Staff recommends the City Council hold a public hearing and annex the petitioned property with the staff recommended conditions of approval.

Aviation Properties LLC submitted a petition to annex land using the provisions of Section 7-2-4600, MCA. The property is located West of AJ Way and North of Highway 3. The property is described as Tracts 1A and 1B, of Certificate of Survey No. 1889 Amended, recorded December 28, 2010, under Document No. 3574908, on file and of record in the Records of Yellowstone County; Including all adjacent rights-of-way of Montana State Highway No. 3.

The property contains 21.852 gross and 20.016 net acres. The property is currently zoned Agricultural Open Space. Council is being asked to consider as a separate item tonight, Zone Change 987. Because the property is currently zoned Ag Open, a zone not shared by the City and County, the petitioner had to submit an accompanying zone change (ZC987) and has applied for CX zoning on the property.

Although MCA 7-2-4600 does not require a public services plan, it is the City’s custom to have staff prepare a brief analysis of predicted impacts to services and facilities. 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. 

The Limits of Annexation Map and Annexation Policy was last amended by City Council in October of 2020. The Limits of Annexation Map sets policy by the Council that indicates to property owners the ability to petition for annexation. The Limits of Annexation Map is evaluated by all city departments and is recommended periodically to be updated. In this case, the map was amended in October 2020 to include areas west of the airport into the "Red Petition Area." This is an area of anticipated growth, especially with its proximity to the Inner Belt Loop. The following information was provided to Council at the time of the map amendment process. "Before the City was awarded a BUILD Grant in early September to construct the Inner Belt Loop and the Skyline Trail, there was already significant long-term planning and potential development activity along the Highway 3 Corridor west of the Airport. The City has limited water and sewer infrastructure in this vicinity but is planning for further service expansion. The Airport continues to monitor development impacts to its operations. Some rezoning in the County in the past 5 years in the area has led to initial development by Billings Flying Service north of Highway 3. The MPO's completion of the Highway 3 Corridor Study in 2015 laid out significant improvements to the road corridor and assessed future land use opportunities, as well as developed the Skyline Trail concept. Most recently, the adoption this summer of the Inner Belt Loop Corridor Study by the City and County also identified the future urban development potential for the area along Highway 3. While the area the Annexation Committee is recommending be included does not encompass all of the future development area, the Committee recognized the need to begin including this area so that new development in the short term will occur in the City on municipal services and send the message that this area should be served by the City. The City Annexation Committee members found that adding this area to the City Annexation Petition Area would not put a significant or immediate strain on City service delivery in this location and the benefits of having urban development in the City in this area versus rural County development outweighed any possible challenges." The City Council concurred with staff's findings and this area was amended into the red area of the Limits of Annexation Map. 

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:  Public water and sanitary sewer mains exist in Highway 3 and are accessible to this property with extensions.  There could possibly be capacity issues with the existing sanitary sewer main size as well as with the water main and storage.  The property would be served with water off of the existing 12” main which feeds off of the Logan Reservoir and Christiansen pump station.  The existing sanitary sewer in this area drains through a 5” pipe which runs beneath the face of the rims and eventually to a 10” and 12” main in Colton Boulevard.  There could be a possibility that capacities and main sizes will need to be increased. Though there are challenges with the property, they are not so significant that annexation should not be recommended. A Development Agreement is required as part of this annexation and Council will consider the proposed agreement following action on this petition.

• Storm water: There is no City storm drain that serves this property.  Runoff from this property will be governed by Section 2.1.1 and either or both Tables 2.2 (Subdivisions) and Table 2.3 (Commercial Property) of the SWMM depending on how the property develops.  Section 6-1209 of City Code and Section 2.1.1 of the SWMM state that no runoff will be allowed to be discharged for properties that develop between the rims and Highway 3.  Although this property is north of Highway 3, depending on where the existing runoff discharges, this property could have similar requirements.   

• Transportation: The subject property fronts Highway 3 and AJ Way. Highway 3 is a principle arterial and is maintained by the State of Montana. Both the City and MDT have traffic study requirements at the time of development and would need to coordinate jointly.

• 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 #1, located on North 23rd Street, about 3.77 road miles south of the subject property.

• Parks: The subject property is to be developed with commercial uses. If or when subdivision occurs, no parkland dedication will be required as subdivision regulations do not require dedication or cash-in-lieu for commercial subdivisions. 

• School facilities: The subject property being a commercial development as no direct impact on schools.

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.

• Airport: This property is located within the City's Airport Influence Area and is subject to requirements of that ordinance. A condition of approval for perpetual air rights is included in the attached resolution.

• Transit: Expansion in outlying areas does create a burden for MET transit, however, given the location and commercial nature of this area MET does not anticipate high demand for this area.

• 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 of the narrative provided earlier in this report in regard to the recently amended Limits of Annexation Map. Planning staff believes this proposal is in accordance with the annexation policy.

Annexation by petition does not require notification of adjoining landowners; however, it does require that the City Council conduct a public hearing and post the property with information on the annexation petition and public hearing. Notice of the public hearing was initially posted on the property on February 5, 2021 and published in the Yellowstone County News on February 5 and 12. Upon delay of the initial application staff reposted the property on March 5 and a new legal ad was published in the Yellowstone County News on March 5 and March 12, 2021. 

The City Council has received several emails related to parts of this project (Development Agreement, Zone Change 987) but no comments directly related to the Petition for Annexation itself. It should be noted, this agenda item is for AN20-05B, parcels west of AJ Way. There is an associated zone change (ZC987) with this parcel that is a separate action to also be considered during this meeting during a separate public hearing.

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.

• On November 9, 2020, the annexation petition was submitted to the Planning Division by the owner's agent. A delay in the application was requested so the annexation petition and zone change could be considered concurrently.
• On February 22, 2021, the City Council was scheduled to take action on the petition. At the request of the developer, the item was delayed to March 22nd. 
• On February 24, 2021, the applicants amended the petition for annexation separating the parcels east of AJ way into one petition, and the parcels west of AJ Way into another petition.
• On March 22, 2021, the City Council will consider the petition for annexation. The applicant has requested the annexation be conditioned upon a favorable outcome of the zone change. If the zone change is not approved, the conditions of annexation will fail to be met and the annexation will not become effective. If the council gives favorable action to ZC987 and the Annexation Petition 25-05B, additional required documents such as the Ward Boundary Expansion Ordinance and Development Agreement will come forward for council action within 60 days. 

This application has no impact on the Planning Division Budget.