A Property Project Was Denied Approval. How a Montana Owner Challenged the Decision

A Montana landowner has won approval for a six-lot subdivision after a court found that a county commission's denial was not supported by its own record.

The commission said the plan would overload a rural road. Its own traffic study had concluded the road could handle the added trips.

The owner had spent two years and more than $80,000 on studies and engineering for the application.

Brenmora Law built the appeal on the commission's own record: the staff report recommending approval, the traffic study and the hearing transcript.

The court sent the application back, and the commission approved it with a condition requiring the owner to pave a short stretch of road.

The owner agreed to pay for the road improvement. No damages or fees were awarded.

Land-use decisions are usually reviewed on the record made at the hearing, so what is said and filed at that stage matters.