County Commissioners voted unanimously during a special meeting on Jan. 31 to uphold a decision by the county’s Zoning Board of Adjustment in November to approve four special use applications for townhouses in the Foothills Ranch subdivision off Highway 89 between Great Falls and Belt.

The ZBOA approved the permits to allow the townhomes during their Nov. 18 meeting.

On Dec. 17, the county received an appeal of that decision from Wade Lawrence and 18 other residents in the Foothills subdivision.

They asked the County Commission to reverse the ZBOA decision.

Townhouse permits causing tension for developers, neighbors, county boards

The Foothills residents asked the county to reverse the decision on the basis that it would decrease the values of adjoining properties; that the townhomes change the character of the neighborhood; that the county should change the public meeting process; and that the developers hadn’t told them about the possibility of the townhomes.

“It’s become an emotional issue,” Lawrence said, but that it wasn’t meant to denigrate people in townhomes.

He said their issue was with the four recently approved townhomes and not those that had already been built closer to the road.

Lawrence said that townhomes shouldn’t be allowed in the middle of a single family development.

“It doesn’t fit,” he said.

ZBOA opts not to ask county planning board to revise zoning regulations pertaining to townhomes

Lawrence said they had spoken to real estate agents told them that townhouses nearby could decrease their property values.

Charity Yonker, county planning director, said they had not included any documentation to support those claims.

Kyle Moore, the builder, said the townhomes were approved in 2020 by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and that there was a large drainage ditch in the middle of the two townhome lots, which made them more difficult to use for single-family homes.

Moore said the townhomes in the development are selling for upwards of $360,000 for each unit.

The ZBOA had already approved similar townhouses in the subdivision and several members said during the November 2021 meeting that they couldn’t deny these simply because some neighbors didn’t like them.

The neighbors said that when they built or purchased homes in the subdivision they were promised that they would all be single-family homes in the area.

Staff said that a declaration of protective covenant for townhomes was filed in 2016 for Phase 3, the area where the townhomes are being planned.

John Faulkner, director of the Great Falls International Airport, lives in the Foothills subdivision and has opposed the townhouses in the public zoning and commission meetings.

He said during the Jan. 31 meeting that no one had seen the covenants for Phase 4 of the development, though they were included in the agenda packet for the July 2021 planning board meeting when the board considered the preliminary plat for that phase.

Commissioner Joe Briggs said that covenants often come up in these discussions, but “the reality is it’s a private contract between homeowners. The county isn’t a party and can’t enforce.”

Chris Gibson lives in a single-family home next to one of the new townhome properties.

He said he had a great view of the mountains when he bought his house and the now he’ll have a view of the townhome.

Gibson said when he bought his home, he knew something could be built on the empty lot but thought it would be a single-family home.

“What was a nice area is now going to be diminished,” Gibson said.

Faulkner said that the permit was being used to change allowable uses on the property.

Staff said it was an allowable use with the special use permit under the zoning regulations.

In December, the county ZBOA declined to ask the county planning board to review the zoning regulations pertaining to townhomes.

Nate Hoines, one of the original developers, said that the subdivision development has been ongoing with more than 1,000 acres planned to be developed.

Phases 1 and 2 were only single family, he said, but for Phase 3, the developers met with the homeowners association and modified the covenants to allow townhouses.

“Anyone who spoke against this, to me, is anti-development,” Hoines said.

Hoines cited the recently released housing study from the Great Falls Development Authority that found the community needs more housing.

Commissioner Don Ryan said the townhouses are nice.

Commissioner Jim Larson said he could understand the reasoning for the appeal, but was supportive of upholding the ZBOA decision.

Briggs said, “I see no reason to overturn the ZBOA decision.”

He said the board followed the process correctly though he was concerned by some of the comments from the board members. Briggs said that special use permits should never be construed as automatic or a slam dunk, but that all projects must be considered on their specifics.

“Looking at the specifics, I think the decision was correct,” Briggs said.