Commission To Consider Changes To Subdivision Fees
 | Author:
Linda Kent, MT43 News Staff Reporter
MT43 News Correspondent |
Commission to Consider Changes to Subdivision Fees
Linda Kent
MT43 News Staff Reporter
Broadwater County’s Board of Commissioners reviewed proposed amendments to the county’s subdivision fees.
“I hope and anticipate some discussion from the public,” Broadwater County Planning Director Nicole Brown said. “This is why we’re taking two meetings, if not more” to discuss the proposal.
Commissioner Debi Randolph noted that Deputy County Attorney Kaylan Minor had researched the fee structures of similar sized counties and that research informed the changes proposed.
Among the changes Brown:
● Adding a $1,500 fee for subsequent minor subdivisions to an approved subdivision. Brown noted that the fee reflects a clarification of the existing fee structure. Currently, the application fee for any minor subdivision is $1,500.
● A new fee of $250 for applications amended before those applications are reviewed by the commission. Brown gave the examples of changes to a road or fire plan for a subdivision to explain when this fee would be applied.
● A fee of $550 for applications amended after commission review. Typically, Brown said, those changes arise from either questions from the commission or from public comment on the proposed subdivision during its review at a regular commission meeting.
● A proposed fee of $550 for amendment to conditions of preliminary plat. This would occur when the conditions under which the commission approved the plat prove impossible or unreasonably burdensome for the developer to meet.
● A $550 fee for amending applications prior to public hearing by the county planning board.
● A $750 fee for amending applications after the county planning board’s public hearing.
● A minimum fee of $4,000 for hydrological analysis review by a county-contracted engineer. The hydrological review follows a judicial decision requiring such a review for all subdivisions also required to have an environmental assessment, Brown said. The county has contracted with Great West Engineering to perform professional analysis on its behalf since the county lacks staff members qualified to conduct the reviews. Great West set the base fee of $4,000, which could be more if the review takes more time. Brown said the full cost of the analysis would be passed on to the developer. “This is to ensure that the taxpayers of Broadwater County are not paying for the cost of developments,” she said. “The cost of development will be directly billed to the developer.”
Responding to a question from Commission Chair Lindsey Richtmyer about situations where the fee might be applied for relatively small changes, Brown noted that she could think of scenarios where the developer could request a variance to be exempted from the review and fee. “The tricky part about variances is they can only be approved by the governing body,” Brown said. “It really is a gamble, and I do advise all developers that this is a gamble. . . . If a variance is denied, [the subdivision] goes back to the beginning.”
● Consolidating the Fire Protection Review Fee and the Fire District Inspection Fees. Brown noted that these seemed to overlap. She added that she would expect that these fees would go directly to the fire authority reviewing the plan or conducting the inspection.
● Phasing plan review fees. Brown said these would generally apply only to major subdivisions being developed in phases.
● Removing the fees for material alterations to a final plat for both major and minor subdivisions. Brown said she could not identify a scenario where a material change would be made without requiring the subdivision to go through the review process again.
Commissioners will review the changes again at their regular Jan. 29 meeting and, potentially, again on Feb. 5.
