MISSOULA — The Missoula City Council on Monday adopted the document that will guide the next 20 years of the city’s growth and development and lays the groundwork for increased housing density citywide. Crafting the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan was an effort more than two years in the making, and the council applauded staff and members of the public who contributed to it. “I want to really extend my thanks to the staff and everyone who worked on this plan,” said City Council President Amber Sherrill. “It was a big lift and it’s going to be a big step forward. It’s going to be a big change in trying to make Missoula accessible for everyone in the future.” The city began updating its 2015 growth policy in 2022 to reflect current affordability, equity and climate challenges and modernize its convoluted development code, according to the “Our Missoula” website. The project expanded to integrate requirements from the Montana Land Use Planning Act, passed by the Legislature in 2023. The plan provides a foundation for the city’s new unified development code, which will bring together pieces of current code into one place to make it easier for staff, developers and residents to use, according to the city. The code will also be updated to align with new state laws and policies outlined in the land use plan, but changes will require City Council approval. Work on the code updates will continue into the spring. Council member Mike Nugent described the plan as a great first step, with the “nuts and bolts” of the code reforms to follow. “There are little things I know some people would like to go further and there are some people who are worried that maybe we’re pushing too far, but I think that’s a sign of a land use plan that has taken all the community’s input and tried to get to a place where hopefully we can all move forward,” he said. “At the end of the day we’re going to adopt a land use policy that recognizes the challenges we face as a community because growth is here in Missoula. … We all know people in the community who are struggling to find places to live and be able to afford to live here even though they work here.” The plan emphasizes expanding housing opportunities, taking into account projected population growth and the housing and services needed to accommodate it. The study area, which includes Missoula city limits and some surrounding county land, is expected to grow by 1.39% annually over the next 20 years, adding about 37,000 people by 2045.The area will need an additional 22,000 to 27,500 housing units to meet demand, according to the plan’s analysis. That includes making up for the current deficit of 2,700 to 3,700 homes needed for the current population and a healthy vacancy rate between 5% and 8%. Rather than using typical land use designations, the plan assigns “place types” and “street types.” The plan’s 12 place types take into account an area’s street types and block design, parcel size and coverage, land use and density, range of housing allowed, scale of commercial use allowed, building form and development constraints. The eight street types consider context beyond traffic volume, unlike current classifications. Under the new place types, most areas would accommodate more development than current zoning allows, according to the document. Every residential area will allow at least two units per parcel, as required by state law. All residential place types allow small-scale commercial development.City officials and staff emphasized the community engagement process and integration of public feedback into the plan. Since launching the project in 2022, the city has received and considered roughly 1,000 comments on the plan, said Ben Brewer, the city’s planning supervisor.  The plan outlines how Missoula will implement the policies and includes a list of more than 150 actions, most related to code changes, and their general timelines. State law requires the city to review the plan at least every five years. As adopted, the plan includes several changes proposed by staff to correct and clarify language, including a couple of updates based on comments from members of Common Good Missoula, a nonprofit that helped launch the city’s community outreach about the plan. The plan incorporated two amendments the council approved last week: striking language in the “limited urban residential” place type description referencing “heavy reliance on cars,” and changing the place type designation for a section of the Rattlesnake neighborhood from “urban residential low” to “urban residential high.” On Monday, the council also approved an amendment staff proposed to change several parcels off West Broadway near the airport from the “industrial and employment” place type to low or limited mixed-use to better align with current zoning. “We took too broad a stroke when initially designating these specific parcels as industrial and employment,” Brewer said. “The primary concern being that the industrial and employment place type on the parcels precludes the development of housing, which would currently be allowed by the existing zoning. That runs counter to our goals, was not our intention, and we appreciate the opportunity to remedy this prior to adoption.”   The council also discussed and approved several amendments tweaking language related to parking, the civic place type description, and moving up the timeline of three implementation actions. More than a dozen members of the public commented on the plan, with most expressing support for the changes.  “I was raised to be a really proud Northsider,” said Amber Shaffer, a member of Common Good Missoula. “Something that’s always bothered me is that although I want affordable housing for all Missoulians, I had hoped other neighborhoods could help bear the burden of that infill. I’m glad that’s something that’s possible with this new land use map.” Two East Missoula residents voiced concerns about the designations allowing higher density and the lack of direct outreach to the neighborhood about its inclusion in the plan. While East Missoula is outside city limits, state law requires the city to plan for it and similar areas, especially if they are in the city’s utility service area, said Eran Pehan, director of the city’s Community Planning, Development and Innovation Department. The place types selected for East Missoula closely match the designations in the county’s growth plan that allow similar levels of residential and commercial development, Pehan said. “We are really relying on the planning work that Missoula County has already done with East Missoula, and that has guided our place type designations,” she said. “The place types are a vision. It’s how we anticipate this area could grow out, the opportunities that exist for this area to grow out. It’s not zoning, and so it won’t dictate growth in East Missoula until such time as individual private property owners apply to annex in with the city of Missoula.” After more than three hours of comment and discussion, the council unanimously approved adopting the land use plan and map. related Missoula releases draft of land use plan to guide growth over the next 20 years  The plan will guide growth and development in the city over the next 20 years, using outlined policies to inform zoning and development decisions. by Katie Fairbanks 10.17.202410.17.2024 Council member Daniel Carlino said that while the plan is an improvement, it underestimates the amount of housing the city needs and doesn’t allow enough housing or mixed use. “I’m really worried about the fact that we’re probably still going to be in a housing crisis for quite some time to come, but I think this is a huge step in the right direction,” he said. “Ultimately, I hope we can keep building subsidized affordable housing and real, true affordable housing as well and not be reliant on a capitalistic system to supply something that everybody needs, like housing.” Council member Gwen Jones said the city is doing its best to address the issues, but it will be asking a lot of the community in return. “This is a big paradigm shift,” she said. “It’s one thing to have it be abstract and hypothetical, and it’s another thing to have the specifics and see change in the neighborhoods. I think we’re going about it as thoughtfully as possible but really expanding that density. I hope folks understand that and will take the time to understand why we’re going in this direction.” ProHousing Missoula, a group of organizations and individuals who advocate for pro-housing policies, was pleased to see the council adopt the plan, said Brittany Palmer, executive director of the North Missoula Community Development Corporation. “This plan will help Missoula maintain its character by returning us to a model of urban development in which missing-middle housing is legal to build,” she said in an email to Montana Free Press. “It increases equity in development among Missoula’s neighborhoods and reflects our values by keeping our community a place where everyday people can live and thrive.”  In-depth, independent reporting on the stories impacting your community from reporters who know your town. 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