Staff recommends the City Council hold a public hearing. In this case, a joint public hearing that considers both the annexation and associated zone change. Upon completion of the hearing, staff recommends the City annex the petitioned property with the staff recommended conditions of approval. 

Performance Engineering on behalf of Shiloh Farm, LLC submitted a petition to annex land using the provisions of Section 7-2-4600, MCA. The property is located north of Zoo Drive and West of Shiloh Road. The land being annexed is described as Being Tracts of Land situated in the NE 1/4 of Section 22, T.1S., R.25E, P.M.M., Yellowstone County, Montana, more particularly described as: Being Tract C of Amended Tract 1-A-2 of Certificate of Survey No. 1100, recorded October 24, 1984, under Document No. 1327683; Also including all adjacent Right-Of-Way of Shiloh Road. Said annexation contains 22.923 gross and 20.575 net acres.

The property is zoned Agricultural. This is a zoning district not recognized by the City. The accompanying zoning application proposes to change the property to a Planned Neighborhood Development (PND), incorporating multiple zones and open space. The PND is a newly adopted tool specifically designed to incorporate at a minimum, 1 Mixed Use district, 1 Neighborhood district and open space. Zone Change 1008 is an accompanying application that the Council will review. A joint public hearing to consider both the annexation and zone change will be held on April 25, 2022.

It is the City’s custom to have staff prepare a brief analysis of predicted impacts to services and facilities. Staff finds 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. 

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 service is available to the property proposed for annexation. The Developer will be required to extend an 8-inch diameter sanitary sewer from the existing manhole located at the intersection of Zoo Drive and Shiloh Road to at least the intersection of the most southerly access from Developer Tract to Shiloh Road. Further, the Developer is required to extend from the existing water main located at the intersection of Zoo Drive and Shiloh Road along the entire Shiloh Road frontage of the Developer Tract. There are provisions in the Annexation Agreement that will required to install these services from Summer Lane to Zoo Drive along Shiloh Road.
• Storm water: Any development will be compliant with the adopted Stormwater Management Manual. 
• Transportation: The Developer Tract will be accessed from two proposed right-in, right-out only approaches from Shiloh Road and two future accesses through the property to the south property line. The approaches from Shiloh AA-2 Road must be reviewed and approved by the City and the Montana Department of Transportation. If only one approach is approved to access Shiloh Road, the development will be limited on the number of units, (as determined by City Engineering and the City Fire Department), that can be constructed until an access to the south connected to the westerly extension of Zoo Drive is approved and constructed.
• Fire Stations: The Billings Fire Department currently serves the subject property through the Billings Urban Fire Service Area agreement.  The Billings Fire Department will continue to serve the property upon annexation.  As this and additional annexations are built out, additional fire department resources will be needed to meet and maintain our high level of service due to the increased call volume and burden on our department these annexations create.  The nearest fire station is Station #5, located at 605 S. 24th St. W, approximately 3.9 road miles or 11 minutes driving time to the subject property.
• Parks: A Public 1 (P1) zone is being created with the zone change that accompanies the annexation, if subdivision occurs in the future, additional parkland dedication or cash-in-lieu will be required. Further, The Developer will be required to construct a 10' wide trail along the frontage of the parcel and also to provide two pedestrian points of access for the P1 parkland along the BBWA canal.
• School facilities: The proposed development will overwhelmingly, if not all develop with a residential component. With residential growth comes demand on the school system the School district has noted west end schools have faced capacity issues for some time. Though there are capacity issues there are no special requests or concerns raised by School District 2 in relation to residential developments. 

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.

• Transit: MET Route 13-West End currently runs southbound on Shiloh Rd to Pierce Parkway and directly serves the property. Access to the route would most likely occur at the intersection of Zoo Drive and Shiloh Rd. Bus service within a 1/2 mile to the north of the area will most likely continue for service to the Shiloh Crossing area but direct service to the Zoo area may be affected pending the results of MET’s currently in progress Transit Development Plan. 
• Police: This proposed development is adjacent to established city limits and will not require an adjustment in schedules or staffing at this time. There is sufficient ingress/egress to the area. Despite recent passage of a safety levy, continued annexation and development will affect our ability to deliver service without commensurate resources.
• 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. Depending on factors at any given time such as traffic and congestion, 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 it is consistent with the Limits of Annexation map and the criteria of the annexation policy has been met. Further, coordination with other departments does not raise concerns that cannot be mitigated. Therefore, City Council is being provided with a recommendation of approval.

 

Annexation by petition does not require notification of adjoining landowners; however, it does require that the City Council conduct a public hearing, advertise the hearing, and post the property with information on the annexation petition and public hearing. Notice of the public hearing was posted on the property and was advertised in the Yellowstone County News.

The City Council may

• Approve,
• Conditionally 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 regarding the development agreement and zoning. On January 10, 2022, the annexation petition was submitted to the Planning Division by the owner's agent.  On April 25, 2022, the City Council is scheduled to take action on the petition in combination with considering a zone change. 

This application has no impact on the Planning Division Budget.