City streamlines annexation, rezoning process

The Whitefish City Council voted unanimously on Monday, April 17 to approve amendments to a regulation that will combine the annexation and zoning processes.

Several towns, including Missoula, utilize zoning upon annexation. It’s a quicker process and it eliminates the potentially awkward time gap between when a property is annexed into the city and when it receives its city zoning.

Annexation is the process of bringing a property into the city limits. Property owners gain access to city services such as water and sewer. Zoning is the city’s regulations that control how properties can or cannot be used in certain areas of the city.

City zoning must be applied to properties annexing into the city. The newly amended ordinance allows the annexation and the new city zoning to go into effect immediately upon adoption of one resolution by the city council, without a planning board hearing.

“It is in accordance with the growth policy due to the fact that when a property annexes into the city and receives its city zoning, the city could ensure it is zoned and developed consistent with our growth policy,” Whitefish City Planner Dave Taylor said of the new procedure. “It helps eliminate lag times between annexation of a property and the application of city zoning.”

With the new regulations, when an applicant submits a petition to annex, it is scheduled for a city council review. A notice is published and adjacent property owners are notified just like before.

At the hearing, staff presents its report and gives a recommendation on the zoning district. It will either be the equivalent of the existing county zoning or the zoning that is most consistent with the city’s growth policy, which are the requirements under Montana state law.

The public is invited to speak at the hearing. The pros and cons of the annexation and rezoning request are considered and then the council votes to accept or reject the annexation and zoning resolution.

If accepted, the annexation and zone change both go into effect immediately.

“We think it’s going to be a better process in general and simpler,” Taylor said. “I’ve always been concerned about that lag time because there’s been times where the planning board hasn’t liked the zoning when someone applies for it after an annexation and so it gets held up and it could be six months in between… where we still have county zoning on a piece of property and a lot can happen in that six months.”

Under the previous procedure, the landowner would submit a petition for annexation, as well as a contract agreement for annexation, city water and city sewer service as well as an application for the zoning map amendment.

If the annexation petition was approved by the council, the public was notified and the zoning map amendment was scheduled for a planning board meeting after the annexation. The planning board would make a recommendation to the city council, a public hearing was held, then the council voted to approve an appropriate zoning district. A second meeting was then required and the zoning went into effect 30 days later.

Staff said the streamlined procedure applies mostly to people who want to annex because they want the city’s services.

“This would just take care of cases where (the zone change) was consistent with our growth policy or with the county zoning,” said Whitefish City Attorney Angela Jacobs. “Say somebody wants to annex but they want a zone that’s completely different than county zoning. Then we would either have to do interim zoning, because we couldn't do it at the same time, or we would have to (hold off on the annexation).”

If the applicant requests a zoning district that is not the closest city equivalent or one that is not consistent with the growth policy, the city could apply the closest equivalent zoning and the applicant would have to re-apply and make their case at future hearings, first with the planning board and then with the city council.

Taylor said in some cases they would have to seek a growth policy amendment.

In March, the planning board recommended the amendments unanimously. The city council also voted unanimously, 6-0, to approve the change to zoning upon annexation.