Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The Butte-Silver Bow Planning Board met on October 29, 2026 (2026-10-29) with a quorum of all nine members present. The board approved previous meeting minutes and the Liebengooth minor subdivision preliminary plat, then held a public hearing on the proposed replacement of Title 17, the county zoning ordinance, and voted not to refer the draft to the Council of Commissioners until further revisions are made.
Oh. Thank you for joining us tonight, ladies and gentlemen. We're just gonna wait one more minute for our last board member. All right, we'll get started. All right, I'll call this meeting to order on October twenty ninth for the planning board. First, we'll do a roll call of members. Stephen Coe, Margot Enns, Mark Garf, Julie Jackshaw, Josh O'Neill, Mike McLeod, Bart Riley, I'm Matt Steitzer, and Macy Sulser. We've established a quorum. All right, we'll do approval of minutes next from August twenty-seventh and September twenty-fourth. Does anyone have any corrections to the minutes? If there are no corrections, we can take a motion to approve. Move by Mr. Garf, second by Mr. Co. All in favors of improving the minutes from August 27th and September 24th. Say aye. Aye. All opposed. Motion passes. The first item on our agenda tonight is a minor subdivision, the preliminary plat of the Liebengooth minor subdivision. An application by Scott and Susan Liebengooth, owner, and Everly and Associates representative to create one new tract from an existing tract of land for rural and rural residential development. Tonight we're hearing a proposal and application by Scott and Susan Lieben Gooth owners and Robert Everley of Everlean Associates as representative for a preliminary plat for a two-lot minor subdivision, creating two lots, one measuring uh forty-four point six five acres and another nine point nine seven acres with an existing home and sanitation facility. In the vicinity, the north and west are the four bar 7 minor subdivision, Flint Creek Estates, and Vernon Heights number two minor or major subdivision. And then to the west and south is I 90 and other low density rural residential, and to the east, grazing land and low density residential. Here's an aerial photograph of the parcel in question, just to sort of provide you with a little more orientation to the south and east is the neighborhood of Ramsey, and you can see the interstate exits there just to kind of give you some orientation. The parcel is currently not zoned. You can see the delineation of the proposed plat. The existing home would be located on lot B2, which is located to the south and east of the remainder or the majority of the lot, which is 44.65 acres, which is comprised of tract B1. Here are some vicinity photographs on a beautiful blue sky day here in Montana. The approach to both parcels from the MDT right of way at North Ramsey Road. Another more distant and pulled back photograph of that same approach and sort of the general nature of the property itself. And then this is the same property that you can see as you are looking west from North Ramsey Road. So as required by Montana State statute, we are evaluating based upon the primal criteria within the Butte Silverbow subdivision regulations. The first of which is the potential effects on agricultural and actual agricultural waterways or water users. The surrounding land use in this area is predominantly low density residential housing with interspersed with some grazing land that is used for agricultural production. The grazing land to the east is fenced, and the proposed subdivisions should not impact any livestock movement as is as fences are in place. A unique feature of this property is that the property includes a natural spring, which bears a weir and an irrigation channel with lateral ditches that serve both the Liebanguth property but also the property adjacent and to the southeast. The water rights, there are two for this property that are co-owned by the applicant and the adjacent property owner. As evaluated, we see no compromise to the efficacy of the water system or the water rights. An easement is provided as part of this subdivision, and this easement has been ordered from District Court cause DV 2320, which provides access to the water facility and ensures access for the maintenance of both the reservoir and the ditch as it relates to the Liebanguth property and the adjacent property owners' use of their water right. On the plat, the easement is depicted as you can see on the snapshot here of the red line, which provides the preferred access, given the landscape and constraints of the property to access both the spring and the pond reservoir where those waters lie. Effects on local services. The Butte Silverbow subdivision regulations require new lots to connect to public road water sanitary sewer infrastructure when feasible. However, these properties are outside of the 300 foot connection requirement that is required by ordinance. A little panic there. So the lots are proposed to be served by individual well and septic systems.