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In this section we re-visit last week's meeting, providing:
- an AI summary (YouTube transcript analyzed by Claude's Sonnet 4.5)
- links to the Community 7 video
We'll revise and edit when necessary for clarity, brevity, and to avoid inaccuracies, which are sure to happen on occasion. And, considering the difficulty Council has had with audio feeds, it's likely that some comments or segments of the meeting will be missed in the video transcript.
BILLINGS CITY COUNCIL BUSINESS MEETING - NOVEMBER 24, 2025
Overview
The City Council held a lengthy meeting focused primarily on two major annexation and zone change proposals on the west end of Billings. The meeting included a proclamation recognizing 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, routine consent agenda items, and two significant annexation proposals. The most substantial discussion centered on the controversial Barber Farm subdivision proposal which drew extensive public opposition from neighboring residents concerned about density, traffic, and compatibility with existing single-family neighborhoods. After approximately three hours of presentations, council questions, and public testimony from over 20 residents, the developer requested to withdraw the application to allow for further community engagement and potential revisions.
Notable Actions and Votes Taken
Item 2A: Resolution Approving Annexation 25-05 (Sunny Cove Fruit Farms) (discussion begins at: 16:04)
Vote: PASSED 8-2
Votes in favor: Shaw, Gulick, Neese, Owen, Rogers, Kennedy, Boyett, Rupsis
Votes against: Mayor Cole, Tidswell
Note: Council Member Aspenlieder recused
Item 2B: Resolution Approving Zone Change 1073 (Sunny Cove Fruit Farms) (discussion begins at: 48:17)
Vote: PASSED 10-0
Votes in favor: Mayor Cole, Shaw, Gulick, Neese, Owen, Rogers, Kennedy, Tidswell, Boyett, Rupsis
Votes against: None
Note: Council Member Aspenlieder recused
Item 3: First Reading Ordinance Expanding Ward IV Boundaries (Annexation 25-05) (discussion begins at: 51:01)
Vote: PASSED 10-0
Votes in favor: Mayor Cole, Shaw, Gulick, Neese, Owen, Rogers, Kennedy, Tidswell, Boyett, Rupsis
Votes against: None
Note: Council Member Aspenlieder absent
Items 4A, 4B, 4C, and 5: Annexation 25-06 and Zone Change 1074 (Barber Farm/Central Avenue Subdivision) (discussion begins at: 53:25)
Action: APPLICATION WITHDRAWN by developer at 3:39:52
Vote on Motion to Accept Withdrawal: PASSED 10-0
Votes in favor: Mayor Cole, Shaw, Gulick, Neese, Owen, Rogers, Kennedy, Tidswell, Boyett, Rupsis
Votes against: None
Note: Councilman Aspenlieder recused
Notable Quotables from Councilmembers
Mayor Bill Cole (47:07): "I will now explain why I will be the only person who votes against it probably. It has nothing to do with the project itself, but just to be consistent, Council you know where I'm going. This is within the benefited area one and a half miles from Cottonwood Park and under paragraph 21C of that development agreement going back 23 years ago, the city is required to make reasonable efforts...to obtain contribution from such person or developer to fund the development and or maintenance of the park."
Councilwoman Jennifer Owen (1:48:47): "I had thought we'd see it [the aquifer study] before the end of this year...Do you at this point anticipate the potential of a development moratorium on the West End?"
Councilman Ed Gulick (3:29:26): "We're not talking about a radically different density. We're talking about N2. We're talking about 88% of that property...I don't even know what the developers going to go back and do. What do they resort back to?"
Council Member Tom Rupsis (3:50:00): "We like to complain about traffic here in Billings, but go to any other city our size or larger. I just came back from Mexico City. You want to talk about traffic? We don't have traffic here."
Select Quotes from Public Comment
Renee Copic, Zonta Club of Billings (1:58): "According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 37.2% of Montana women experience intimate partner violence and/or stalking in their lifetimes. 33% experience rape. That's more than one in three women in our state touched by this cycle of violence. For indigenous women in Montana, the rate rises to 47%."
Kelsey Ryder (2:32:25): "The Department of Motor Vehicles for the state of Montana states that average household in Yellowstone County owns 1.8 cars. At the minimum, the proposed zone change states that there will be 350 units. This means at minimum there will be an additional 630 cars within our direct vicinity."
Tony Gaffky (2:41:14): "As currently proposed, the Barber Farms would stand out as a high-density rental island development, incompatible, incongruent, inconsistent with the surrounding neighborhoods. It does not transition. It does not blend. It isolates itself in both form and density."
Meeting Statistics
- Duration: Approximately 4 hours
- Public Comments: Over 20 residents spoke during the public hearing on Item 4
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