City of Belgrade Subdivision Regulations

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SECTION 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS

  1. Title
  2. Authority
  3. Jurisdiction
  4. Purpose
  5. Severability Clause
  6. Conditions
  7. Definitions
  1. Title. These Regulations shall be known as “Belgrade City Subdivision Regulations.”

  2. Authority. Authorization for adopting these Regulations is the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act (Title 76, Chapter 3, MCA).

  3. Jurisdiction. These Regulations govern the division of land within the Belgrade City Limits.

  4. Purpose. The purpose of these Regulations is to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare by regulating the subdivision of land; prevent the overcrowding of land; lessen congestion in the streets and highways; provide adequate light, air, water supply, sewage disposal, parks and recreation areas, ingress and egress, and other public improvements; to require development in harmony with the natural environment; to protect the rights of property owners; and to require uniform monumentation of land subdivisions and transferring interests in real property by reference to a plat or certificate of survey (76-3-102, MCA).

    Further, to support the purposes of 76-3-102, MCA, these Regulations are intended to promote and to provide for the:

    1. Orderly development of the City of Belgrade.
    2. Coordination of roads within subdivided land with other roads, both existing and planned.
    3. Dedication of land for roadways and for public utility easements.
    4. Improvement of roads.
    5. Adequate open spaces for travel, light, air and recreation.
    6. Adequate transportation, water, drainage, and sanitary facilities.
    7. Avoidance or minimization of congestion.
    8. Avoidance of unnecessary environmental degradation.
    9. Encouragement of subdivision development in harmony with the natural environment.
    10. Avoidance of danger or injury by reason of natural hazard or the lack of water, drainage, access, transportation or other public services.
    11. Avoidance of excessive expenditure of public funds for the supply of public services.
    12. Manner and form of making and filing of plats for subdivided lands.
    13. Administration of these Regulations, by defining the powers and duties of approving authorities, including procedures for the review and approval of all subdivision plats.

  5. Severability Clause. Where any word, phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, or section, or other part of these Regulations is held invalid by court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall affect only that part held invalid. Insofar as these Regulations are more restrictive than any other local law, these Regulations shall be controlling, and if any other law is more restrictive, it shall take precedence over these Regulations.

  6. Conditions. Regulation of the subdivision of land and the attachment of reasonable conditions to land subdivision is an exercise of valid police power delegated by the state of Montana to the City of Belgrade. Subdividers have the duty of complying with reasonable conditions for design, dedication, improvement, and restrictive use of the land so as to conform to the physical and economic development of the City of Belgrade and to the safety and general welfare of the future subdivision lot owners and of the community at large.

  7. General Terms. Terms used throughout this Regulation are defined as follows:

    1. Montana Subdivision and Platting Act: Act
    2. Gallatin County Clerk and Recorder: Clerk and Recorder
    3. Belgrade City Council: Council
    4. City of Belgrade: City
    5. City of Belgrade Attorney: City Attorney
    6. Gallatin County District Court. District Court
    7. Gallatin County City-County
      Environmental Health Department: Health Department
    8. Montana Department of
      Environmental Quality: MDEQ
    9. Natural Resources Conservation Services: NRCS
    10. Belgrade City-County planning board
      : as established under Title 76, Chapter 1, MCA: Planning Board
    11. Belgrade City-County Planning Office: Planning Department
    12. Belgrade City Subdivision Regulations: Regulations
    13. City of Belgrade Director of Public Works: Director of Public Works
    14. City of Belgrade Engineer City Engineer
    15. Gallatin County Treasurer: Treasurer
    16. United States Geological Survey: USGS
    17. Gallatin County Weed Control Department: Weed Department

  8. Definitions. Whenever the following words or phrases appear in this text, they shall have the meaning assigned to them by this Section. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense shall include the future; the singular shall include the plural, and the plural the singular; the word "shall" is always mandatory, and the word "may," indicates use of discretion in making decisions.

