Missoula Approves Zoning Reform Emphasizing More Diverse Housing, Walkability

The Missoula City Council approved a new zoning code and development standards, reports Katie Fairbanks in Montana Free Press.

Per Fairbanks:

The code implements the city’s new land use plan, which emphasizes expanding housing opportunities, improving walkability and addressing climate goals. The new rules encourage a wider range of housing types across Missoula’s neighborhoods, marking a significant change for some areas that have been largely insulated from development in recent years.

The code reform is the culmination of a three-year process that began when a city review of the existing code found “barriers to housing equity, supply, diversity, affordability and infill development, and that it did not support transportation and climate policies and was difficult to navigate.”

The new zoning map would allow apartments in 89 percent of residential and mixed-use districts, leaving only rural districts limited to single-family development. “All residential areas allow small-scale neighborhood commercial development, like a corner store or coffee shop. These businesses are allowed in new and existing buildings on corners and mid-block.”