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Ravalli County grants one-year extension for Nelnik LLC preliminary plat despite late request
Summary
The Ravalli County Board of Commissioners voted to grant a one-year extension to Nelnik LLC for a preliminary plat review period after the applicant submitted an extension request after the subdivision regulations' 15-working-day deadline; commissioners debated whether the deadline should remain in the regulations.
The Ravalli County Board of County Commissioners on April 29 approved a one-year extension to the preliminary plat review period for Nelnik LLC’s subdivision application (SD2020-046) after the applicant submitted an extension request after the regulation’s 15-working-day deadline.
Rob, a Ravalli County planning department staff member, told the board he had notified Nelnik LLC on April 16 that its review period was close to expiring and that the subdivision regulations require extension requests to be filed at least 15 working days before expiration. He said the application was in its second sufficiency review and that denying the extension would force the applicant to restart the process, including paying fees and resubmitting a pre-application.
The recommendation from planning staff was to refer the late extension request to the commissioners for decision. A Nelnik representative told the board she had been brought into the project late, had just completed a hydrology study and did not realize the deadline had been missed.
Commissioners discussed the purpose of the 15-working-day requirement. One commissioner said the rule exists to give planning staff a buffer and avoid last-minute requests when staff workloads are heavy. Another commissioner argued that applying the rule unevenly — effectively varying it case by case based on planning’s workload — created inconsistency and suggested the regulation be rewritten so an application either meets the deadline or it expires.
After public comment from a Nelnik representative and discussion about the project’s status and planning staff’s capacity to process the file, the board voted to approve a one-year extension for the Nelnik preliminary plat review period. The board recorded three aye votes and the motion carried.
Board members said staff will pursue clarifying the subdivision regulations with the planning board to avoid similar disputes about the deadline going forward. The commissioners noted the extension preserves the applicant’s current place in the review process and avoids the need to resubmit a new application.