    1. Aliquot Part. An equal division of a government section as described by the 'Manual for the Survey of The Public Lands of the United States.'
    2. Agricultural Water User Facility. Any part of an irrigation system used to produce an agricultural product on property used for agricultural purposes as defined in 15-7-202, MCA.
    3. Block. A piece or tract of land entirely surrounded by public highways roads, waterways, railway, right-of-way, or parks, etc., or a combination thereof. A group of lots, tracts or parcels within well defined and fixed boundaries.
    4. Central Sewage System. A public sewage system as defined in 76-4-101 MCA and ARM 16.16.101.
    5. Central Water System. A public water supply system as defined in 76-4-101 MCA and ARM 16.16.101.
    6. Certificate of Survey. A drawing of a field survey prepared by a registered land surveyor for the purpose of disclosing facts pertaining to boundary location.
    7. Comprehensive Plan. A master plan as defined in Section 76-1-601, MCA.
    8. Condominium. A form of individual ownership with unrestricted right of disposal of one or more units in a multiple unit project with the land and all other parts of the project held in common ownership or use with owners of the other units.
    9. Contiguous Tract. For the purpose of these Regulations, a parcel of land next to, abutting, adjacent to, adjoining or touching another individual parcel of land, including tracts which are separated by public right-of-way.
    10. Covenant. An agreement, or restriction, in writing, of two or more parties by which any of the parties pledges to the others that something is done or shall be done.
    11. Date of Submission. The date at which the plat and all required supplementary information is received and certified as complete by the Planning Department.
    12. Dedication. The deliberate appropriation of land by an owner for any general and public use, reserving no rights which are incompatible with the full exercise and enjoyment of the public use to which the property has been devoted.
    13. Division of Land. The segregation of one or more parcels of land from a larger tract held in single or undivided ownership by transferring, or contracting to transfer, title to or possession of a portion of the tract or properly filing a certificate of survey or subdivision plat establishing the identity of the segregated parcels pursuant to these subdivision Regulations and the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act. Provided that where required by these Regulations and the Act the land upon which an improvement is situated has been subdivided in compliance with the Regulations and the Act, the sale, rent, lease, or other conveyance of one or more parts of a building, structure, or other improvement situated on one or more parcels of land is not a division of land and is not subject to the terms of these Regulations and the Act.
    14. Dwelling Unit. Any building or portion thereof providing complete, independent and permanent living facilities for one family.
    15. Easement. A grant by a property owner to specific persons or to the public a right to use land for a specific purpose or purposes, in which said property owner agrees not to build, create or construct any obstruction, building, engineering works or other structures over, under, or that would interfere with said use.
    16. Engineer (Registered Professional Engineer). A person licensed in conformance with the Montana Professional Engineers Registration Act (sections 37-67-101 through 37-67-332, MCA) to practice engineering in the state of Montana (engineer).
    17. Governing Body. Governing Body means the Belgrade City Council.
    18. Health Authorities. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality, local health officer, local sanitarian, or other authorized representative.
    19. Irregularly Shaped Tract of Land. Means a parcel of land other than a aliquot part of the United States Government survey section or a United States Government lot, the boundaries or areas of which cannot be determined without a survey or trigonometric calculation.
    20. Limited Access. A way or means of allowing physical entrance to land at controlled locations or points. A “no-access” strip or line may be placed on a plat as a means of limiting access.
    21. Limited Access Roadway. A road especially designed for through traffic, over which abutting land owners have no right to direct access.
    22. Lot. A parcel, plot or other land area created by subdivision for sale, lease, or rent.
    23. Lot Measurements:
      1. Lot Depth. The average distance from the front lot line to the rear lot line.
      2. Lot Width. The average distance between side lot lines.
      3. Lot Frontage. The width of the front lot line.
      4. Lot Area. The area of a lot determined exclusive of highway, alley, road, or other right-of-way.
    24. Lot Types:
      1. Corner Lot. A lot located at the intersection of two roads.
      2. Interior Lot. A lot with frontage on only one road.
      3. Double Frontage Lot. A lot with both front and rear lot lines abuting a road.
    25. Minor Subdivision. A subdivision containing five or fewer parcels where proper access to all lots is provided and where no land in the subdivision will be dedicated to public use for parks or playgrounds.
    26. Mobile Home. Any dwelling unit over thirty-two feet (32’) long and eight feet (8’) wide which is either wholly or substantially manufactured at an off-site location, without permanent foundation, and is constructed to be towed on its own chassis. This includes a portable dwelling composed of a single unit or one or more components that can be retracted for towing purposes and subsequently expanded for additional capacity or two or more units separately towable but designed to be joined into one integral unit.
    27. Mobile Home Lot. A designated portion of a mobile home park designed for the accommodation of one mobile home and its accessory buildings or structures for the exclusive use of the occupants.
    28. Mobile Home Park. A tract of land providing two or more mobile home lots for lease or rent to the general public.
    29. Mobile Home Stand. That area of a mobile home lot which has been prepared for the placement of a mobile home.
    30. Monument (Permanent Monument). Any structure of masonry, metal or other permanent material placed in the ground which is exclusively identifiable as a monument to a survey point, expressly placed for surveying reference (ARM 8.94.3001).
    31. Open Space. A land or water area devoid of buildings and other physical structures except where accessory to the provision of recreation.
    32. Ordinary High Water Mark. The line that water impresses on land by covering it for sufficient periods to cause physical characteristics that distinguish the area below the line from the area above it. Characteristics of the area below the line include, when appropriate, but are not limited to deprivation of the soil of substantially all terrestrial vegetation and destruction of its agricultural vegetative value. A floodplain adjacent to surface waters is not considered to lie within the surface waters’ high-water marks (23-2-301 MCA).
