(A) Generally. This subchapter describes the information to be considered by the City Council in making a decision. It also describes the information to be considered by the Administrator and Planning Board when making a recommendation.
(B) Information to be considered. In order to approve, conditionally approve or deny the proposed subdivision, the City Council shall review the subdivision application, preliminary plat, applicable environmental assessment, public hearing, public comment, Planning Board recommendations, staff report and other additional information submitted or prepared in the review of the subdivision.
(C) Review criteria.
(1) The basis for the City Council’s decision to approve, conditionally approve or deny a proposed subdivision is whether the subdivision application, preliminary plat, applicable environmental assessment, public hearing, Planning Board recommendations or additional information demonstrates that development of the proposed subdivision meets the requirements of MCA § 76-3-608, and the criteria below.
(2) A City Council may not deny approval of a proposed subdivision based solely on the subdivision’s impacts on educational services or based solely on parcels within the subdivision having been designated as wildland-urban interface parcels under MCA § 76-13-145.
(3) The City Council decision shall reflect the following criteria.
(a) Impacts to agriculture, agricultural water user facilities, local services, natural environment, wildlife, wildlife habitat, and public health and safety. The City Council shall identify any impacts it determines to be potentially significant and adverse to agriculture, agricultural water user facilities, local services, natural environment, wildlife, wildlife habitat, and public health and safety. A description of these criteria are found in § 11.02.090.010, Appendix A, which are adopted in the city growth policy, as required by MCA § 76-1-601(3)(h).
(b) Survey requirements. The subdivision shall comply with survey requirements in the uniform standards for final subdivision plats.
(c) Compliance with local subdivision regulations. The review is based on the subdivision regulations in place at the time the application is determined to contain sufficient information for review. In addition, the subdivision regulations require compliance with local zoning and other applicable regulations. The considerations are:
1. Compliance with the design standards in §§ 11.02.060.010 through 11.02.060.270 is required;
2. Special provisions for condominiums, townhouses, townhomes, and RV and mobile home parks: condominiums, townhouses, townhomes, and RV and mobile home parks shall meet the additional design standards and requirements primarily included in §§ 11.02.030.010 through 11.02.030.110;
3. All subdivisions must demonstrate they are designed to comply with applicable zoning;
4. All subdivisions shall demonstrate compliance with other applicable regulations, such as the ARMs for sanitation and water supply, public health ordinances, floodplain regulations and the like; and
5. Subdivisions should demonstrate conformance to adopted plans, such as the growth policy, transportation plans, capital improvements plans, pre-disaster mitigation plans or community wildfire protection plans. Because plans are not regulatory, no variance for non-conformance shall be required, nor can denial or a condition of approval be based solely on plan conformance.
(d) Subdivision review procedure. All subdivisions shall demonstrate compliance with the subdivision review procedure, based on the subdivision regulations in place at the time the application is determined to contain sufficient information for review. The record shall demonstrate that the process and timelines in §§ 11.02.030.010 through 11.02.030.110 were followed.
(e) Utility easements. The subdivision shall provide easements within and to the proposed subdivision for the location and installation of any planned utilities.
(f) Legal and physical access. All subdivisions shall provide legal and physical access to each parcel within the proposed subdivision and the required notation of that access on the applicable plat and any instrument of transfer containing the parcel.
(D) Requiring reasonable mitigation. The City Council may require the subdivider to design the proposed subdivision to reasonably minimize potentially significant adverse impacts identified through evaluation of the review criteria identified in § 11.02.050.010(C). The City Council shall issue written findings to justify the reasonable mitigation required. When requiring mitigation, the City Council shall consult with the subdivider and shall give due weight and consideration to the expressed preference of the subdivider.
(E) Cause for denial. In reviewing a proposed subdivision and when requiring mitigation, a City Council may not unreasonably restrict a landowner’s ability to develop land, but it is recognized that in some instances, the unmitigated impacts of a proposed development may be unacceptable and will preclude approval of the subdivision.
(F) Special consideration of water and sanitation information. The City Council may conditionally approve or deny a proposed subdivision as a result of the water and sanitation information provided pursuant to MCA § 76-3-622, or public comment received pursuant to MCA § 76-3-604 on the information provided pursuant to MCA § 76-3-622, only if the conditional approval or denial is based on existing subdivision, zoning or other regulations that the City Council has the authority to enforce.
(G) Additional provisions.
(1) Waiver of right to protest. A City Council may not require as a condition of subdivision approval that a property owner waive a right to protest the creation of a special improvement district or a rural improvement district for capital improvement projects that does not identify the specific capital improvements for which protest is being waived. A waiver of a right to protest shall not be valid for a time period longer than 20 years after the date that the final subdivision plat is filed with the County Clerk and Recorder.
(2) Well isolation zone. The City Council may not approve a proposed subdivision if any of the features and improvements of the subdivision encroach onto adjoining private property in a manner that is not otherwise provided for under MCA 76-3 Part 4 or if the well isolation zone of any proposed well to be drilled for the proposed subdivision encroaches onto adjoining private property, unless the owner of the private property authorizes the encroachment. The term “well isolation zone” has the meaning provided in MCA § 76-4-102.
(3) Federal or state comment. If a federal or state governmental entity submits a written or oral comment or an opinion regarding wildlife, wildlife habitat or the natural environment relating to a subdivision application for the purpose of assisting a City Council’s review, the comment or opinion may be included in the City Council’s written statement under MCA § 76-3-620, only if the comment or opinion provides scientific information or a published study that supports the comment or opinion. A governmental entity that is or has been involved in an effort to acquire or assist others in acquiring an interest in the real property identified in the subdivision application shall disclose that the entity has been involved in that effort prior to submitting a comment, an opinion, or information.
(Prior Code, § 11.02.050.010) (Ord. 151, passed 6-20-2016)
Statutory reference:
Compliance with local subdivision regulations, see MCA § 76-3-608(3)(b)(ii)
Impacts to agriculture, agricultural water user facilities, local services, natural environment, wildlife, wildlife habitat, and public health and safety, see MCA § 76-3-608(3)(a)
Legal and physical access, see MCA § 76-3-608(d)
Subdivision review procedure, see MCA § 76-3-608(3)(b)(iii)
Survey requirements, see MCA § 76-3-608(3)(b)(I)
Utility easements, see MCA § 76-3-608(c)