The Missoula County Board of County Commissioners approved a family-transfer exemption on Jan. 2, 2025, allowing claimant Jessica Walker Kelleher to transfer 4.5 acres from a larger parcel near the I‑90 Rock Creek interchange so she and her husband may build a single-family home.

County planner Katie presented the application and told the board the parcel is on an unzoned site currently used as an RV park and campground; the applicant intends to retain the remainder of the property for commercial uses. Katie said county review agencies—including the health department, floodplain administrator and the Missoula County Conservation District—reviewed the application and raised specific concerns. The health department indicated a state sanitation review will be required for septic systems. Floodplain and conservation staff flagged potential development pressure near Rock Creek flood hazards, bank erosion risks and the need for setbacks; staff recommended approval of the family-transfer exemption with the standard conditions identified in agency comments.

Claimant Jessica Walker Kelleher told the board she and her husband plan to live on the transferred parcel and that the family intends eventual development of the remaining parcel as a tiny-house village. “We plan to build an accessible home for myself, my family, and my mother, and to have infrastructure for 2 guest houses for our children,” Walker Kelleher said.

Planner Katie summarized that the transfer would designate the family-transfer parcel as open and resource (one dwelling per 40 acres) for the 4.5-acre split, while the remaining 6.96-acre parcel retains a general commercial land-use designation. Katie noted staff identified three of the county’s rebuttable-presumption/evasion criteria as possibly present but concluded the family-transfer exemption is the appropriate path for the applicant’s stated goals.

A motion to approve the family-transfer exemption was made, seconded and approved by voice vote. No members of the public spoke during the hearing. County staff noted the approval will still require a state sanitation review for on-site sewage and that floodplain-related setbacks and permits could apply at later development or subdivision review stages.