City of Belgrade Subdivision Regulations

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SECTION 2: GENERAL PROCEDURES

  1. Construction Timing
  2. Transfers of Title
  3. Permission to Enter
  4. Appeals
  1. Construction Timing. The subdivider shall not proceed with any construction work on the proposed subdivision including grading and excavating relating to improvements, until the Council has given preliminary plat approval and only if the construction is in accordance with the conditions of preliminary plat approval.

  2. Transfers of Title. After a preliminary subdivision plat has been approved or conditionally approved, the subdivider may enter into contracts to sell lots in the proposed subdivision if all of the following conditions are met:

    1. Under the terms of the contracts, the purchasers of lots in the proposed subdivision shall make any payments to an escrow agent which must be a bank or savings and loan association chartered to do business in the state of Montana.

    2. Under the terms of the contracts and the escrow agreement, the payments made by lot purchasers in the proposed subdivision may not be distributed by the escrow agent to the subdivider until the final plat of the subdivision is filed with the Clerk and Recorder.

    3. The contracts and the escrow agreement provide that if the final plat of the proposed subdivision is not filed with the Clerk and Recorder within two years of the preliminary plat approval, the escrow agent shall immediately refund to each purchaser any payment made under the contract.

    4. The Treasurer has certified that no real property taxes assessed and levied on the land to be divided are delinquent.

    5. The contracts shall contain the following language conspicuously set out therein: "The real property which is the subject hereof has not been finally platted, and until a final plat identifying the property has been filed with the Clerk and Recorder, title to the property cannot be transferred in any manner."

    6. Instruments Which Transfer Title: Under 76-3-302, MCA, the Clerk and Recorder shall not record any instrument which purports to transfer title to or possession of a parcel or tract of land which is required to be surveyed by the Act unless the required certificate of survey or subdivision plat has been reviewed, approved and filed with the Clerk and Recorder and the instrument or transfer describes the parcel or tract by reference to the filed certificate or plat.

  3. Permission to Enter. The Council or its designated agents may conduct such investigations, examinations and site evaluations as they deem necessary to verify information supplied. The submission of material or a plat for review shall constitute a grant of permission to enter the subject property.

  4. Appeals. A party who is aggrieved by a decision of the Council to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove a proposed preliminary plat or final subdivision plat may, within 30 days after the decision, appeal to the District Court. The petition must specify the grounds upon which the appeal is made.

    1. The following parties may appeal under the provisions of this Section:

      1. The subdivider.

      2. A landowner with a property boundary contiguous to the proposed subdivision or a private landowner within the county where the subdivision is proposed if that landowner can show a likelihood of material injury to the landowner’s property or its value.

      3. The County Commissioners

      4. (1) A first-class municipality, if a subdivision is proposed within three miles of its limits.
        (2) A second-class municipality, if a subdivision is proposed within two miles of its limits.
        (3) A third-class municipality, if a subdivision is proposed within one mile of its limits.


    For the purposes of this Section, “aggrieved” means a person who can demonstrate a specific personal and legal interest, as distinguished from a general interest, who has been or is likely to be specifically and injuriously affected by the decision.