MISSOULA — City zoning codes may seem like a complicated topic to grasp, but a new organization is looking to make the issue easier to understand.
Pro Housing Missoula is a new coalition started by individuals and organizations in the community. Their goal is to educate Missoulians on zoning codes ahead of the city’s comprehensive zoning reform.
In Fall 2022, Missoula started the process of reforming it’s zoning codes, which have not been updated since 2009. The goal is to start implementing the changes in Spring 2025.
In May, the city released a code diagnostic to see exactly where zoning codes can be improved– part of the Our Missoula Project.
Zoning codes determine what type of housing and building can happen in Missoula. The codes can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, and they often make it difficult to expand affordable housing options.
Pro Housing Missoula hopes to reform Missoula’s zoning codes in order to make it easier to build new housing. They are looking for public engagement to put pressure on city leaders.
“We really saw this as a way of building community power and engagement around housing and zoning projects that are happening in Missoula, and really making sure folks have opportunities to engage in this once in a generation, opportunity to really rally, build power and affordable housing here in Missoula,” Jana Richter, one of the founders of Pro Housing Missoula says.
The coalition was started by individual Missoulians, including builders and architects, as well as broader organizations such as Missoula Tenants Union and the North Missoula Community Development Corporation.
Pro Housing Missoula will host multiple engagement events this summer where they’ll explain code reform, introduce Missoulians to organizations that are helping to build affordable housing and walk through neighborhoods to point out exactly where zoning projects are happening.
“I think that zoning is a fairly inaccessible topic to a lot of people in the broader community in Missoula,” Richter says. “And we really saw a gap to bring even more people together to both understand how zoning affects so many other aspects of community building and belonging in Missoula and really build a bridge between the wider community and a lot of the decision making processes that happen in Missoula that sometimes folks just don't have the time or knowledge of how to engage in.”
The next two engagement events with Pro Housing Missoula are May 28 at Westside Park and June 12 at Kiwanis Park. Both events will run 6-8 p.m.
More information on upcoming events can be found on their website or Instagram.
