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Development:
Kootenai Lodge Proposal
SUBDIVISION REVIEW
Primary Review Criteria
The Montana Subdivision and Platting Act (76-3-101
through 76-3-625, Montana Code Annotated) requires
that a subdivision proposal be evaluated for
compliance with six primary review criteria, in
addition to state and local law. The primary review
criteria are a subdivision’s anticipated:
• Effect on agriculture
• Effect on agricultural water user facilities
• Effect on the natural environment
• Effect on wildlife and wildlife habitat
• Effect on local services, and
• Effect on public health and safety
The criteria are general and a subdivision’s
potential impact on each of them is open to
individual interpretation. Nowhere in state law are
they defined: it is up to local officials to define
and use the review criteria to the best of their
ability. The purpose of this section of the Lake
County Growth Policy is to define the primary review
criteria in order to provide guidance to developers,
the public and public officials so that the
subdivision process is more predictable and
efficient.
No two subdivision proposals are the same and the
process requires a degree of flexibility in order
for decision makers to exercise sound judgment.
While most impacts to the review criteria may be
mitigated, in some instances the probable impacts of
a subdivision may be deemed too great for the
project to be approved. As always, the decision
makers will attempt to balance the rights of the
developer with the good of the community when
reviewing subdivision proposals.
The following paragraphs list the primary review
criteria and define how staff, the Lake County
Planning Board and the Board of County Commissioners
will use them to evaluate subdivision proposals.
Also included are potential mitigation measures that
may be attached to subdivision proposals as
conditions of preliminary approval.
1. Effect on agriculture
The economy and culture of Lake County are
intimately tied to agricultural use of the land. A
subdivision proposal may have an unacceptable effect
on agriculture if, at a minimum, it fails to control
noxious weeds on the property, fails to minimize
road dust, fails to take steps to preserve good and
prime irrigable soils, fails to keep livestock from
entering the subdivision boundaries, fails to buffer
residential development from surrounding
agricultural operations and fails to take steps to
keep pets from harassing livestock.
If a subdivision proposal complies with all of the
other applicable requirements and includes
substantial measures to minimize the impact on
agricultural operations and resources, it is likely
to be found to have no significant impact on
agriculture. Such measures include treating noxious
weeds on the property and entering into a weed
management agreement with Lake County, chip-sealing,
paving or dust coating roadways on and potentially
leading to the property, taking steps to preserve
agricultural soils such as clustering homes and
development on non-irrigated land, adequately
fencing the perimeter boundaries in livestock areas,
and adopting covenants that require pets to be
restrained and requiring adequate building setbacks
and vegetated buffers.
2. Effect on agricultural water user facilities
One of the primary reasons the agricultural land of
Lake County is productive is the presence of
irrigation facilities. A subdivision proposal may
have an unacceptable effect on agricultural water
user facilities if it does not comply with the
irrigation provisions of the Lake County Subdivision
Regulations and, at a minimum, it fails to set up a
reasonable mechanism for delivering irrigation water
to the lots, does not include sufficient easements
for ditch and system maintenance, or is likely to
result in the disruption of service to downstream
users. If the proposal complies with the subdivision
regulations, includes measures to limit the impacts
to downstream users and meets the requirements of
representatives of the Flathead Irrigation Project,
the proposal is likely to be viewed as having no
significant impact on agricultural water user
facilities. All proposals for subdivision of land
under the Flathead Irrigation Project must include a
letter of review from that agency.
3. Effect on the natural environment
The term natural environment encompasses a number of
things, including, but not limited to, ground water,
surface water, wetlands, scenic views and air
quality. A subdivision proposal may have an
unacceptable effect on the natural environment if,
after qualitative and quantitative review, it is
found likely to jeopardize the existing
environmental quality in an area. In cases where
unanswered questions exist regarding potential
impacts to water or air quality, the developer may
be required to pay for a third party assessment of
the impacts.
Proposals that are found to have significant
potential to impact environmental quality will be
required to mitigate the impacts. In some cases, the
potential impacts will be too great for mitigation
measures. All proposals are required to comply with
the applicable federal, state, local and tribal
regulations. In those cases where no mitigation
measures are required, and in those cases where
mitigation measures are required and then
implemented, the proposal is likely to have no
significant impact on the natural environment.
Mitigation measures may include, but are not limited
to, advanced-treatment individual septic systems or
approved public/municipal sewer hook-ups where
extension of services is possible, developing
multi-party water systems instead of numerous
individual wells, providing for native vegetative
buffers and building setbacks along waterways and
riparian corridors, locating development outside of
flood plains and off of steep slopes, leaving view
corridors open for off-site property owners,
buffering the view of new development from
surrounding landowners, including measures to
prevent toxic chemicals from entering the aquifer,
managing stormwater runoff in light of below-ground
conditions, compliance with state and local
standards, having chip-sealed or paved roads and
preventing air emissions that violate established
standards.
4. Effect on wildlife and wildlife habitat
There are a number of areas of Lake County that are
designated as important habitat for bears,
waterfowl, upland game birds and other animals. A
subdivision proposal may have an unacceptable effect
on wildlife and wildlife habitat if it is to develop
land that wildlife inhabit and does not include
measures to prevent human-wildlife conflict or
ensure wildlife will continue to inhabit the area.
In cases where unanswered questions exist regarding
potential impacts to wildlife and wildlife habitat,
the developer may be required to pay for a third
party assessment of the anticipated impacts.
If the proposal includes measures to limit the
potential impacts and complies with all applicable
federal, state, local and tribal requirements, the
proposal is likely to be judged as having no
significant impact to wildlife and wildlife habitat.
Mitigation measures include, but are not limited to,
preserving vegetative cover along riparian
corridors, requiring significant building setbacks
from bodies of water, reducing development density
in areas of important habitat, and developing
covenants that educate lot buyers and reduce the
potential for human-wildlife conflict.
5. Effect on local services
For the purposes of subdivision review, local
services include, but are not limited to, sewer and
water, roads, telecommunications, schools,
electricity and solid waste disposal. A subdivision
proposal may have an unacceptable effect on local
services if it requires services that are not
available in location, condition or capacity to
serve the development. If a subdivider demonstrates
that sewer and water facilities are available and
includes acceptable provisions to pay for or share
payment for the extension and service of public
facilities (with the exception of educational
facilities as per 76-3-510, MCA), the proposal is
likely to be viewed as having an acceptable effect
on local services.
6. Effect on public health and safety
Protecting pubic health and safety is the primary
purpose of government. A subdivision proposal may
have an unacceptable effect on public health and
safety if it is located in an area that cannot be
effectively served by emergency responders or is
located in an area that is prone to natural or
man-made hazards. Some examples are development on
steep slopes and in high fire hazard areas or areas
not served by a fire district. If steps are taken to
ensure that the residents of a subdivision can be
adequately served by emergency responders, the
dangers posed by natural or man-made hazards are
mitigated, and the proposal complies with state and
local regulations, a subdivision proposal is likely
to be viewed as having little impact on public
health and safety.
Some mitigation measures that may be required are
engineered structural designs on steep slopes,
building roads to and within the subdivision to
county-standards, developing water facilities for
volunteer fire departments, aiding public safety and
emergency response organizations with paying for the
costs of serving new development, constructing
emergency or secondary ingress and egress,
implementing additional urban-wildland interface
development guidelines and other measures.
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