Commission opens review of AG's family‑transfer affidavit, defers changes to June 3

Nicole Brown, Broadwater County community development director, alerted the commission to Attorney General revisions that shrink the family‑transfer affidavit from 15 items to six and add a reference to Montana Code Annotated evasion criteria. She said the county itself is required to use the updated affidavit but may consider amendments to its local exemption application.

Brown said the change "came a week after" the commission adopted the subdivision exemption application and asked whether the commission wanted staff to pursue amendments or leave the county form as is. "This is coming from the attorney general's office," Brown said, adding the county has no role in drafting the state affidavit but must follow it.

Commissioners debated the balance between property‑rights concerns and the county's ability to collect information to deter potential evasion of subdivision review. One commissioner urged that the exemption is a privilege that warrants reasonable information requests to create a paper trail for due diligence; another emphasized limitations on enforcement and warned against overly invasive questions.

Several commissioners suggested researching other counties' approaches and legal precedent. Brown agreed to rework proposed language (removing a problematic reference to listing every aquifer) and consult the county attorney; the commission scheduled the issue for further discussion and potential decision on June 3. No regulatory change was adopted at the meeting.

The exchange included technical questions about the environmental assessment supplements to the subdivision regulations; Brown said she will present refined language and recommended thresholds (for example, a defined radius such as a half‑mile) and seek legal review before returning to the commission.