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Broadwater County tables Mostad family transfer exemption request for further review
Summary
Commissioners heard a staff report and testimony on a request by Joshua Mostad to gift a 15.24-acre parcel to his mother, Deneen Mostad, which would leave a 5.01-acre remainder; because both parcels would be under 20 acres they will require DEQ review and the commission agreed to place the item on next week’s agenda for more information.
Broadwater County commissioners on June 4 heard a staff presentation and testimony regarding a family-transfer exemption request from landowner Joshua Mostad to convey a 15.24-acre parcel (Tract C) to his mother, Deneen Mostad, leaving a 5.01-acre remainder. The commission did not make a final determination and directed staff to return the item to next week’s agenda for additional review.
Community Development Director Nicole Brown read a staff report describing the property (20.25 acres originally) and cited the applicable statutes, including “Montana code annotated 76 3 2 0 7 1 b” and sanitation provisions that trigger Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) review when resulting parcels are under 20 acres. Brown told commissioners that both resulting parcels would require DEQ approval prior to recordation and listed potential public-safety and access concerns: the nearest fire protection is in Townsend, an irrigation ditch along the northern boundary could be hazardous, highway access via US Highway 287 carries a 45 mph speed limit, there is no requirement to construct a road to county subdivision standards for the 60-foot easement, and no school-bus turnaround has been reviewed.
Owners Scott and Deneen Mostad were sworn and said they intend to keep the land in the family, do not plan to subdivide or sell it to outsiders, and described the division as a response to unexpected property-tax increases. Deneen Mostad said, “We don't want outsiders coming in,” and the couple said the expansion to a 60-foot easement is intended to accommodate potential future homes on the parcel.
A deputy county attorney advised commissioners that a boundary relocation could be a simpler way to retain family ownership without creating a new tract, and urged commissioners to apply the county’s exemption-review criteria and to watch for patterns of repeated exemptions that might amount to an evasion of the subdivision law. Given the legal and practical questions raised, a commissioner asked to place the item on next week's agenda for further vetting, and commissioners agreed to do so.
Next steps: staff will provide clarifying information requested by the commission; the Mostad family transfer exemption will be on the commission’s agenda next week for further consideration.
