Granite Peak Estates Subdivision Near Frenchtown

Missoula County commissioners at their Oct. 17, 2022, public meeting approved the Granite Peak Estates Subdivision.

The Granite Peak Estates subdivision is a proposed 13-acre, 8-lot residential major subdivision in Missoula County, located off Mullan Road near the Frenchtown Irrigation Canal and Montana Rail Link Railroad. The parent parcel fronts Marcure Lane and Mullan Road, though the developer proposed an internal road to provide access to and from Mullan Road.

The applicant of this development requested two variances from the Missoula County Subdivision Regulations in Sections 3.4.6.2 and 3.5.8.

• The first request was to waive the requirement to connect to the road of lowest classification (aka, the least busy road) when the property is near more than one road (in other words, having the internal road to the subdivision connect to Mullan instead of Marcure Lane).
  1. The developer made this request because it is not possible, due to the location of the Frenchtown Irrigation Ditch lateral, to provide access to the proposed subdivision via Marcure Lane.
• The second request was to waive the requirement for more than one access route to the subdivision.
  1. The developer’s reasoning for this variance is they felt an additional access route to the subdivision would more greatly impact traffic entering and exiting Mullan Road than if there was only one access route.

The Missoula Consolidated Planning Board held a public hearing on this proposal on Tuesday, Oct. 4, via Teams. They approved the two variances and the subdivision as a whole.

The Board of County Commissioners held a public hearing on this proposal on Thursday, Oct. 27, in hybrid fashion. They approved the two variances and the subdivision as a whole.

If anyone attending the meetings needs special assistance, please provide advance notice by calling 406-258-4657.