Preliminary Work At S. Harrison Property Halted For Zoning Violation
 | Author:
Linda Kent, MT43News Correspondent
MT43 News Correspondent |
Preliminary Work at S. Harrison Property Halted for Zoning Violation
Linda Kent
MT43 News Correspondent
Work to develop 10 housing units on private property on South Harrison St. was halted in early June following resident complaints to the City of Townsend and the City Attorney’s determination that three modular houses had been placed on the property without proper approval through the city planning board.
In a prepared statement, property owner Sean MacIntyre told the city council June 3 that his initial intent was to store several modular houses on the property until his application for zoning and building application had been approved. He told the council that, following discussions with City Planner Jeremy Fadness of WWC Engineering, he believed he was in compliance with city ordinances because the buildings were private property and not intended for occupation or connection to city services at the time of their placement. Mayor Vicki Rauser emphasized that, under the draft plans presented to the planning board, the eventual units were intended as rental units on a single property not available for individual sale.
Several neighbors complained to the city about the work, citing concerns that MacIntyre did not have sufficient utility easements or connections to service up to 10 modular houses on the private property. In a letter to Mayor Vicki Rauser, resident Brian Munro referred to the modulars as “man camp trailers” – a reference to housing for oil field worker housing in North Dakota during that state’s oil boom at the beginning of the century.
Under state law and local ordinances modular houses, which sit on a permanent foundation, are treated differently than mobile houses, which are built with a frame and hitch that allow them to be moved with relative ease from place to place.
Fadness also indicated that, should the proposal be approved by the planning board, water and sewer services were MacIntyre’s to develop and tie into city services.
City Attorney Ed Guza did cite MacIntyre with zoning violations because the modular houses could be used at some point for housing. MacIntyre said his attorney and the city attorney were in discussion to address the issue, but he did not feel he could make further statements.
Rauser emphasized that any discussion of development at the site was speculative, pending the outcome of the zoning and planning process.
