MISSOULA — The Missoula City Council voted unanimously Monday night to approve the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan, which is the city's plan to address Missoula’s growth.
The plan's main goal is to increase housing density to then address the housing affordability crisis, but much of the plan’s implementation will depend on future zoning reforms.
The passing of the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan repealed all previous land use plans, allowing the city to now focus its efforts on the framework of one plan for addressing growth.
The land use plan mainly addresses “place” types and “street” types. This means what neighborhoods could look like in the future in terms of their density as well as what kind of streets would accompany them.
The land use planning staff made several amendments after going through committee last Wednesday, with staff mainly clarifying language within the plan and changing the place type designations for areas in the Rattlesnake as well as West Broadway.
The public raised more concerns than during previous public comment periods during the City Council meeting Monday night. The East Missoula community council stated they were not involved enough in the planning process.
The plan still received strong support, with the majority coming from members of Common Good Missoula.
With the adoption of the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan, the city will now look to zoning reform in 2025 to better accommodate the plan's design.
