way, and the County accepts the deed, the County receives an ownership interest in the road right-of-way.  However, as is this situation for this subdivision, if a property owner has not filed a deed that conveys a road tract, and the County grants a petition to create a petition County road easement over the road tract, the County would receive an easement only over the road tract.  The problem is that there will be no one to grant the easement to the County in this situation, so the County allows the developer to construct the road over the road tract without an easement and after five years the County would have a public prescriptive easement over the road tract for the road, making it public.

Board members had no further questions for staff and the applicant was asked if he wanted to make any comments. Dan Wells, the applicant and subdivider, addressed the Board. Mr. Wells stated that the property does have water shares but they will not be distributed out to the new home owners as he is not comfortable with home owners trying to flood irrigate inside a subdivision. 

Board President Tunnicliff asked about the road and stated he does not want to create future problems for homeowners.  Mr. Wells stated that they will have the road situation correct and dedicated to the public so there will not be any future issues.  Mr. Wells stated that they are planning on developing the parks in the subdivision.  He stated that they also want to do some development in the existing O'Donnell Park.  He also wanted the future home owners to have the option of developing the existing park in the future with money collected from the subdivision through the HOA.
 
Mr. Wells then talked about some of the conditions.  He stated that Condition 1 is not one of the best solutions for maintenance of community water systems.  He said he has found that it works better to have a company that specializes in water maintenance take care of the public water system.  He suggested that the condition be modified to also allow for the option to have an outside agency maintain the system.

Mr. Wells also talked about conditions 4 and 5, which require a 1 foot no access easement in two different locations along Skycrest Lane.  He stated that he did not want the no access easements on these areas because many people like to buy a corner lot and have a curved driveway with a connection to both the main road and the cul-de-sac.  He stated that he spoke with Mike Black with County Public Works and was told the 1 foot no access easement was not needed.  Mr. Wells said he would like conditions 4 and 5 removed.
 
There were several question from the board to the applicant.  Board Member Saldivar asked about the HOA and the water management.  He asked if the HOA could collect the money and then have a third party do the maintenance on the system.  Mr. Wells stated that it worked better to have a third party do the entire maintenance and not have neighbors involved in fee collection or hiring and managing a third party entity.  Board Member Saldivar also asked about removing conditions 4 and 5 and a concern about safety and traffic.  He stated that even though the road is not an arterial road it is still the only through road in the subdivision and will have a lot of traffic on it.  He asked if there is any way that there would be a guarantee the property owners  will build circular driveways and not just a single drive out onto the main road.  Mr. Wells stated it could be written in the CCR’s that those lots are required to have a circular drive.  There were no other questions or comments for Mr. Wells.
 
Board President Tunnicliff asked if staff had any other information or comments about what has been discussed.  Staff responded that at the public hearing the Board could decide what conditions might be removed, modified or added.  Staff stated they would contact County Public Works to get additional input on the 1 foot no access easements and if they want them to stay as a condition of final approval, or if they could be modified.  It was also mentioned by staff that in some cases there have been 1 foot controlled access easements used so County Public Works could examine each case individually to determine the best solution.
 
Staff did follow up with County Public Works staff about the 1 foot no access easement and has provided information in the Attachment labeled ‘County Public Works Response’.  County Public Works staff stated they want conditions 4 and 5 to remain as written.