With commissioners-elect Mark Armstrong and Jim Peluso sitting at their side, Burleigh County commissioners approved the final plat for the controversial Sundown Acres 2nd subdivision.

Monday was the last regular meeting for commissioners Scott Johnson and Claus Lembke. Johnson was defeated in the election and Lembke chose not to run.

Sundown Acres 2nd is a Clairmont Properties, LLLP, 42-acre development located about 13 miles northwest of downtown Bismarck along the Missouri River. It consists of 16 lots zoned as rural residential. The Bismarck Planning Department, which also works for the county, recommended denial of the plat. The planning commission has had the plat before them for nearly a year, but has yet to make a recommendation.

The Burleigh County Planning Commission, at its November meeting, asked that the issue of providing a recommendation on the final plat be continued one more month. This came after a county commission decree that the planner provide either a yes or no on the plat; should they fail to, the county commission would perceive that as a stalling tactic and recognize it as a recommendation to approve the plat.

County commission Chairman Doug Schonert, also a member of the planning commission, defended approval of the plat, which many of the eight-member planning commission fought against.

"First of all, it's the second phase of Sundown Acres 1st, which was constructed 35 years ago," Schonert said. "It (Sundown Acres 2nd) nearly went in 10 years ago, but didn't have a secondary access. Now, the developer has agreed to put in a second access."

Schonert went on to say that while emergency services had testified at planning commission public hearings that response times to the area were poor, the people living in Sundown Acres 1st and in the surrounding area felt they were adequate. The chairman added that a private agreement between the residents of Sundown Acres 1st and the developer, William Clairmont, would increase safety with the paving of 149th Avenue, which serves the subdivisions, and provide a secondary access road. Seventy-four percent of the residents of Sundown Acres 2nd signed off on the agreement.

"For those reasons, I favor Sundown Acres 2nd," Schonert said.

Johnson, also a member of the planning commission, said that he had talked to county engineer Jon Mill, and he felt a poor situation regarding access and the road were being made better and safer.

Commissioner Jerry Woodcox said that people willing to buy a lot on Sundown Acres 2nd are aware of the concerns of emergency services and feel it's worth living out in the country.

While the county commission was under no requirement to open the discussion to the public, Schonert did allow public comment.

Burleigh resident Alexis Duxbury claimed that commissioners, possibly illegally, had made a decision on the plat prior to planning meetings and hearings. She plans on contacting the state attorney general's office about possible sidebar discussions among commissioners and she would see a subpoena for all e-mails and letters sent by and to commissioners regarding Sundown Acres 2nd.

Johnson and Woodcox vehemently decried Duxbury's assertions. Woodcox added that Duxbury was making accusations without any substantiation or basis.

Planning commission Chairman Chuck Peterson said the plat went against the county's comprehensive plan. He said that the planning commission's questions had not all been answered and that was the reason for the planning commission's motion to continue the hearing.

"We've been at this for about a year. Now, we get to the final crunch and you cut all the time real tight. Is there a hurry?" Peterson asked.

Peterson also said that the county commission, on three occasions, had affirmed that no development take place beyond 110th Avenue. But he had to admit there was nothing in writing on behalf of the county commission restricting development beyond 110th Avenue.

Woodcox also said that there is leeway within the comprehensive plan allowing this type of development as long as a developer can clearly demonstrate demand and/or that the development is adjacent to another subdivision.

Brad Scott, representing the residents in Sundown Acres 1st, spoke in support of the plat. He said that with improvements to 149th, school bus routes could come directly to homes rather than parents having to take their children two miles to the closest bus stop. The road fixes would improve their quality of life and safety.

Lembke made the motion to approve the plat contingent on the secondary access road and improvements to 149th. The plat will not be recorded until the road work is complete. The commission unanimously approved the motion.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)