The Billings City Council voted to conditionally approve annexation 25-0-5 and associated zone change 10-73, a proposal to bring Lot 7 of Sunny Cove Fruit Farms into the city and to change its rural-residential zoning to corridor-mixed use. Councilmember Neeson moved the annexation motion with an addition that an annexation agreement be attached; the motion carried after council debate and public input.

Planning staff said the property lies in zone 1 of the limits of annexation and recommended conditional approval subject to an annexation agreement and subdivision improvement agreement as required. Karen, a city planning presenter, said the proposed zoning would allow mixed housing types and neighborhood-serving commercial uses; the zoning commission recommended approval after applying state zoning review criteria (Mont. Code Ann. 76-2-304).

Developer's agent Taylor Kasparick said the project is planned to be a "community oriented area" anchored by Patty Shack, a recreational facility, with CMU-2 in a corner of the property to accommodate the anchor and CMU-1 across the rest for neighborhood commercial services. Taylor noted future access points: one shared approach with Bewley Ridge subdivision off Rimrock Road and a second access on 60th Street West as the subdivision behind the annexation develops.

Neighbors asked about lighting, roadway access and buffering between commercial and residential areas. Susan Walton, representing an adjacent property owner, suggested neighborhood-mix zoning as an alternative and questioned traffic projections and separation standards along 60th Street West. City staff and the developer said required code protections (setbacks, stepbacks for multi-story buildings, special review for certain commercial uses) and planned roadway improvements would mitigate impacts; staff noted a county plan to install a traffic signal at 48th and Central in 2026 and that some work must be paid for by the developer through the subdivision process.

On the annexation vote, two council members recorded opposition while indicating support for the zoning; the council nevertheless approved the annexation (the transcript records opposition by the mayor and another member but reports a final tally in the discussion). The companion zone change motion passed with council adoption of the findings of the 10 review criteria. The council also approved a first-reading ordinance to expand Ward 4 to envelop the newly annexed property. Staff said subsequent subdivision and annexation documents will be returned to the council for review and that phased annexation language fixes were added to the final documents presented at the hearing.