City of Missoula
Land Use and Planning Committee Agenda

Meeting #:

Date:

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 at 9:00 A.m. - 5:00 P.m.

Location:

Council Chambers (in person) or TEAMS (virtually)

Attend in person: City Council Chambers, 140 W Pine, Missoula MT

Members:

• Stacie Anderson, 
• Mirtha Becerra, 
• Bob Campbell, 
• Betsy Craske, 
• Gwen Jones, 
• Kristen Jordan, 
• Sean McCoy, 
• Eric Melson, 
• Mike Nugent, 
• Justin Ponton, 
• Jennifer Savage, 
• and Amber Sherrill 

Microsoft Teams meeting

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1.

ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS

1.1

Roll Call

1.2

Approval of the Minutes

2.

PUBLIC COMMENT

3.

COMMITTEE BUSINESS

3.1

Amendments to the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan

Eran Pehan

• Recommended motion:

  City Council adopt a Resolution to Adopt amendments to the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan and Place Types Map, based on the information and considerations in the staff report.

  [Vote Planned - January 26, 2026] 

• Recommended motion:

  Adopt the package of staff recommended amendments in the Updated Staff Recommended Amendments Document, except for amendment #6.

• Recommended motion:

  Table 4.02.03-2 (units per building) - Amend table, to set maximum number of units per building, for apartment buildings, to “No Max” for UR1, UR2 and UR3. All else as-is.

• Recommended motion:

  Code Section: Table 4.2.03-3 FAR and Density: Increase FAR in U-R4 to 1.6 to allow for more infill projects.

• Recommended motion:

  Move to modify Table 4.2.03-3 in 4.2.03-D Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and Density to allow more flexibility in developing small infill projects while maintaining growth described in the Land Use Plan. Respectfully request staff include the table from the Planning Board related to the amendment.

• Recommended motion:

  Adopt staff’s recommended amendment to FAR (Staff Recommended Amendment #6).

• Recommended motion:

  Adopt maximum densities for U-R1, U-R2, U-R3, and U-R4, based on the recommendation of Planning Commission but using the density maximums proposed by staff.

• Recommended motion:

  Move that the City Council amend Section 4.2.03-D.4 (Floor Area Ratio FAR and Density, Exceptions) of the Unified Development Code to increase the lot-size threshold for the FAR exemption for one-unit houses and duplexes, as follows:

  1. In Section 4.2.03-D.4, revise the exception for one-unit houses and duplexes to read: “One-unit house and duplex building types are exempt from floor area ratio (FAR) requirements on parcels/lots with an area of 4,000 square feet or less.”
  2. Replace any previous numeric reference to 3,250 square feet for this exception with 4,000 square feet for consistency.
• Recommended motion:

  Move that the City Council amend Section 4.2.03-D (Floor Area Ratio FAR and Density) of the Unified Development Code to encourage residential units over Neighborhood Commercial in Limited Urban and Urban Residential districts, as follows:

  Section 4.2.03-D.4 – Exceptions to FAR (add new subsection)

  h. In the LU-R1, LU-R2, U-R1, U-R2, U-R3, and U-R4 zoning districts, gross floor area devoted to residential dwelling units located above a ground-floor Neighborhood Commercial use on the same building footprint is exempt from maximum allowed gross floor area when calculating Floor Area Ratio (FAR).

  1. To qualify for this exemption, the ground-floor Neighborhood Commercial use must meet the Neighborhood Commercial building type standards in Article 4.7, and the exempt residential floor area must be located on stories above that Neighborhood Commercial space.
  2. This exemption does not alter other applicable height, setback, or building width standards.”
• Recommended motion:

  Amend table 4.2.03-7 Building Form and Components to increase the maximum height in the U-R3 district from 35 feet to 45 feet and in the U-R4 district from 45 feet to 50 feet.

• Recommended motion:

  Move that the City Council not adopt the staff -recommended amendment creating Section 4.2.03-E.3 “Driveway Access Restriction on Narrow Lots” (prohibiting street -accessed driveways on lots with street frontage less than 40 feet), and that this subsection be deleted from the adoption draft in its entirety.

• Recommended motion:

  Waive transparency requirements for healthcare facilities, hospitals, and medical offices.

3.2

Our Missoula Project – Adoption of the Unified Development Code & Zoning Map

Jen Gress

• Recommended motion:

  City Council adopt an ordinance establishing Title 22 – City of Missoula Unified Development Code (UDC) (Attachment A), repealing in its entirety Title 16 – Manufactured Housing and Mobile Home Parks; Title 17 – Subdivisions; Title 20 - Missoula City Zoning Ordinance; Title 21 – Form Based Code (Sx ʷtpqyen); and any Planned Unit Development (PUD) or Special District (SD) found on Attachment C – Planned Unit Development (PUD) and Special Districts (SD) Repealed/Retained – as well as any PUD or SD not listed as Converted to Historic Resource Overlay; with all of the foregoing based on the findings of facts and conclusions outlined in the staff report.

  [Vote Planned - January 26, 2026] 

• Recommended motion:

  City Council adopt an ordinance establishing a new City of Missoula Zoning Map (Attachment B), and repeal the existing Zoning map, to come into compliance with the Montana Land Use and Planning Act, MCA 76-25, based on the findings of facts and conclusions outlined in the staff report.

  [Vote Planned - January 26, 2026] 

4.

ADJOURNMENT