Missoula commissioners approve family transfer allowing Cobos parcel at 1015 Humboldt Road to be split

Missoula County planners recommended and the board approved a family‑transfer exemption that allows owner Mark Cobos to divide a 2.45‑acre parcel at 1015 Humboldt Road and transfer a newly created tract to his daughter, Emily Alsbury.

Kevin Dantic, a planner with the Missoula County Department of Planning, Development, Sustainability, presented the staff report and recommended approval of the exemption request. "And staff will be recommending approval of the family transfer exemption," Dantic said during his presentation.

The staff report described the parcel as zoned Rural Residential Small Agriculture (RS1), with a maximum residential density of one dwelling unit per acre. The parcel currently holds a single‑family residence and related accessory structures. The applicant proposed dividing the property into two lots so the recipient could construct a primary residence on the gifted tract; staff said the parent parcel would remain occupied by the claimant.

Referral responses noted several technical constraints: the building department reported no open violations but reminded applicants that required permits must be obtained if a building permit is later applied for; environmental health said sanitation review would be required for the new parcel; Missoula County floodplain administrator Matt Heimel noted neighboring subdivisions have included mitigation for high groundwater and localized flooding; and Missoula Water Quality District representative Travis Ross advised against basements in this location, citing a 2016 groundwater measurement of 77 inches below the surface.

Dantic told the board staff identified three issues under the county’s subdivision regulations (Chapter 8) used to screen exemption requests for attempts to evade subdivision review. Staff noted that the recipient owns other residential property but intends to retain the gifted parcel and build a primary residence there, that a scoping meeting for a prior minor subdivision on the parent parcel took place on 04/12/2024, and that if the proposal were processed as a subdivision, conditions would likely be required to mitigate high groundwater impacts. Despite those concerns, staff recommended approval.

A commissioner moved to approve the request, reading the motion into the record, and another commissioner seconded. The board called for public comment, received none, and the motion carried on a voice vote recorded in the transcript as two "Aye" responses. The chair then closed the item and the meeting was adjourned.

The record does not identify individual commissioner votes by name in the transcript. No conditions beyond those described in the staff report were entered on the record at the meeting. If follow‑up or permit review occurs later, applicants will be required to satisfy any applicable sanitation, floodplain, and building permit requirements.