development

Now that Lolo is getting a new school, a team of developers are seeking changes to the county's land-use map in hopes of providing housing and some commercial space on the former school property.

Robbie Liben writes, "Missoula, like all US cities, has vast swaths of excess parking spaces. It is due to our wasteful and archaic zoning laws which for over 50 years have required arbitrary parking mandates within all private residential and commercial development and redevelopment projects."

Lawmakers passed a series of housing-related bills, including zoning and land use changes aimed at increasing availability – as well as House Bill 819, which invests more than $200 million into several programs to support housing development.

A protest petition submitted hours before a final decision was planned regarding the rezone of a property off Russell Street nearly prompted the City Council on Monday night to send the request back to committee.

Matt Garrity writes, "Montana and the Northern Rockies are facing an unprecedented wave of development that is fracturing wildlife habitat, threatening water quality, and seeing vastly increased logging of our national forests under the guise of “restoration” and wildfire prevention."

Missoula County approved a number of items related to a subdivision planned for the Wye, including a change to one condition and modification of the phasing plan.

A family business in Missoula has retained legal counsel to represent their claims that a member of City Council acted in a “libelous and unethical” manner as the city reviewed and considered their proposed downtown apartment project.

Considering the direction of future development, Missoula County on Thursday approved a contract with WGM Group to create an infrastructure plan for the Wye.

Bill Van Horn writes, "Having read Daniel Carlino’s latest letter to the editor, I would advise him not to quit his day job: poetry is not his forte."

Two of the biggest legislative priorities to start the 2023 session in Montana – addressing housing and prison space and upgrades – came down to a flurry of work done in the final days.