2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 76. Land Resources and Use › Chapter 25. Montana Land Use Planning Act › Part 4. Subdivision Regulations › 76-25-402. Exemptions to subdivision review

76-25-402. Exemptions to subdivision review.
(1) The following divisions of land, if made in substantial compliance with zoning regulations adopted pursuant to Title 76, chapter 25, part 3, are not subject to the requirements of this chapter:
(a) subject to subsection (2), the creation of four or fewer new lots or parcels from an original lot or parcel:
(i) by order of a court of record in this state;
(ii) by operation of law; or
(iii) that, in the absence of agreement between the parties to a sale, could be created by court order in this state pursuant to the law of eminent domain, Title 70, chapter 30;
(b) subject to subsection (3), the creation of a lot to provide security for mortgages, liens, or trust indentures for the purpose of construction, improvements to the land being divided, or refinancing, if the land that is divided is not conveyed to any entity other than the financial or lending institution to which the mortgage, lien, or trust indenture was given or to a purchaser upon foreclosure of the mortgage, lien, or trust indenture;
(c) the creation of an interest in oil, gas, minerals, or water that is severed from the surface ownership of real property;
(d) the creation of cemetery lots;
(e) the reservation of a life estate on a portion of a tract of record;
(f) the lease or rental of a portion of a tract of record for farming and agricultural purposes;
(g) the division of property over which the state does not have jurisdiction;
(h) the creation of rights-of-way or utility sites;
(i) the creation of condominiums, townhomes, townhouses, or conversions, as those terms are defined in 70-23-102, when any applicable park dedication requirements as set forth in Title 76, chapter 25, part 3, are complied with;
(j) the lease or rental of contiguous airport-related land owned by a city, a county, the state, or a municipal or regional airport authority;
(k) subject to subsection (4), a division of state-owned land, unless the division creates a second or subsequent residential parcel from a single tract for sale, rent, or lease after July 1, 1974;
(l) the creation of lots by deed, contract, lease, or other conveyance executed prior to July 1, 1974;
(m) the relocation of common boundary lines between or aggregations of adjoining properties that does not result in an increase in the number of lots;
(n) a single gift or sale in each county to each member of the landowner's immediate family; or
(o) subject to subsection (5), the creation of lots by deed, contract, lease, or other conveyance in which the landowner enters into a covenant with the governing body that runs with the land that provides that the divided land must be used exclusively for agricultural purposes.
(2) Before a court of record orders a division of land under subsection (1)(a), the court shall notify the governing body of the pending division and allow the governing body to present written comment on the division.
(3) A transfer of divided land by the owner of the property at the time that the land was divided to any party other than those identified in subsection (1)(b) subjects the division of land to the requirements of this chapter.
(4) Instruments of transfer of land that is acquired for state highways may refer by parcel and project number to state highway plans that have been recorded in compliance with 60-2-209 and are exempted from the surveying and platting requirements of this chapter. If the parcels are not shown on highway plans of record, instruments of transfer of the parcels must be accompanied by and refer to appropriate certificates of survey and plats when presented for recording.
(5) The governing body, in its discretion, may revoke the covenant provided for in subsection (1)(o) without subdivision review if the original lot lines are restored through aggregation of the covenanted land prior to or in conjunction with the revoking of the covenant.
History: En. Sec. 26, Ch. 500, L. 2023.