Missoula County opposes HB 483: Generally revise land survey laws, up for hearing at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the House Local Government Committee. This bill introduces a new exemption comparable to the occasional sale, which was eliminated from State Law in the 1990s. Missoula County is concerned with this bill, because exemptions are intended to be used in exceptional circumstances. The ability to easily make a one-time land split with this tool will make it the go-to development tool, so impact reviews to local services and public health and safety will be bypassed consistently.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the courts and Attorney General recognized the occasional sale exemption was being abused, and the Attorney General and legislature recognized the value of the Subdivision and Platting Act, and that it was the primary tool for local governments to review development impacts. The occasional sale exemption led to widespread circumvention of local government review for impacts, which runs counter to the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act’s statement of purpose, which is to “…promote the public health, safety, and general welfare by regulating the subdivision of land…” (MCA §76-3-102(1)).
Counties are still dealing with the impacts to local services and public health and safety from the systematic evasion of the Subdivision and Platting Act through exemptions that took place in prior decades. One such example involved hundreds of acres of land divisions later subject to court sanction for subdivision evasion. Residents were saddled with the cost of upgrading roads to basic safety standards. We should avoid the mistakes of the past rather than setting up the potential to repeat them.
Representative Thane,
ReplyDeleteMissoula County opposes HB 483: Generally revise land survey laws, up for hearing at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the House Local Government Committee. This bill introduces a new exemption comparable to the occasional sale, which was eliminated from State Law in the 1990s. Missoula County is concerned with this bill, because exemptions are intended to be used in exceptional circumstances. The ability to easily make a one-time land split with this tool will make it the go-to development tool, so impact reviews to local services and public health and safety will be bypassed consistently.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the courts and Attorney General recognized the occasional sale exemption was being abused, and the Attorney General and legislature recognized the value of the Subdivision and Platting Act, and that it was the primary tool for local governments to review development impacts. The occasional sale exemption led to widespread circumvention of local government review for impacts, which runs counter to the Montana Subdivision and Platting Act’s statement of purpose, which is to “…promote the public health, safety, and general welfare by regulating the subdivision of land…” (MCA §76-3-102(1)).
Counties are still dealing with the impacts to local services and public health and safety from the systematic evasion of the Subdivision and Platting Act through exemptions that took place in prior decades. One such example involved hundreds of acres of land divisions later subject to court sanction for subdivision evasion. Residents were saddled with the cost of upgrading roads to basic safety standards. We should avoid the mistakes of the past rather than setting up the potential to repeat them.
Please oppose HB 483.