The Planning Board recommends to City Council that the preliminary plat of The Timbers Subdivision, 1st Filing, be conditionally approved, the Findings of Fact adopted, and the variance approved as presented in the staff report.

On December 1, 2021, IMEG for Ali and David Mitchell, applied for preliminary major plat approval for The Timbers Subdivision, 1st Filing. The proposed subdivision creates 93 lots for residential development. The subject property is generally located south of Alkali Creek Road and west of Foothill Drive. The property will be zoned under a Planned Neighborhood Development and builders will follow the City of Billings Zoning Code for the various zoning districts in the subdivision when developing the lots.

VARIANCES REQUESTED
The applicant is requesting a variance from Section 23-406, Streets and Roads, B. Streets and Roads Design and Improvement Standards requiring paved surfacing. Specifically, the applicant is asking to construct a gravel road to be in use for up to three years at which point the developer will then hard surface the road according to city standards. See Attachment A for further discussion on the variance request.

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 submit all drawings and specifications for water systems, sewer systems and stormwater systems to the City of Billings Engineering Department for review and approval prior to installation. Any additional information required by City of Billings Engineering will be provided by the applicant and additional language in the SIA will be added as required by Engineering.
2. To protect public health and safety, prior to final plat approval, the applicant will submit all drawings and specifications for fire hydrant locations and installation to the City of Billings Fire Department and City Engineering Department for review and approval prior to installation. Any additional information required by City of Billings Fire Department or Engineering Department will be provided by the applicant and additional language in the SIA will be added as required by the Fire or Engineering Departments.
3. To protect public health and safety, prior to final plat approval, the applicant will coordinate with City Engineering concerning proposed discharge methods of detention ponds next to Private Park land. Any proposal must be reviewed and approved by City Engineering prior to installation.
4. To protect public health and safety, prior to final plat approval, the applicant will include language in the SIA under the heading III Transportation B. Sidewalks that the applicant will be responsible for the installation of accessible ramps at the intersections. Further, the applicant is required to provide sidewalk easements where sidewalks will be constructed on residential lots due to placement of drainage swales. The applicant will be responsible for the construction of sidewalks adjacent to parks or stormwater ponds.
5. To protect public health and safety and provide for access to proposed lots, prior to final plat approval, the applicant will provide easement documents for the driveway to lots 18 and 19.
6. To protect public health and safety, prior to final plat approval, the applicant will provide all needed information requested by City of Billings Engineering in their TIS. All recommendations shown in the TIS will be reviewed by Engineering and the required information will be added to the SIA.
7. To protect public health and safety, prior to final plat approval, the applicant will include language in the SIA under the heading II Property Conditions and Information for Lot Purchasers, lot owners will be advised that the private parkland will be maintained by The Timbers HOA.
8. 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.
9. Minor changes may be made in the SIA and final documents, as requested by the Planning, Legal 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 City of Billings Subdivision Regulations, rules, regulations, policies, and resolutions of the City of Billings, and the laws and Administrative Rules of the State of Montana.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

• Pre-application meeting July 8, 2021
• Preliminary plat application submitted to Planning Division on December 1, 2021
• Departmental review meeting December 16, 2021
• Preliminary plat re-submittal December 23, 2021
• Planning Board plat review January 11, 2022
• Planning Board public hearing January 25, 2022
• Preliminary plat to City Council February 28, 2022
• 60 working-day preliminary plat review period ends March 2, 2022

PLAT INFORMATION
General location:                                South of Alkali Creek Road and west of Foothill Drive

Legal Description:                              Tract A of COS 3795

Owner/Subdivider:                             Ali and David Mitchell

Engineer and Surveyor:                      IMEG

Existing Zoning:                                 PD

Existing land use:                                Open grassland

Proposed land use:                              Residential

Gross and Net area:                             56.52 acres / 40.09 acres

Proposed number of lots:                    93

Lot size:                                               Max:    1.84 acres
                                                            Min.:    4,959 square feet

Parkland requirements:                       Parkland requirement for this subdivision is 3.45 acres, the applicant will be providing 6.72 acres of private parkland with this filing.

