Staff recommends the City Council hold a public hearing on the annexation. Upon completion of the hearing, staff recommends the City annex the petitioned property with the staff recommended conditions of approval. 

McCall Development, Inc. behalf of McCall Properties, LLC & Brittany’s Dream, LLC submitted a petition to annex land using the provisions of Section 7-2-4600, MCA. The property is located north of Elysian Road, south of Titan Avenue, and west of Mullowney Lane. The land being annexed is described as being a tract of Land situated in the SE 1/4 of Section 18, T.1S., R.26E, P.M.M., Yellowstone County, Montana, more particularly described as follows: Lot 6A, Block 1, of the Amended Plat of Lots 5 and 6, Block 1, of Titan Subdivision, recorded November 2nd, 2006, under Document No. 3399260. Including adjacent Right-Of-Way of Titan Avenue. Said annexation containing 1.526 gross acres and 1.233 net acres, more or less.

The property is zoned CX-Heavy Commercial. This is a zoning district recognized by the City therefore no zone change is required with this annexation petition. Land immediately to the south and east of the property has already been annexed into the City. There is an existing office use on the property.

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. Sanitary Sewer will be served by an existing sanitary sewer main located in Elysian Road, and Water will be served by an existing water main located in Mullowney Lane.
• Storm water: Any development will be compliant with the adopted Stormwater Management Manual.
• Transportation: The Developer Tract will be accessed from Titan Avenue. The Public Right-of-way along Titan Avenue will be dedicated to the City of Billings.
• 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 1.97 road miles or 5 minutes driving time to the subject property.
• Parks: No Parkland or Trails will be required as part of this annexation.
• School facilities: The School district did not raise any special requests or concerns during their review of this proposal. This is typical for commercial development such as this.

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: The annexed area is directly serviced by a MET Route. The nearest route, MET Route 13- West End, currently operates through the intersection of Mullowney Ln and Elysian Rd traveling northward, which is the nearest accessible point to the property. This intersection is adjacent to the proposed annexation location via roadway.
• 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.

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 annexation agreement and ward boundary ordinance. On May 31, 2022, the annexation petition was submitted to the Planning Division by the owner's agent.  On July 11, 2022, the City Council is scheduled to take action on the petition.

This application has no impact on the Planning Division Budget.