As Chris Chitty led a group of about 20 people down Missoula’s California Street this week, he noted how the neighborhood just southwest of the Old Sawmill District transitions from commercial to residential.
Unlike some Missoula neighborhoods, the blocks tucked between South Russell Street and North California Street allow multifamily housing and a handful of small businesses among single-family homes.
“It all kind of works,” Chitty said of the mix. “With compartmentalized [zoning] districts to separate uses … you don’t have the ability to have corner stores, or live within walking distance of work. Not everyone wants that, but some do.”
While Chitty, a builder and ProHousing Missoula member, is used to “slogging it out in the trenches of zoning,” most people don’t think about the rules that help make neighborhoods what they are, he said. ProHousing is trying to change that as the city undergoes a major update to its growth policy and development regulations.
About two dozen people gathered at McCormick Park Wednesday evening for ProHousing Missoula’s third event to spread the word about the city’s code reform process and provide introductory information on zoning’s effects on housing. The city is updating its growth policy to reflect current affordability, equity and climate challenges and modernize its convoluted development code, according to the “Our Missoula” project website.
“This is a once-in-a-generation zoning code reform,” said Jana Richter with ProHousing Missoula. “This will really set the scene for what we’re able to build, where we’re able to build it, and how land is used in Missoula for quite a few years.”
ProHousing Missoula is a group of organizations and individuals — including housing nonprofits, builders, developers, and environmental groups — with an interest in the city’s code reform that’s advocating for a pro-housing policy.
The group started the park events earlier this summer to provide local residents with information on the code reform and enable them to tell the city how they feel about it, said Richter, who works for the North Missoula Community Development Corporation. Each event includes a walking tour of the surrounding neighborhood led by Chitty.
“This is a once-in-a-generation zoning code reform. This will really set the scene for what we’re able to build, where we’re able to build it, and how land is used in Missoula for quite a few years.”
Jana Richter, ProHousing Missoula
“We wanted to work together to build more community power and knowledge around zoning code, especially with the city’s once-in-a-generation code reform process, and find ways of creating a broad coalition of folks who have an interest and a stake in the future of affordable housing and connected communities in Missoula,” Richter said.
On Wednesday, over free pizza and drinks, Missoulians consulted each other, ProHousing members and city staff on what comments to include in postcards to City Council.
City community engagement specialist Ashley Brittner Wells answered questions about the three future growth scenarios the city has been collecting feedback on over the last two weeks at open houses and online.
City staff are trying to attend community events to reach more people in different ways to educate residents about land use and why it’s so important and impactful, Brittner Wells said. It’s…
