Dave DeGrandpre, Planning supervisor with the Community Planning, Development and Innovation department, introduced the subject item and gave details on the overall project requests which includes annexation, rezoning, subdivision and a master site plan review. The proposed development would bring 641 dwelling units over two phases of the project. He provided a visual of the property location and the context of the neighborhood. A portion of the property is located within the Missoula Airport flight path called the extended airport departure area. The portion of the property within the departure area would be park land.
Mr. DeGrandpre went on to explain the Annexation Policy and the existing conditions of the land. He also showed the preliminary subdivision plat which showed the two phases and the planned infrastructure. Another slide shared a more detailed plan of the Master Site Plan. The proposal includes several small parks throughout the development and provides a designated commercial use area. Another map showed landscape plans and more details on the pocket parks that are planned.
Next, Mr. DeGrandpre covered the subdivision review criteria. The project does comply with the city's growth policy. He also went over the proposed zoning and other aspects that fall in the review criteria. The only concern mention was over time the schools may be impacted as the location of the property is in an area that is being heavily developed. The proposed project has 37 (thirty seven) conditions of approval. These are all included in the staff report (available on eScribe). Lastly, Mr. DeGrandpre shared the recommended motions.
Danny Oberweiser, a representative for the applicant, introduced members on the development team. Mr. Oberweiser expressed appreciation for the work put into this project. He covered some of the challenges each project faces to comply with the codes. Overall, Mr. Oberweiser felt this project meets the requirements along with other projects in the works in the surrounding area.
Will Ralph, with Braxton Development introduced himself and gave some background on his business. He explained what the apartments would consist of and plans for two clubhouses. He expressed appreciation for working with the city and others on the development team.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Molly Blakely, Superintendent for the Hellgate Elementary School District, shared the impacts these projects have on a school district which includes facilities, transportation, addition of busing routes, and safe routes to school. She also expressed frustration for the lack of transparency on these types of projects. She sought more effort from the developers to communicate with the surrounding school districts and include them in the conversations about new development and the impacts they have on those districts.
The committee inquired about it this project would provide permanent affordable housing. The developer confirmed there were no plans for any permanent affordable housing, but they offer discounts to certain tenants. The committee also asked about the conditions of approval regarding woonerf and who would be responsible for paying for it. The developers did explain it would be a city street and maintained by the city. Another topic of discussion circled around the concern over the rapid growth in the area and the impacts on the community. They talked about the bicycle and pedestrian trails, child safety for the trails and bus transportation. Most of the committee sought better communication between the developers involved in the project and the school districts to ensure transparency.
Ms. Blakely reiterated her communication concern and suggested that projects of this size have the districts involved early on in the review phase of the project. She appreciated the committees reaction in taking her concerns seriously as these project impact schools, the question would really be how sever they will impact the schools.
The committee chair, Mike Nugent clarified the conversations about communication with how schools are included in the development process falls outside of the project proposal. He stated that the process was followed and that the conversation was good to allow them to take a closer look at the process and work to fix those issues.