During their Oct. 6 meeting, City Commissioners will consider annexation of about 40 acres for a proposed four-lot subdivision, including a truck wash facility, near the new Gore Hill water tower.

The annexation got initial approval during the Aug. 25 city planning board meeting when the board also recommended annexation of 2.1 acres along Stuckey Road for the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana. The Tribe owns the property and uses an event center on the land.

City considering annexation for Little Shell Tribe property

Turbo Transportation Group, a company headquartered in Great Falls, is requesting annexation of the undeveloped 40 acres near the Gore Hill water tower into the city and the first phase includes development of Lot 1 as a truck wash facility.

City planning board gives initial OK for truck wash facility; Little Shell event center

The company owns the property and future phases are expected to include development of a truck repair facility and offices for the company on Lot 2; a 180-unit mini-storage facility on Lot 3 and future residential development on Lot 4.

Residential development will require a subsequent subdivision of Lot 4 and that request would also go before the planning board and City Commission.

Several area property owners attended the August planning board meeting or submitted written comment expressing concern about traffic in their residential area of Bel-View Palisade, which is directly to the east.

As part of the annexation request, the adjacent right-of-way of Jaspar Road would also be annexed into the city.

City staff send notice to neighbors within 150 feet of the property notifying them of the proposed action.

Lots 1-3 of the property are proposed for C-3 Highway Commercial zoning, which allows for the truck wash, as well as the planned future development of a truck repair center and the mini-storage facility would be allowed in the zoning district with a conditional use permit.

“Designation of C-3 Highway Commercial district zoning for Lots 1-3 will allow for the use of underdeveloped land near the interstate to capitalize on commercial activities related to interstate travel,” according to the staff report. “This zoning designation will support the economic and physical goals of the city’s Growth Policy, including expanding the city’s existing economic base and supporting the expansion of existing businesses that bolster employment within the city.”

Lot 4 is proposed as R-2 single family medium density zoning. City staff said that’s the appropriate zoning since it’s the same zoning existing on the adjoining parcel to the east and north sides.

The developer is planning residential lots in the future, but Spencer Woith, a representative for the project, said during the August planning board meeting that development of that lot is a ways out and for the time being, no road connections are planned to the exiting Bel-View Palisade neighborhood from the first phase truck wash.

Staff has identified concerns regarding future proposed public street configuration, as well as stormwater quantity and quality control and told the planning board that the future subdivision be “closely reviewed for potential street connectivity and other impacts to the existing Bel-View Palisade neighborhood,” according to the staff report, but is recommending approval of the annexation and zoning. The Neighborhood Council voted in early September to recommend approval of the project.

Under the annexation agreement as proposed, the developer will be required to construct 29th Street Southwest from 38th Avenue Southwest to the proposed Poplar Drive extension, as well as install sidewalk along the west side of 29th Street in that section. Adjoining property owners will be responsible for maintenance of the sidewalk, boulevard landscaping and trees after construction.

The developer will also be required to extend an 8-inch public water main through the right of way from the existing main on 29th Street Southwest to the east boundary of Lot 1, including the addition of fire hydrants. A public sanitary sewer line already runs across the entire 40-acre property, according to the city staff report.

Future improvements will be required as Lots 2-4 develop.

The proposed truck wash facility is expected to service 34 trucks daily and employ two people, according to the developer’s representatives. Doubling that number to account for arriving and leaving, adding an additional 10 percent for delivery trips and variations in usage, the estimate is 80 trips per day.

Little Shell annexation

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 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.