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County conditionally approves Collier Ridge subdivision, grants variance and adjusts dry-hydrant timing
Summary
The Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners conditionally approved the 51-lot Collier Ridge major preliminary plat and granted a variance to a road-connection requirement, adopting 11 conditions and amending the schedule to require the first 30,000-gallon dry hydrant at opening of Phase 2.
The Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners on Dec. 17 conditionally approved the Collier Ridge major preliminary plat, granting a variance from a subdivision road-connection rule and attaching 11 conditions designed to protect public health, safety and local services.
Planning staff presented the proposal as a seven-phase residential subdivision totaling 51 lots. Staff said the applicant requested a variance from section 4.6(b)(1) of the Yellowstone County subdivision regulations that otherwise requires road connections to undeveloped adjacent land not exceed 600 feet. Staff recommended approval after determining the site meets the five variance criteria, including unusual topography and whether strict enforcement would create undue hardship.
The planning report listed 11 conditions before final plat approval, including: Montana Department of Environmental Quality approval and Yellowstone County Health Department approval for water and septic systems; coordination with the U.S. Postal Service on delivery and access; a weed-management plan; construction of internal roads to county standards and establishment of a rural special improvement district (RSID) for road maintenance; consideration of annexation or service-area expansion for the Blue Creek Fire Department; installation of two 30,000-gallon dry hydrants (first prior to final plat approval, second prior to opening of Phase 5, with RSID maintenance); filing of conveyance restrictions; an updated traffic-impact study (TIS) meeting AASHTO standards approved by county public works; compliance with parkland requirements or cash-in-lieu per the subdivision regulations and the Montana code cited in the staff report; and final document edits as requested by planning, legal, or public works.
During questioning, a commissioner asked whether the dry-hydrant specifications should follow Blue Creek Fire Department standards or the City of Billings Fire Department standards. Planning staff said most county fire departments default to the City of Billings standards when a district does not personally inspect, and recommended the language be clarified so only one standard is referenced in future documents.
Kolton Canatrude (IMAG), the developer's consultant, requested one timing change for the hydrant condition: because Phase 1 contains only two lots and lacks road access to the planned hydrant location, the developer asked that the first dry hydrant be required at acceptance or opening of Phase 2 rather than before release of Phase 1 lots. The board adopted that timing change in its motion.
Commissioner Osland moved to tentatively approve the Collier Ridge preliminary plat, approve the variance and adopt the staff findings and conditions with the dry-hydrant timing change. The motion was seconded and passed by voice vote.
The board’s conditional approval requires the applicant to meet the listed conditions — including environmental and public-works approvals — before recording a final plat. County public works and planning staff will be responsible for reviewing the updated TIS and verifying compliance with the conditions before final plat approval.
