Planning Board meets for January

The Madison County Planning Board met on Monday,  Jan. 27 to discuss a postponed public hearing, a new addressing system, variances and meeting format. The next meeting will be held Monday, Feb. 24.

The  Lee’s Pool Subdivision public hearing was postponed by the applicant’s request and has not been officially rescheduled. “The applicant wants to re-work some particulars of the submittal because he was not pleased that the findings of the staff report (based on the original submittal materials) did not support approval of certain proposed details,” said Alex Hogle, Madison County planning board director. A newly scheduled public hearing is anticipated, and additional information may or may not be submitted for review by the Board. The public hearing will be rescheduled and re-noticed whether there is new information or not.  

Minutes from the September and November meetings were approved.  Pat  Bradley, vice president, was concerned about a conservation easement proposed by Montana Land Reliance and its effect on wildlife in the area. She wanted to include in the minutes a letter she wrote that, “expressed high concern for perceived negative and unusual conservation allowances on this wilderness area.”

The monthly report included the following items: County Commissioners reviewed the Board report from November and a variance for the Kirby Minor Subdivision was approved, a family conveyance in the Wisconsin Gulch area was reviewed twice, Lee’s Pool Preliminary plat was reviewed and the Montana Club Phase Two final plat was deemed not complete for review. Additional information on this was requested by Alex Hogle, director.

Six temporary addresses were made permanent and the Board has made progress on the backlog of temporary addresses, taking care of 200 or so thus far. The method of assigning addresses to homes became a focal  point. “The method for plotting a point that’s geo-referenced has entailed literally driving to every location with a GPS unit and capturing data manually for all of them with no discretion  about location or characteristics about the property,” Hogle said.

Hogle recommended plotting the address points on the Geographic Information System (GIS) system from a desktop based on material submitted from property owners. This should include pre-construction safety review application information and be as complete as possible.  Addresses are typically assigned where the driveway meets the road. For now, the policy is to use the GIS system and information from property owners to map addresses, without  physically going to the location.

Variances were the talking point during the board functioning segment of the meeting. Hogle read part of the Montana Code provision for granting variances to the Board to start the discussion. “It’s really key to remember to start with the findings that are the basis for your ideas and then make the motion. So, if the findings in the report recommend against a variance but you’re compelled to agree with an application, the findings wouldn’t support agreeing,” Hogle said. Bradley expressed a desire for meetings to be held more formally when public hearings are held, and generally for all meetings.