Council to look at Airbnb zoning, Bullhook project

Havre City Council’s agenda for Monday’s meeting includes a petition to rezone an area to allow Airbnbs and approval of restarting work on the Bullhook Storm Drain Project.

Airbnb zoning petition

Kerma Boyum submitted a petition Monday of this week requesting rezoning the area her property is in, on Northern Heights Drive east of Northern Montana Hospital, from Residential Class A-1 to Residential General.

The issue has come up in City Council meetings over the last couple of months. It first arose last year, with some people supporting the change and some opposing changing the zoning for that area.

The petition says Residential Class A-1 allows single-family dwelling, but property owners can apply for conditional permits to allow churches, private or public schools, day care centers, mobile homes and recreational facilities.

The change would be to rezone the district to Residential General, which would allow apartments, condominiums, townhouses or multiple dwellings on a single lot, beauty parlors or professional offices inside residential buildings, rest homes, nursing homes or group homes. The petition says that, in addition to those listed, property owners could also apply for conditional permits to allow clinics or hospitals, drugstores or grocery stores, parking lots, professional and business offices, public and private parks, public libraries, telephone and utility structures, and rooming or boarding houses or tourist homes.

Havre Public Works Director Dave Peterson said Boyum needed to get at least 35 percent approval signatures from adjoining landowners within 150 feet of the property that is looking at changing the zoning.

Boyum collected signatures from 26 of the 57 homeowners in the area proposed for the zoning change, more than 45 percent. 

She wrote in the petition that, due to the hilly location and small lots in the area, most of the conditional uses would not be practical or possible.

“However, the zoning change would allow property owners to use their homes as a bed and breakfast, which are becoming increasingly popular due to Airbnb,” she said.

Peterson said that at the meeting the council will go through the process of reviewing the petition, either sending it to the zoning board or to the city attorney to determine if the change is possible and follows state laws.

He added that with subjects such as this it is important to consider if the change would be considered spot zoning, which is prohibited by the state. 

Spot zoning is when one piece of a zoning area is being changed for a specific reason, but not the rest of the zoning area, he said.

At the meeting, the council will discuss the petition and make recommendations on where to send it for the next step, he said. He added that if they send it to the city attorney first, her deicision would determine if the petition will move to the next step with the Zoning Board.

If the Zoning Board approves the petition, it will be returned to the council for a vote.

Bullhook project

The Bullhook project will move toward completing a project in the works for more than five years, to rehabilitate the drainage system that runs under the streets and even buildings of Havre.

The council will vote on approving awarding Havre’s Lakeside Excavations Inc. the contract to complete the Bullhook Storm Drain Project.

Bullhook starts at Saddle Butte southwest of Havre and runs into the city near Havre High School on the south edge of Havre and meanders through the city. A few spots are still open, but most of the drainage has been covered by streets and buildings and dirt work over the last century.

The city grew up above and around the channel over the years, with some buildings erected right over the drainage. Concrete pipes and metal culverts in the ground convey storm drainage through and under the city into the Milk River.

In October 2013, sections of street and sidewalk over the drainage began collapsing.

One of the first, a 10-foot-by 4-foot section of the street near Taco Treat on the 500 Block of Third Street, collapsed Oct. 4, 2013, leaving a large hole in the street which was blocked off by sawhorses.

After investigating, researching, planning and seeking fund for nearly three years, the city contracted with Kincaid Civil Construction out of Mesa, Arizona, a $1,972,503 contract in August 2016. The $1,972,503 contract is paid through a $500,000 grant from the Treasure State Endowment Program, a loan and city funds.

When Kinkaid did not meet its deadline in December 2016, it sought an extension. The city went into negotiations with the company about the contract.

The city entered arbitration with Kincaid in the spring of 2018 with the company that Havre awarded the contract to. In a council meeting in October, the council announced the arbitration came back in favor of the city, including the city receiving money for attorney fees, with the issue falling under Kincaid’s bonding company, Guaranteed Company of North America.

The remaining part of the project will not require additional funds, the council said. 

The Notice of Award document to be voted on Monday says a proposal from Lakeside Excavation was received May 14 for a total amount of $1,155,104.35. The initial work will focus on Second Street, Second Street Alley, Seventh Street, Third Street, and Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street for $824,000.