The City of Missoula is considering community-informed models for growth for Missoula’s future and we need your help! Join us for an Our Missoula Future Growth Scenarios Open House. There are TWO opportunities to participate!

Wednesday, July 17, 2024    12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Tuesday, July 23, 2024  4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Missoula Public Library, 455 E. Main, 4th Floor Cooper Room
Food and kids activities provided. Drop-in any time between 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.! Parking is available on-street, in the parking garage under the library, and in the parking lot behind the library. If you haven’t attended an Our Missoula event before, or if you bring someone to an open house that hasn’t attended before, you can enter to win a $25 gift card!

We’ve been listening to community members and groups throughout the Our Missoula project and are ready to share some tangible models for growth in our city. A set of three scenarios were developed to represent different approaches to addressing some of the critical housing affordability, equity, and climate issues faced by the community. The scenarios will be illustrated and described to show how they could affect Missoula’s future.

At these open houses, residents are invited to provide feedback on the scenario models, the outcomes that are most important to them, and how to balance the tradeoffs that are presented by these challenges. We will not be asking you to pick just one model that you like best; we are looking to see what you like, what you don’t like, and any ideas we may have missed.

We will take what we learn from the community at these open houses and develop a preferred approach to growth in Missoula. The preferred approach will be integrated into the initial drafts of the updated Growth Policy and the new Unified Development Code. The preferred approach will attempt to balance multiple perspectives and concerns while making real progress on a more equitable, affordable, and sustainable future for Missoula. The community will be invited to provide input on the preferred approach this fall.

If you haven’t had an opportunity to participate yet, this is a great time to get involved. If you have been participating, we thank you for helping us get to this point and look forward to your continued input.

If anyone attending a meeting needs special assistance, please provide 48 hours advance notice by calling Community Engagement Specialist Ashley Brittner Wells at 406-552-6221 or emailing [email protected](External link). We strive to create a supportive and accessible environment, and it is crucial to understand and address any potential barriers that might affect participation. Please share anything that may impact your continued involvement. This can include, but is not limited to, childcare, transportation, parking, accessibility, language, or other circumstances.

Legislative Updates Impacting Engagement

During the most recent legislative session, the State of Montana passed the new Montana Land Use Planning Act(External link) (MLUPA). The MLUPA shifts the opportunities for public engagement surrounding land use and development to be during the planning and adoption of city land use plans and codes, rather than during site-specific developments. After the City’s land use plan and land use regulations are adopted in compliance with MLUPA, many site-specific development projects will be reviewed administratively by the City. The scope of and opportunity for public participation and comment on site-specific development will be limited to the impacts of projects that were not previously identified and considered in the adoption, amendment, or update of the land use plan, zoning regulations, or subdivision regulations. This shift means that public participation during City planning processes, like the Our Missoula project, is critical to ensuring that community voices are heard during the development of the City’s land use policies and regulations.