MISSOULA — The Missoula City Council on Monday night unanimously approved a rezone for a central-neighborhood parcel, bringing it in line with the area's standard zoning, which allows for greater density if redeveloped.
But last week, city staff said that similar requests for a zoning change may want to wait until the city works its way through code reform, which will likely make it unnecessary to seek a zoning change.
MS 22 LLC, represented by Montana Northwest Co., sought and received the zoning change for an 11,000-square-foot parcel on the corner of Eaton Street and Central Avenue.
City planner Kristin Spadafore said both the old and new residential zoning allow for a minimum parcel size of 3,000 square feet and have similar setbacks and height standards. But one allows for greater density than the other.
“The minimum parcel area per unit of 2,700 square feet (in the old zoning) would allow up to four dwelling units on the property,” she said. “The new zoning will allow up to 12 units, as the minimum area per unit is 1,000 square feet.”
The zoning change complies with the city's new land-use plan, which the city adopted last year. City staff are now working through code reform toward a comprehensive development plan.
The work will cover a range of policies and adhere to a number of city plans. It will also align zoning with the growth policy, something that's been an issue for years.
If MS 22 had waited on its request, code reform would have made it unnecessary for the firm to seek the zoning change, according to Mary McRea, the city's manager of permits and land use.
“The current zoning they're asking for does meet our brand new land-use plan,” she said. “It will get less restrictive for them and they'll be provided more uses than they can do with the current zoning they're asking for.”
McRea said the city's planning department has a number of rezone requests pending, along with a few annexations. In some cases, she said, it may be beneficial for the property owner to wait until code reform is finished, which could save them a trip to City Hall to file for permits.
“When we start looking at those other rezones starting in March or April, they might want to wait for code reform to finish, because shortly after that we'll have new code, and they won't have to pay the fee for the rezone,” said McRea.
Ken Jenkins with Montana Northwest Co. said the rezone granted on Monday night will aid in the property's potential redevelopment.
“This is a good zone for fitting in with the growth plan. It will take a non-conforming property and yield conformity,” he said. “The rezone will add value to this property. The increase in value the zoning brings increases the chances of reinvestment in this property.”
