County approves rezone for property near Buckhouse Bridge
Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) A small development proposed for property near Buckhouse Bridge won final approval from Missoula County on Thursday, despite lingering concerns around zoning.
Shoptown LLC submitted its request earlier this year and plans to build a dry shop and heated storage facility on a small portion of its 83-acre property. The developer also plans to record an easement off Highway 93 to enhance and preserve public access to the Bitterroot River near the bridge.
County planner Kathleen Arthur said the changes to the county's land use map will assign 8 acres of the property as a commercial center and 11 acres as open resource and recreation. More than 50 acres will be held as agriculture.
In past hearings, county planners raised concerns around traffic speed on Highway 93, high groundwater and potential flooding. Portions of the property sit within the 100- and 500-year floodplain. However, the portion eyed for development sits above the floodplain.
The consolidated planning board voted 4-2 earlier this year to recommend denial of the project. The county's planning department did as well.
“We had to analyze just that 8 acres of the whole property. We had some concerns about a lot of those uses in that location,” said Arthur. “The lack of infrastructure for sanitation and water to support most of the uses in that district didn't line up. We had some concerns about traffic safety and the speed limit.”
But commissioners said many concerns could be addressed, though the project's need for a special exception remained an issue. Commissioner Josh Slotnick said the developer should have sought a different zoning tool, though that would have required the project to start over from the beginning, costing more time and money.
“They'd have to do the whole process over,” he said. “I'm sympathetic to the fact that it would cause them to spend more money and time, which no one wants to do. But it was the cleaner and more accurate way to do it.”
Arthur said county planners do support the project's riparian protections while preserving most of the property as agriculture. The developer has given no timeline to commence the project.