Broadwater planning staff recommends approval of Counts Hay and Cattle minor subdivision; applicant clarifies intent to place two residences on one lot

Townsend, Mont. — Broadwater County planning staff recommended preliminary approval of the Counts Hay and Cattle Minor Subdivision on a 138.8-acre parcel, but the applicant told the planning board she intends to place two residences on the single proposed lot, a detail staff said it will correct in the written report.

The planning board’s community development director, Nicole Brown, read a staff report saying the subdivider seeks to create “one lot from an existing 138.8-acre parcel with an agricultural covenant in place” and that wastewater and water “will be provided via individual on-site wastewater treatment system[s]” and wells. Brown told the board she would amend the report to reflect the applicant’s stated intent for two residences.

The clarification came from the applicant, Tessa Counts, who told the board, “Our intention is to build 2 residences on the property. … One home for my mother‑in‑law and then my husband will reside. My husband and I will reside in the barn in a smaller living space,” and she said that could require “likely 2 septic systems and potentially 2 wells.”

Why it matters: the application is a minor subdivision to lift an agricultural covenant on the parcel; the planning process will determine conditions to mitigate impacts on agriculture, water, access and public health and safety and will forward a recommendation to the county commissioners, who must separately consider three requested variances.

Staff summary and timelines

Brown read application dates into the record: application filed 11/14/2024; element completeness granted Jan. 13, 2025; sufficiency determined March 4, 2025. She said the review period will close in late April and warned the board it may need to meet again within the county’s review clock to provide a recommendation to the commissioners.

The staff report recommended approval of the preliminary plat “subject to the conditions of approval” listed in the package (the report cites a conditions list beginning on page 10 of the staff packet). Brown summarized the major requirements: approval by the Broadwater County Environmental Health Office of proposed well sites and on-site wastewater systems; an approved noxious‑weed management and revegetation plan; utility and access easements shown on the final plat; and a required fire protection plan or a variance request if the developer does not provide fire‑control water onsite.

Variances and fire protection

Brown told the board the developer has requested three individual variances that the governing body (the county commissioners) must decide before preliminary plat approval: (1) an exception to a rule that no lot may be divided by a public road (related to the location of Big Country Drive); (2) a variance to allow a shared driveway off Radcliffe Trail rather than a road meeting subdivision standards; and (3) a variance concerning on‑site water supply “of sufficient volume for effective fire control.”

Brown explained the third variance request by quoting the developers’ proposal to “install a fire sprinkler system in any building constructed on the property that may be used for residential purposes,” but she warned that “Broadwater County does not have a building inspector, there would be no way to verify nor require the installation of fire sprinkler systems,” language she read from the staff report.

Access, addressing, and utilities

Brown and board members discussed access details and addressing. The proposed lot would take access from Radcliffe Trail via South Fork Ray Creek Road; part of the driveway is a privately maintained public road and part is a private shared driveway across adjoining property. Brown said the applicant has verbally agreed with the adjacent landowner to maintain the shared driveway; if the variance is not granted the developer would have to construct the shared driveway to county subdivision road standards.

Board members and staff also discussed addressing and emergency response: Brown and county GIS/911 staff said each habitable structure should have its own address for public safety even if two dwellings occupy a single tax parcel. Brown said the Broadwater County Environmental Health Officer and DNRC (the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation) will review wells and wastewater plans prior to final plat approval.

Applicant details and local conditions

Counts told the board the existing well produces about 13 gallons per minute and that she currently runs approximately 45 head of livestock on the property; she said she believes one well may be sufficient for two dwelling units. Brown said the staff report will be amended to state “the proposed lot will be served by the existing individual on‑site water well” and to note that “the use of any additional exempt wells is subject to review and approval by the DNRC.”

Public health, wildlife and environment

Brown read findings that the parcel is outside mapped FEMA 100‑year floodplain, has no recorded historic sites in the Montana Historical Society query, and that a noxious‑weed management plan has been submitted and approved by the Broadwater County Weed Coordinator and weed board. The report also recommended conditions and restrictive covenants to notify future owners of nearby agricultural operations, radon risk, and seismic considerations.

No final recommendation recorded at meeting

The planning board did not make a formal, roll‑call recommendation during the portion of the meeting in the transcript. Brown told the board that as a recommending body it may approve “preliminary plat approval with conditions, denial, or preliminary plat approval with no conditions,” and that the board was under no obligation to decide that day.

Next steps

If the board chooses to make a recommendation it would forward that recommendation and the variances to the Broadwater County commissioners; Brown said each variance “will need to be approved individually by the governing body prior to granting preliminary plat approval.” Public comment on the project will be taken at later hearings listed in the staff packet.

Ending note

Brown told the board she had erred in the written report by listing a single residence and that she would correct the staff report to reflect the applicant’s stated intent for two residences before forwarding materials to the commissioners.