City planning board recommends approval of Little Shell’s annexation request for housing
The Great Falls planning board voted unanimously during their May 26 meeting to recommend approval of annexation and zoning for the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana’s proposed Good Medicine housing development.
The requested annexation and zoning next goes to the City Commission for final consideration.
The Little Shell is requesting annexation of 18.4 acres and a planned unit development zoning classification, with an underlying R-9 zoning, to develop two apartment buildings, each with 25 units, and a mix of 65 single-family homes and duplexes, for a total of 115 residential units.
The Little Shell development is proposed in phases.
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All the housing units would be rentals, with priority given to Little Shell members.
A key issue in the discussion is the Little Shell’s application for a fee-to-trust transfer of about 136 acres for their proposed entertainment complex that would include: a casino, 200-room hotel, indoor waterpark, bowling alley and arcade, 8,200-seat arena, restaurants and bars, associated parking and utilities.
That property is just north of the proposed Good Medicine development and is a separate project.
Little Shell officials told The Electric in February that they do not intend to transfer the Good Medicine property into trust land and reiterated the same during the April 28 planning board meeting.
During their April 28 meeting, Rachel Taylor, deputy city attorney, said whether the Little Shell would later request to turn the Good Medicine into trust land was from the city’s perspective, “pure speculation” and, from a legal perspective, not up for consideration in the Good Medicine annexation request.
Little Shell seeking to transfer some land to federal trust for proposed event center
The planning board attempted to include a commitment from the Tribe that it would not put the land into trust, but city staff advised that was not legal, as they had already explored including such a requirement in the annexation agreement.
Planning board members told city staff that for the May 26 meeting, they wanted additional information on the Tribe’s rental applications, rental approval process, property maintenance plans and the federal rules regulating their ability to restrict rentals to Little Shell members.
In a May 11 memo provided to the board in preparation for the meeting, staff wrote that the land considered for the Good Medicine housing development is owned by the Little Shell but is fee simple land, which is the same as any other piece of property owned by a citizen or business in the city and is subject to city jurisdiction.
“Regarding the present application before the board/commission, a requirement that the city condition annexation on the Tribe’s agreement to waive or limit its ability to request trust acquisition under federal law is unlikely to be enforceable. The established federal process cannot be limited or waived through a local land use agreement. Any such condition would likely be preempted and unenforceable and therefore would not prevent the fee-to-trust status change,” city planning and legal staff wrote in their May 11 memo.
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If annexation is approved, the property would be subject to the same property maintenance regulations as any other housing development within the city limits.
As for tenant selection, “because the basis of decision criteria do not include an analysis of the funding source for the development or an evaluation of the tenant selection process, a review of any rental application or similar document is not required and is outside the scope of consideration by this board/commission for a recommendation. The city’s review is limited to land use and development criteria,” staff wrote in their memo.
During the May 26 meeting, Gerald Gray, Little Shell chairman, said that the tribal council chose annexation and “want this development to operate within the city.”
Sidney Curnow, Little Shell housing director, said they conducted a needs assessment earlier this year with the Montana Healthcare Foundation.
The assessment collected responses from 254 Little Shell households, which showed the need for additional housing.
He said the average household among Little Shell members was 3.11 people and that a third of respondents said multiple families were living under the same roof due to limited housing availability.
Several area residents restated their opposition to the project, claiming it’s discriminatory for prioritizing tribal members and that it would devalue neighboring properties.
Terra Branson-Thomas, a representative for the Tribe on the project, said in April that they’re using Native American Housing and Self Determination Act funding, which prioritizes Little Shell members, then other American Indians, then non-Indians who qualify by income criteria.
That’s similar to federal funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and tax credit programs that restrict who can rent or purchase certain residential units, typically based on income levels.
Joe McMillen, board chair, said during the May 26 meeting that they heard pros and cons.
The pros, he said, included the need for housing, construction jobs and utilization of an unused property.
The cons, he said, were traffic concerns and limited qualified renters.
“I’m very split on this decision,” McMillen said, but that it deserved a chance to move to the commission for consideration.
Wayne Klind, planning board member, said it’s a good project and the community needs more housing.
