Butte Silver Bow Zoning Board of Adjustment Meeting - August 21, 2025
Butte Silver Bow Zoning Board of Adjustment Meeting - August 21, 2025
The Butte Silver Bow Zoning Board of Adjustment met on August 21, 2025, to consider a special use permit for a short-term rental, a variance for a garage setback, and to hold elections for board officers. All applications were approved unanimously.
Special Use Permit 25-12: Short-Term Rental at 810 Weskalina Street
- Applicant: Kilster Holdings LLC and Christine and Michael Young.
- Proposal: To operate a short-term rental in an existing residence at 810 Weskalina Street (also referred to as 810 West Galena by the applicant). The property is in an R3 multifamily residential zone.
- Staff Report: Presented by Aiden (staff). Key findings included that the use is allowed as a special use, minimal impact on neighborhood, and conditions such as compliance with building codes, visible property address, occupancy limits set by building and fire codes, and requirement to obtain a business license.
- Applicant Presentation: Christine Young stated she and her husband purchased the home in 2001, live there part-time, and have had short-term renters without complaints. They requested approval.
- Board Discussion: No board questions or public comments. A board member noted similarity to previously approved short-term rentals and expressed no concerns.
- Outcome: The board voted unanimously to approve the special use permit.
Variance 25-6: Side Yard Setback at 5938 Porter Avenue
- Applicants: Stephen and Sherry Kelly.
- Proposal: To construct a 16x48 foot (768 sq ft) detached garage within 12 feet of the south property line, instead of the required 15 feet side yard setback in the R1S zone.
- Staff Report: Presented by Joella. The report noted the property’s unique hardships: an underground sprinkling system and well on the north side limit placement options, and snow drifting considerations. The three-foot reduction would have minimal impact on neighbors; the garage would be 27 feet from the adjacent lot instead of the required 30 feet.
- Applicant Presentation: Steve Kelly explained the three-foot reduction is needed to fit the garage without conflicting with an existing fence and to avoid the well/sprinkler systems.
- Board Discussion: Board members commented that a three-foot variance is immaterial and raised no issues.
- Outcome: The board voted unanimously to approve the variance.
Board Officer Elections
- Nominations: Mike McEwan was nominated for vice chair. Other nominations (for absent members) were left on the table. Nominations were closed until after the other agenda items.
- Vote: At the end of the meeting, ballots were cast. The board verbally affirmed all nominations. It was noted that a formal vote would be made official in January or February (likely referring to a future meeting).
- Outcome: The board effectively approved the officer slate, with a final formal vote scheduled later.
Key Outcomes
- Special use permit 25-12 (short-term rental at 810 Weskalina Street): Approved unanimously.
- Variance 25-6 (side yard setback at 5938 Porter Avenue): Approved unanimously.
- Board officer elections: Nominations approved by vote; formal confirmation deferred to a future meeting.
- No public comments were received on either agenda item.
- The meeting adjourned after the elections.
Meeting Transcript
We're uh a little early for the uh zoning board of adjustment meeting, but uh we have all our board members who are gonna be here here. Um all the staff that's gonna be here here and all the applicants are here, so let's uh let's kick this thing off. Joello, you want to do a call oh wait that's called over I thought we were gonna never mind a roll call, but um all right. So first thing is uh board elections. What we're going to do is we'll take nominations. Um Becky will go ahead and write those down and then at the end of the meeting um we will uh vote on those and uh then we'll be done. Is that correct, Becky? Okay. Um I'll uh I'll introduce us. I'm Stephen Co. I'm sitting in until we do elections and we'll see see where that shakes out. Um we've got Garrett Craig, Heidi Rosenleaf, Lexi Murphy, and Mike McKinnon, Mike Key on McKeon? McEwan. I knew I knew how to say it. Um we got uh Joella here in at the seat, we've got Aiden sitting over there and Becky over there. So without further ado, um do we want to uh open up for nominations? So we just yell them out or what are we doing, Becky? Okay. We'll be informal, just uh raise your hand and we'll take nominations. How's that? Thank you, I think. Okay. Um for vice chair, uh I'll return the favor, Mike if you're up for it. Okay. Any other nominations? I know that we can can we nominate people who aren't here. Um I think they're they're fair and on the table if somebody wants to nominate either Justin or Shanna. So movement, we'll uh close nominations and we'll take care of the the final part of that business after real business. All right, moving on to uh item number three on the agenda, appeals and reports. First, uh on the docket is special use 2512. This is an application for locate a short-term rental rental in an existing residence at 810 Weskalina. Do we have a staff report, Aiden? Yes, we do. All right, go for it. All right. Um so the property in question is located at 810 Weskalina Street, special use 25-12. Um the applicant is Kilster Holdings LLC and Christine and Michael Young. The proposal is to locate a short-term rental in an existing residence located at 810 Muscalina Street. Findings. So any lodging provided by a homeowner owner for compensation is recognized as a special use allowed in any residential zoning district, provided that the prescribed use is in harmony with other permitted uses in the zone and not found con to be contrary to public interest. The special use process provides for review of public input a measure of the potential impact of the proposed use on the surrounding neighborhood and compatibility of the proposed use with the adjoining neighborhood. Um to present to the board we have outlined the 20 questions um of the special use application. Here's an aerial view of where the property is located as well as our zoning map. You can see it's located in our R3 zone. Here is an outside look at the property. Um kind of a before and after view. You can see that the property has gone through fairly significant outdoor improvements. The location and character of the property and surrounding buildings. The properties located in an R3 multifamily residential zone. The zoning area consists primarily of residential uses with a few commercial uses in close proximity, including the Zip Trip Gas Station, the Hummingbird Cafe, and the Montana Tech campus.
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