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Commission sets hearing on Krystal Springs Estates after members raise traffic and special district questions
Summary
The county set a Jan. 27 public hearing on Krystal Springs Estates. Commissioners and the planning director flagged traffic at the Jones Lane–Highway 1 intersection and discussed a developer offer to allow a Special Improvement District to fund future improvements.
Anaconda Deer Lodge County commissioners voted Jan. 6 to set a public hearing for Krystal Springs Estates on Jan. 27, 2026, after commissioners and staff raised traffic concerns at the Jones Lane intersection with Montana Highway 1.
Commissioner Ed Beaudette said he attended the Planning Board hearing and urged the commission to require the developer address increased traffic and intersection impacts in coordination with the Montana Department of Transportation. "Jones Lane is a true choke point," Beaudette said, noting that Jones Lane and Mount Haggin are the primary routes connecting several West Valley neighborhoods to Highway 1.
Carl Hamming, the county's Planning Director, told commissioners that the developer had offered a waiver of protest to facilitate a future Special Improvement District (SID) for infrastructure improvements, and that waiving a protest can make it easier to form an SID by reducing landowner opposition. "With a Special Improvement District ... if there are improvements being circled for a major infrastructure project ... it can be assessed to just those property owners who are within that district boundary," Hamming said. Hamming also cautioned that drawing an SID boundary is a detailed legal process and that careful consultation would be required.
Public commenter Janice Hagen-Delaney questioned the waiver of protest, saying, "You can buy into something, but you cannot protest? That seems like it's taking away your constitutional rights." Planning staff and commissioners did not adopt a position at the meeting; rather, they set the public hearing and directed further review of traffic impacts and the legal mechanics of an SID.
The motion to set the hearing was made by Commissioner Ed Beaudette, seconded by Commissioner Kevin Hart; the motion carried 4-1 with Commissioner Beaudette recorded later as the dissenting vote on the final Krystal Springs motion (the record shows at least one dissent on related approval). The commission did not take additional action on mitigation or require immediate traffic improvements at the Jan. 6 meeting.
The hearing will give the public a formal opportunity to comment and will allow staff to present any traffic studies or recommended conditions.
