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Commissioners, staff refine ADU fact sheet and application; no formal adoption — item set for October
Summary
County planning staff and commissioners extensively discussed accessory dwelling unit (ADU) guidance, sanitation review thresholds, a proposed $250 application fee and how the county should document ADU inquiries. No regulation was adopted; the item will return to the October agenda.
Broadwater County commissioners and planning staff spent an extended portion of the meeting refining a proposed accessory dwelling unit (ADU) regulation package, an associated application and a fact sheet; no final regulation was adopted and the item was scheduled for further consideration at the October commission meeting.
Community Development Director Nicole Brown led the discussion about a draft regulation and application intended to give county staff an objective record when the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) seeks county comment on sanitation rewrites for ADUs. Brown explained the problem she often faces: when a subdivision application originally limited lots to a single-family residence, DEQ’s requests for a COSA rewrite later force planning staff to either deny (because the original application shows one residence) or to have a clear, documented county process for granting approval. Brown said the draft application would provide a paper trail giving staff a basis to provide a documented response to DEQ.
Key items discussed included a proposed one-time, nonrefundable application fee of $250 (staff proposed moving the fee to the application form rather than the fact sheet), sanitation-review thresholds tied to Montana law, and clarification that parcels 20 acres or larger (exclusive of public roadways) are generally exempt from DEQ sanitation review under MCA 76-4-103 unless they provide two or more permanent spaces for RVs or mobile homes. Brown and the county sanitarian (Megan Bullock) also discussed how a self-contained ADU with cooking and laundry facilities can change permitting paths and when a COSA rewrite is necessary.
Commissioners debated whether to label the document a regulation or a fact sheet/guideline and discussed removing onerous requirements that could push people to use family transfers or other exemptions to avoid review. Commissioners asked staff to simplify the document into a fact sheet plus a signed application to create a record for DEQ and for internal notifications to county departments (for example, Public Works/solid waste and the county treasury to ensure assessments and addressing updates). The group also discussed short-term-rental licensing and the importance of notifying tax and solid-waste staff of new ADUs so assessments can be applied.
No formal resolution or rule was adopted at the meeting. Commissioners instructed staff to revise the materials (simplify the language, convert the regulation into a fact sheet, move the fee to the application, and remove mandatory fire sign-off while committing to internally notify emergency and service providers) and to return the item for decision at the October meeting.
