The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana is proposing to annex 2.10 acres of property into the city and establish M-2 mixed-use transitional zoning.

The property, owned by the Tribe, includes an event center along Stuckey Road, north of the Montana Eggs property.

The property houses an event center that is used for tribal meetings and events and the Tribe is hoping to increase usage of the center so they want to annex for city water and sewer.

The request will be considered by the city planning board on Aug. 25.

The adjacent zoning district is I-1 light industrial making this zoning request something that could be considered a spot zone, which can be illegal in many cases, but staff recommends the zone designation “based on the current use of the property and the city’s past actions to create more flexible mixed use zoning areas along other roadway corridors in the city,” according to the staff report.

Currently, the property is served by a 1-inch water service line and any sanitary sewer produced from the existing event center goes to a drain field on the property to the north.

The Tribe is looking to discontinue the use of the drain field, and extend both water and sewer mains to their northern property line, according to the city staff report.

Both water and sewer would need to be extended approximately 600 feet within the right-of-way of Stuckey Road.

Because Stuckey Road is slated to be reconstructed starting in August 2021, the extensions of the utilities must be completed before the road improvement begins, according to city staff.