(A) Submittal.
(1) Any person seeking exemption from the requirements of the MSPA shall submit to the City Planning Staff:
(a) Certificate of survey or, if a survey is not required, an instrument of conveyance; and
(b) Evidence of, and an affidavit affirming, entitlement to the claimed exemption.
(2) For purposes of M.C.A. § 76-3-207, MCA, when a lot of land for which an exemption from subdivision review is claimed is being conveyed under a contract-for-deed, the terms “property owner”, “landowner”, and “owner” mean the seller of the lot under the contract-for-deed (ARM 24.183.1104).
(B) Review. When a division of land for which an exemption is claimed is submitted to the City Planning Staff, Staff shall cause the documents to be reviewed by the designated agents of the City (e.g., city attorney, county sanitarian, County Treasurer, and County Clerk and Recorder). The City Planning Staff and governing body agents shall review the claimed exemption to verify it is the proper use of the claimed exemption and complies with the requirements set forth in the MSPA, the Montana Sanitation in Subdivisions Act, and these regulations.
(2) The City Planning Staff shall make a written determination of whether the use of the exemption is intended to evade the purposes of the MSPA, explaining the reasons for the determination.
(3) If the City Planning Staff finds the proposed use of the exemption complies with the statutes and the criteria set forth in §§ 9.6.75 through 9.6.81, Staff shall notify the governing body and advise the Clerk and Recorder to file the certificate of survey or record the instrument of conveyance and accompanying documents. If Staff finds the proposed use of the exemption does not comply with the statutes and the criteria in this section, Staff shall advise the Clerk and Recorder not to file or record the documents, and the materials will be returned to the landowner.
(4) The City Planning Staff shall consider all of the surrounding circumstances when determining whether an exemption is claimed for the purpose of evading the MSPA. These circumstances may include but are not limited to: the nature of the claimant’s business, the prior history of the particular tract in question, the proposed configuration of the tracts if the proposed exempt transaction is completed, and any pattern of exempt transactions which will result in the equivalent of a subdivision without local government review.
(C) Appeals.
(1) Any person whose proposed use of an exemption has been denied by City Planning Staff because the proposed division of land has been deemed an attempt to evade the MSPA and these regulations, may appeal the Staff’s decision to the City Council. The person may request a hearing, and may submit additional evidence to demonstrate the use of the exemption in question is not intended to evade the MSPA or these regulations, and, thereby rebut a presumption.
(2) If the City Council concludes the evidence and information overcome the presumption the exemption is being invoked to evade the MSPA or these regulations, it may authorize the use of the exemption in writing. A certificate of survey claiming an exemption from subdivision review, which otherwise is in proper form, and which the City Council has found not to be an attempt to evade the MSPA or these regulations, may be filed (or an instrument of conveyance recorded) if it is accompanied by written authorization of the governing body.
(3) If the person proposing to use an exemption chooses not to rebut a presumption when the City Planning Staff deems the use of the exemption an attempt to evade the MSPA and these regulations, or if the governing body determines the proposed use of an exemption was for the purpose of evading the MSPA or these regulations, the landowner proposing to use the exemption may submit a subdivision application for the proposed land division. (Res. 607, passed 7-1-2019)