He said the applicant had designed the development to be compatible with neighboring properties and it was infill development, a goal supported by the city’s growth policy.
Klind said he thought the Little Shell had met the requirements for annexation and zoning.
Lonnie Hill, deputy city planning director, said the project is tentatively scheduled to go before the City Commission for a first reading on June 6 and a public hearing on July 21.
The Good Medicine development proposal would annex 18.4 acres into the city and connect existing property within the city limits to the east and west. A parcel of land to the south remains in the county and property to the north is also outside the city limits.
The property was considered for Valley View Addition phases 7-8, with a preliminary plat approved in 1978 for 11.5 acres to include 27 single-family lots and 11 two-family lots, according to city staff. That proposal included using the existing street and utility networks.
Staff said they believe those phases weren’t completed due to economic factors.
The proposed development includes open space and recreational amenities and private internal roads that would be maintained by the Tribe but connect to the existing road network at Valley View Drive, 10th Avenue Northwest and Stuckey Road.
The project is proposed in four phases:
- Phase 1: 10.37 acres for 28 single-family and four duplexes
- Phase 2: 3 acres for two multifamily apartment buildings with 25 units apiece
- Phase 3: 3.4 acres for 10 single-family homes and five duplexes, for a total of 20 units
- Phase 4: 1.2 acres for 7 single-family homes and construction of California Avenue at the northern boundary of the development
- community area: 0.91 acres for a pavilion with a variety of uses, including administration, community, cultural, worship, and parking
Story continues below.
The Tribe will be required to extend all utilities, roadway and frontage improvements on the adjacent city right-of-way on Valley View and 15th to include curb and gutter.
City staff said the city has the capacity to provide utilities, and the development would be served by the Great Falls Police Department and Great Falls Fire Rescue.
The proposed development didn’t generate enough traffic to meet the city code threshold for a traffic impact study, but staff conducted a traffic analysis and found that at full buildout, the development would generate an additional 950 weekday trips and 95 evening peak-hour trips.
Staff found that the existing street network can accommodate the projected increase in traffic.
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Water mains in Valley View were installed in the 1960s and are about halfway through their useful life, according to city staff.
The Montana Egg facility, which is now under new ownership and operations, installed a 12-inch water main loop in 2011.
Staff said they contacted Great Falls Public Schools about the development and received no comment.
Superintendent Heather Hoyer told The Electric in April that district officials discussed the development by phone with Brock Cherry, city planning director, and that the projected number of students provided by Cherry will fit into the functional capacity of the school in that area.
Jana Cooper of TD&H Engineering is the applicant’s representative on the project and said it would provide “diverse, attainable housing options.”
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Cooper said the development was intentionally designed to be compatible with the existing neighborhood and was logical infill development with infrastructure installation funded by the Little Shell.
City staff said the annexation agreement includes language pertaining to the possibility of the Tribe transferring the housing property to trust land, though the Tribe representatives have said they have no intention of doing so.
Section 18 of the agreement states:
- City Jurisdiction Authority; Change in Status. At the time of execution of this Agreement and annexation of the subject property, the owner represents that the subject property is held in fee simple status and is not held in federal trust for the benefit of the owner or any other party. The rights and approvals granted under this agreement, including but not limited to annexation, zoning, vested rights, and authorization to construct public improvements, are expressly conditioned upon the subject property remaining subject to the civil, regulatory, taxing, and land use jurisdiction of the City of Great Falls.
- 18.1 In the event the subject property, or any portion thereof, is subsequently placed into federal trust status, removed from the jurisdiction of the city, or otherwise rendered no longer subject to the city’s civil regulatory authority, then:
- 18.1.1 Any uncompleted approvals granted under this agreement shall automatically terminate;
- 18.1.2 Any vested rights not yet exercised shall expire;
- 18.1.3 The city shall have no further obligation to provide municipal services except as required by applicable law and this agreement shall terminate accordingly;
- 18.1.4 The city may pursue any remedies available under this agreement for improvements not completed or accepted.
- 18.5 Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit or restrict the owner from exercising any rights available under federal and tribal law. Rather, this section defines the conditions under which the city’s approvals and obligations remain in effect.
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