City staff recommends the City Council approve the exempt plat of Olympic Park Subdivision.

On February 8, 2023, Performance Engineering submitted an exempt plat to the City Planning Division to aggregate Lots 1B-5A and 1B-4A to create Lot 1A-5B and to relocate the controlled access location for the new lot. The subject property is generally located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Shiloh Road and King Avenue West. This is part of the land where a new Town Pump store was recently constructed. This proposed lot is the remaining portion of the land not used for the construction of the Town Pump. Because of the controlled access being relocated, it requires the Mayor's signature for that process to take place. The request is not for City Council to determine whether the boundary line relocation is acceptable, but rather agreeing to the relocation of the controlled access. The exempt plat has been reviewed and approved by City Staff and meets the requirements of the exempt plat process outline in the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act. These documents are appropriate as to form for filing with the Clerk and Recorder.

A public hearing is not required for exempt plats, they are exempt from subdivision regulations as they are minor changes to lots. However, the City Council meeting is public and members of the public may attend the meeting and speak on this item during the appropriate public comment period.

The City Council may approve of disapprove the exempt plat of Olympic Park Subdivision - the aggregation of Lots 1B-4A and 1B-5A.

If the City Council chooses to deny the exempt plat, the denial must be because the criteria is Section 76-3-207, MCA are not met.
The criteria are as follows:
Divisions of aggregations of land exempted from review but subject to survey requirements and zoning regulations - exception - fees for examination of division.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), unless the method of disposition is adopted for the purpose of evading this chapter, the following divisions or aggregations of tracts of record of any size, regardless of the resulting size of any lot created by the division or aggregation, are not subdivisions under this chapter but are subject to the surveying requirements of 76-3-401 for divisions or aggregations of land other than subdivisions and are subject to applicable zoning regulations adopted under Title 76, chapter 2:
(f) aggregation of parcels or lots when a certificate of survey or subdivision plat shows that the boundaries of the original parcels have been eliminated and the boundaries of a larger aggregate parcel are established. A restriction or requirement on the original platted lot or original unplatted parcel continues to apply to those areas.

Staff findings are that the exempt plat is not evading the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act. The aggregation of lots is an acceptable use of the exemption and would not create a zoning violation.

The final exempt plat of this subdivision will have no financial impact on the Planning Division.