On January 25, 2022, at a Planning Board Meeting Public Hearing, staff gave a presentation of the proposed subdivision. Between the plat review meeting and the hearing, the applicant decided to have private parks instead of public parks. With that the multi-use trail was relocated to the right of way for Alkali Creek Road and out of the park land area. This was an option allowed to the developer by City Engineering and is in accordance with the arterial street construction requirements. Because of the parkland change and shared use path relocation, staff explained that some conditions of approval had been modified and/or eliminated as they referred to the Parks Department or had to do with public parks. Further, staff summarized the variance request.

After the presentation, Planning Board President Cook called for discussion and questions from the board for staff. Planning Manager Monica Plecker further explained the reasoning for changes to the conditions of approval is to make sure the language is also consistent with the Development Agreement approved by City Council as part of the annexation for this land. Also, planning staff, engineering staff and fire staff have reviewed the variance for consistency with the Development Agreement and Annexation resolution and have determined the variance would be no longer than 3 years. The variance request is a temporary variance that will align with the annexation conditions which state the second access will be completed by January 2025. There were no further questions from the board for staff.

Board President Cook opened the public hearing and asked if the agent or applicant wanted to address the board. Mr. Kolten Knatterud is the agent for applicants, Ali and David Mitchell.  He clarified and said the driving reason for the trail relocation is to address the condition of approval set through City Council. To complete the trail as a soft surface trail within the subdivision with the first filing they would need the Army Corp of Engineers approval for its location. By moving the trail to the Alkali Creek Road right of way there is not an unknown delay time getting approval for the trail location from the Army Corp of Engineers. With the proposed Timber Boulevard North, the developer wants flexibility to remove some wetlands for potential lot sites. Should this not be approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, the roadway will need to be moved.

Mr. David Mitchell, the developer asked for support of this development. In response to question by Board member Larsen, Mr. Mitchell said the lighting within the subdivision will be downward facing. 

A member of the public, Mr. Jim Kohles, stated the City services will be extended, and currently he believes they stop at Strawberry Avenue.  He asked how the extension of services will be financed.

Mr. David Mitchell stated that the City has agreed to fund extension of the services and the extension is in the current CIP and will begin this spring. Ms. Plecker stated that once the services are extended, it is the developers’ responsibility to pay for services within the subdivision.  Ms. Plecker said the City’s interest is related to the inner belt loop, the City wants to have services as anchors on the ends of the inner belt loop to protect to ensure development occurs to a city standard, ultimately protecting and enhancing the multi-million dollar investment known as the Inner Belt Loop.

Board member Stephenson asked if there has been flooding within the Alkali Creek flood plain in recent years.  Mr. Mitchell said they have not experienced flooding since they have been working on the project.  Board member Stephenson voiced concern that the development may exacerbate flooding.  Mr. Kolten Knattterud pointed out the wetland and the flood plain on the posted plat.  In the SIA it states that nothing can be built within the floodplain.  The design of the storm water management system is such that the flood plain will not be receiving more flow than it currently gets before development. The storm water detention ponds in the subdivision are to capture additional water created because of the introduction of impervious surfaces in the development.   Board member Woods asked if engineering is requiring minimum finished floor elevations. Mr Knatterud stated that engineering is requiring them to add to the SIA the required finished floor elevation for each lot within the proposed subdivision.

There were no other comments or question, the public hearing was closed and a call for a motion was made.

Board member Stephensen made a motion and Board member Woods seconded the motion to forward a recommendation to City Council that the preliminary plat of The Timbers Subdivision, 1st Filing, be conditionally approved, the Findings of Fact adopted, and approval of the variance as presented in the staff report. Also, to strike the words City Parks Department from Condition of Approval #3.

The motion was passed with a unanimous vote.

In accordance with state law, the Governing Body has 60 working days to act upon this major preliminary plat. The 60 working day review period for the proposed plat ends on March 2, 2022. Subdivision regulations also require that preliminary plats be reviewed using specific criteria, as stated within this report. The Governing Body may not unreasonably restrict an owner's ability to develop land if the subdivider provides evidence that any identified adverse effects can be mitigated. Within the 60 working day review period, the Governing Body is required to:
1. Approve;
2. Conditionally Approve; or
3. Deny the Preliminary Plat

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

One of the purposes of the subdivision review process is to identify potential negative effects of property being subdivided. Negative effects that are identified become the subdivider’s responsibility to mitigate.  Various 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 limited impacts from this proposed subdivision.