    33. Physical Access. Either a public road, maintained by Gallatin County; or a road built to the standards of tables 1 and 2 of these Regulations.
    34. Planned Unit Development (PUD). A land development project consisting of residential clusters, industrial parks, shopping centers, office buildings, parks, or any combination thereof which comprises a planned mixture of land uses built in a pre-arranged relationship to each other and having open space and community facilities in a common ownership or use.
    35. Plat. A graphic representation of a subdivision showing the division of land into lots, parcels, blocks, roads, and alleys, and other divisions and dedications.
    36. Property Owner. Any person, firm, corporation or other entity shown as being the legal owner of a tract, parcel or lot in the records of the County Clerk and Recorder.
    37. Public Improvement. Any structure or facility constructed to serve the residents of a subdivision or the general public such as parks, roads, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, sewage disposal and drainage.
    38. Public Sewage System. A system for collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of sewage designed to serve either 10 or more living units for at least 60 days out of the calendar year, or 25 or more persons at least 60 days out of the calendar year (76-4-101 MCA and ARM 16.16.101).
    39. Public Water Supply System. A system for the provision of water for human consumption from any community well, water hauler for cisterns, water bottling plant, water dispenser or other water that is designed to serve 10 or more living units for at least 60 days out of the calendar year, or 25 or more persons at least 60 days out of the calendar year (76-4-101 MCA and ARM 16.16.101).
    40. Recreational Vehicle Park. A place used for public camping where persons can rent space to park individual camping trailers, pickup campers, motor homes, travel trailers or automobiles for transient dwelling purposes.
    41. Right-of-Way. A strip of land dedicated or acquired for use as a public way.
    42. Roadway. That portion of the road right-of-way which is improved or is proposed to be improved to carry traffic and provide for the on-road storage of automobiles; where curb is provided, the roadway is measured from face-of-curb to face-of-curb.
    43. Road Types. For the purposes of these Regulations, road types are defined as follows: (terms "street" and "road" may be used interchangeably).
      1. Alley. A road used primarily for vehicular access to the rear of properties which abut on and are served by public roads.
      2. Arterial. A road having the primary function of moving traffic with emphasis on a high level of mobility for through movement and the secondary function of providing limited access to adjacent land.
      3. Cul-de-sac. A road having only one outlet for vehicular traffic and terminating in a turn-around area.
      4. Dead-End Roads. A road having only one outlet for vehicular traffic.
      5. Frontage Access (Service Road). A local or minor collector road, usually parallel and adjacent to an arterial or major collector road, which provides access to abutting properties and control of traffic access to arterials or collectors.
      6. Half-Road. A portion of the width of a road, usually along the outside perimeter of a subdivision, where the remaining portion of the road must be located on adjacent property.
      7. Loop. A local road which begins and ends on the same road, generally used for access to properties and controls traffic access to arterials or collectors.
      8. Major Collector. A road that carries more than 300 trips per day having the equally important functions of moving traffic and providing access to adjacent land, including the principal and secondary entrance roads of a residential development and roads for circulation within a development.
      9. Minor Collector. A road that carries more than 100 trips per day but less than 300 trips per day having the equally important functions of providing access to adjacent land and moving traffic, including roads for circulation within a development and entrance roads of a residential development.
      10. Minor Roads. A road that carries less than 100 trips per day having the primary function of serving abutting properties, and the secondary function of moving traffic, including direct access to abutting properties and roads for circulation within a development.
    44. Public Road. A dedicated right-of-way or public road easement.
    45. Structure. A combination of materials to form a construction for use, occupancy, or ornamentation whether installed on, or ornamentation whether installed on, or below the surface of land or water.
    46. Subdivider. Any person, firm, or corporation, or other entity who causes land to be subdivided or who proposes a subdivision of land.
    47. Subdivision. A division of land or land so divided, which creates one or more parcels containing less than 160 acres that cannot be described as a one-quarter aliquot part of a United States government section, exclusive of public roadways, in order that the title to or possession of the parcels may be sold, rented, leased, or otherwise conveyed, and shall include any resubdivision; and shall further include any condominium or area, regardless of its size, which provides or will provide multiple space for recreational camping vehicles, or mobile homes. A subdivision shall comprise only those parcels less than 160 acres which have been segregated from the original tract, and the plat thereof shall show all such parcels whether contiguous or not. Provided, however, condominiums constructed on land previously divided in compliance with the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act are exempt from the provision of these Regulations and the Act.
    48. Surveyor (Registered Land Surveyor). A person licensed in conformance with the Montana Professional Engineers, Registration Act (Section 37-67-101 through 37-67-332, MCA) to practice surveying in the state of Montana.
    49. Swale. A drainage channel or shallow depression designed to direct surface water flow.
    50. Tract. Land area proposed to be subdivided.
    51. Tract of Record. A parcel of land, irrespective of ownership, that can be identified by legal description, independent of any other parcel of land, using documents on file in the records of the County Clerk and Recorder's Office.
    52. Watercourse. Any natural stream, river, creek, drainage, waterway, gully, ravine or wash in which water flows either continuously or intermittently and has a definite channel, bed and banks, and includes any area adjacent thereto subject to inundation by reason of overflow. The term watercourse shall not be construed to mean any facility created exclusively for the conveyance of irrigation water.