Property Transfers and Boundary Relocations
Author: Eliza McLaughlin - Staff Reporter
Property Transfers and Boundary Relocations Eliza McLaughlin - Staff Reporter The Broadwater County Commissioners discussed and approved several land agreements during its Dec. 5 meeting, including two family transfers, a property boundary change, a minor subdivision preliminary plat application and a building lease or rent agreement.
The meeting opened with the commission revisiting the previous discussion of the Kurtz family's transfer and property boundary relocation.
The Kurtz property issue was last discussed during the Nov. 14 commission meeting, where Johnny Kurtz's request to transfer 20.5 acres of his property to his father Gideon and to move his property's boundary -- which would provide his neighbor with more pasture acreage -- was denied.
Kurtz attended the Dec. 5 commission meeting, at Commission Chair Darrel Folkvord's request.
"Here's our concern: Since you've owned this property, it's been divided through boundary relocation and now a family transfer as well, I count four different times," Folkvord said during the meeting.
Kurtz explained that after purchasing the property, he learned that two of his neighbors had hoped to buy the land. After the sale, each neighbor approached him asking to purchase a portion of the land bordering their properties for pasture use.
"Part of our process is for us to review and determine if there is an evasion of subdivision [regulations]. It's been divided this many times," Folkvord said.
Property boundary relocations do not result in multiple properties. These occur when landowners move a common boundary line between their adjoining properties, according to the Montana Code Annotated. Property boundary relocations must follow zoning and surveying regulations for each plot.
Kurtz disclosed that after his current boundary relocation and family transfer, there may be another property line shift to provide another neighbor with some pasture land.
"These are things that are legally available to you," Folkvord said. "It's just that when we see this many of them happening."
Kurtz was notified that family transfers cannot be sold for a certain number of years, and Commissioner Debi Randolph clarified that this was the property's first family transfer.
Randolph moved to approve Kurtz's request and Commissioner Mike Delger seconded it.
The commission later considered, for the first time, two family transfers requested by Marie Miller to her daughters Kristie Collins and Candace Leslie. After the family transfer, all three parcels will exceed 20 acres in size.
Community Planning Director Nichole Brown clarified that the properties are not required to follow 3:1 ratio for length and width applied to subdivisions.
Delger questioned whether Clopton Lane was labeled correctly on the map.
"It would be a matter of adding clearer labels just to show very clearly how Clopton Lane travels," Brown said.
Randolph moved to approve the Miller transfer and Delger seconded it. It was approved without further question and the commission moved on to discussing another boundary relocation requested by Steve and Deborah Wilken.
Folkvord recused himself from the discussion, and relocation was approved with the clarification that the portion of land removed from the Wilken property would lose its previously received approval for sewer/septic from the Department of Environmental Quality.
Folkvord did not respond to requests for clarification between the differences in the Kurtz and Miller cases before MT 43 News press deadline, due to his attendance at the Montana Association of Counties Elected Officials training in Helena.
The commissioners also approved Meadows 3 Subsequent Minor Subdivision preliminary plat application and the buildings for lease or rent for the Brady Storage Units during the meeting. Both passed with a requirement that the property owners meet specific conditions.
