Item 2: Zone Change 679 – 1926 Mullowney Lane – A zone change request from Residential Manufactured Home (RMH) to Residential Multi-Family-Restricted (RMF-R) Tract 1-AA of C/S 1156, a 9.39 acre parcel of land. A pre-application meeting was held at the offices of Performance Engineering at 7100 Commercial Avenue on November 22, 2016. Presented by Nicole Cromwell, Zoning Coordinator

The Planning staff recommends approval and adoption of the findings of the 11 criteria.

OWNER: Triple H, LLC
AGENT: Performance Engineering, Scott Aspenlieder, P.E.
LEGAL DESCRIPTION: Tract 1-AA of C/S 1156
ADDRESS: 1926 Mullowney Lane
CURRENT ZONING: RMH
EXISTING LAND USE: Mobile home park
PROPOSED USE: Multi-family dwellings
SIZE OF PARCEL: 9.39 acres

None.

Subject Property - The current zoning of the property - RMH - is the original zoning adopted by the County in 1973. The mobile home park has been in place since 1972 and is known as River Grove Estates Mobile Home Park. The mobile home park is licensed by the state for 53 units.

Surrounding Property - River Grove Estates to the north was originally planned as a mobile home park subdivision but due to the lack of access to public utilities, this plan was never completed. The subdivision is now zoned Controlled Industrial (CI) by a zone change approved by the County in 1977 and 1978. Several businesses have located in this subdivision during the past 40 years, although many lots remain un-developed. Further east is the Holy Cross Cemetery and Josephine Crossing Subdivision. Josephine Crossing was annexed to the City and zoned in a planned development. To the north is the Harmony Meadows Subdivision and Josephine Landing both recently annexed to the City and planned for higher density residential uses and mixed use development.

NORTH:	Zoning: CI Land Use: Shops and service businesses
SOUTH:	Zoning: RMH Land Use: Yellowstone River
EAST:	Zoning: Public Land Use: Holy Cross Cemetery
WEST:	Zoning: A-1 and RMF-R Land Use: Agricultural and Harmony Meadows Subdivision

This is a zone change from RMH to RMF-R to allow the eventual re-development of this property from a mobile home court to multi-family apartments after annexation to the City for public services. The mobile home park has existed here for approximately 45 years and continued maintenance of the facility outside the city limits is no longer possible. The property is not within the flood plain of the Yellowstone River, but may be affected in the future by the normal channel migration of the river bank and terraces. Several new residential and mixed use subdivisions to the north and west have been approved for annexation and development within the city limits. New public water and sewer lines will be installed to service these areas and these services will be accessible to this property for the first time since its original development.

The surrounding zoning and land uses vary from the Public zoning for Holy Cross Cemetery to the east to the RMF-R zoning for Harmony Meadows Subdivision to the northwest. The CI zoning north across Story Road and the Suburban Ditch accommodates some low water use businesses and storage shops. There is at least one of those shops with an attached apartment. This residence was approved by special review of the County Commissioners in 2003.

The property is within the Limits of Annexation as set by the City Council through its Limits of Annexation Map and Annexation Policy. Development to the northwest in Harmony Meadows Subdivision will be occurring in the very near future. A first phase of multi-family apartments has been approved for 107 units. Additional phases will be planned and developed in the next 5-10 years.

There are no traffic count numbers for the south end of Mullowney Lane. The intersection of Mullowney Lane and Elysian Road has experienced a large increase in traffic as Josephine Crossing has built out in addition to the Riverfront Pointe Estates just north of Elysian Road. Mullowney Lane just south of the signalized intersection with Midland Road has a traffic count of over 8,600 vehicle trips per day in 2016, up from 6,700 trips per day in 2011. Ten years ago (2006) the traffic count at this location was 4,400 trips per day. As additional residences are constructed, traffic will continue to increase on Mullowney Lane and the surrounding street network.

The Planning Division is recommending approval of the proposed zone change based on the findings of the 11 criteria. The property is within the Limits of Annexation of the City of Billings and soon will have access to City utility services. The existing development is over 45 years old and in need of revitalization. The existing zoning could remain, but the required investment in new infrastructure after annexation would not be supported by the existing development revenue. The 2016 Growth Policy for the City of Billings encourages a mixture of housing types in new development and the efficient use of newly annexed property. The proposed zoning also meets some of the goals of the County 2008 Growth Policy including compatible land uses in existing neighborhoods and predictable land use decisions based on those existing and developing neighborhoods. The 2008 Growth Policy also states the need to sustain and expand affordable housing options in the City and County. The existing zoning, RMH, only allows a maximum dwelling density of 6.5 to 7 units per acre. There are currently 53 dwellings on this 9.39 acre parcel of land or about 5.5 units per acre. The proposed zoning of RMF-R could allow up to 26 dwelling units per acre with all City services. The most realistic development density in the proposed zoning is closer to 14 to 16 dwellings per acre but is still 3 times the existing development density. This level of development will provide more opportunity for attainable rental housing for this area of Billings and Yellowstone County.

Staff recommends approval and adoption of the findings of the 11 criteria for Zone Change 679.