Rule 42.20.156 - AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST LAND USE CHANGE CRITERIA(1) The department will change the classification and valuation of land from class three, as defined in 15-6-133, MCA, or class ten, as defined in 15-6-143, MCA, to class four, as defined in 15-6-134, MCA, when any of the following criteria are met: (a) restrictive covenants, easements, deed restrictions, servitudes, conservation easements, or other legal encumbrances that exist and when enforced effectively prohibit agricultural use of the land;(b) the forest land does not meet the eligibility requirements in 15-44-102, MCA, and subsequently does not meet the requirements of 15-7-202, MCA;(c) the land contains three or more of the following physical site improvements: (i) a city or community sewer system;(ii) a city or community water system;(iii) street curbs and gutters;(iv) a paved or all-weather gravel road that meets county standards;(v) a storm sewer system;(vi) underground or aboveground utilities that may include gas, electricity, telephone, or cable television;(ix) landscaping developed for the aesthetic benefit or security of all the landowners; or(d) the land contains a commercial or industrial structure or is used in direct support of commercial or industrial activities. (i) Examples of a commercial or industrial structure include, but are not limited to: (A) an apartment building;(F) a sugar beet processing plant;(H) a power generation facility;(I) a greenhouse where the product is sold to the public;(K) a cellular communication tower.(ii) Examples of land being used for commercial or industrial activity include, but are not limited to: (B) a lumber company log yard;(C) land used as a buffer for an industrial facility from adjoining land uses;(D) land used to store sugar beets, potatoes, or other cash crops until those crops can be transported to a manufacturing facility; and(E) land that is used to store horticultural crops for sale where the roots of the crop are placed in a container or other material and that container is either placed in the ground or on a platform.(2) Examples of what would not be considered a change in land classification based on this rule are: (a) utility lines that run across the property but are provided for the benefit of a third party and not for access or the benefit of the property owner;(b) easement access roads that are provided for the benefit of a third party and not for access or the benefit of the property owner.(3) The land will be valued at market value under class four instead of its productivity value when any of the criteria in (1) are met.Mont. Admin. r. 42.20.156
NEW, 2002 MAR p. 3062, Eff. 11/1/02; AMD, 2014 MAR p. 2994, Eff. 12/12/14; AMD, 2015 MAR p. 2350, Eff. 1/1/2016.AUTH: 15-1-201, 15-7-111, 15-44-105, MCA; IMP: 15-1-101, 15-6-133, 15-7-103, 15-7-111, 15-7-202, 15-7-206, 15-7-207, 15-7-210, 15-44-102, 15-44-103, MCA