Mayor Jordan Hess We have one item for final consideration, and this is the tavern and casino conditional use at 3760 Mullan Road, and we have Ms. Stevens here for a staff report. Lauren, any additional items that you want to, that you want to cover that may have changed from last week or, or any additional information you’d like to present?
Lauren Stevens I, I don't have any new information and I did not receive any additional public comment.
Mayor Jordan Hess Okay, thank you. Any questions from Council? Seeing none, I’ll take a motion Mr. Nugent.
Alderperson Mike Nugent Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The motion that is recommended is Approval of the Tavern and Casino conditional use request located at 3760 Mullan Road, in accordance with Missoula City Zoning Ordinance, Title 20, Sections 20.10.020.D, 20.40.040, 20.85.070, and 20.105.040.I.2 and X.1, based on the findings of fact in the staff report and subject to one condition of approval. The condition of approval: The Tavern and Casino conditional uses at 3760 Mullan Road shall comply with all applicable portions of the Title 20 Zoning Ordinance. Plans submitted at the time of building permit application shall substantially conform to the plans submitted at the time of conditional use review, subject to review and approval by Development Services prior to building permit approval.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Mr. Nugent. We've had a public hearing, is there any additional public comment on this item? Seeing none, any comments from Council members? Mr. Carlino.
Alderperson Carlino Yeah, if this didn't include the casino I think I would have no problem with granting a special conditional use request, but the more research I did the more I saw that living in close proximity to casinos, the data shows that you're almost twice as likely to become problem gambler if you live in close proximity to casinos. There's research done by the federal government and many universities, and you know running for Council, I try to do my best to run on a platform of trying to alleviate poverty and I just don't think adding more casinos will help with that goal of alleviating poverty. So, I do not intend to support this.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you. I’ve got Ms. Becerra and then Mr. Nugent, and then [inaudible]….
Alderperson Becerra Thank you. And while I agree with Councilman Carlino that you know, perhaps a casino is not the ideal use in a, in an area that's neighboring residential areas, I do believe this is allowed and permitted by the zoning that we have in place and in fact the reason I am going to be supporting it is because the casino is only one component of other amenities that are going to be offered to the neighborhood, including a restaurant and other places for the, for the neighborhood to have access to some of these activities. So, if this was only a, only a casino, I might have a harder time supporting it, but again, this is something that's allowed and permitted under our current zoning. Thanks.
Mayor Jordan Hess Mr. Nugent.
Alderperson Mike Nugent Than you Mr. Mayor. I going to make Councilwoman’s Becerra’s point as well and just say that if we weren't, if the Casino and Tavern weren't here, we wouldn't be having to have a conditional use conversation. That being said, if we want to limit the number of casinos in the State of Montana that really is a state level issue. Montana has a really archaic, in my opinion, liquor licensing law that ties casinos and gaming to liquor licenses. The most recent liquor license I have seen listed in the City of Missoula is just a hair under a million dollars, so if a business wants to, an entrepreneurial business wants to be a full beverage restaurant, bar, whatever, they are, they are paying for a gaming license whether they want that or not and at a million dollars, the reality is that they probably have to include some level of gaming to even pay the monthly or yearly costs against that license. It's an imperfect system and I don't disagree that there are problems that Councilman Carlino is pointing out, but I would say that at the City of Missoula level, we aren't going to solve those unless the state changes their laws because of the artificially high cost of those licenses.
Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Jones.
Alderperson Jones Thanks. Just along a similar vein, if having a casino is what makes the business equation work for these restaurants to be able to go in next to an area that is developing, then that's, that's the way it is and I'm not a fan of gambling, but as Mr. Nugent referenced, these are state laws that dictate this and state laws that also dictate the price of a liquor license. So, that's the situation and I'm, will be supporting this tonight and think it's going to be a great addition to the neighborhood and look forward to it opening.
Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Jordan.
Alderperson Kristen Jordan Thank you. I agree with my colleague, Mr. Carlino. I think that when we have the opportunity to, to really kind of pick the neighborhoods that we want and where we want things to go, I think it's it lies within our purview and our decision making capacity regardless of what the state says. I too have concerns about multiple casinos in town. I've had constituents reach out to me about them being open for large periods of time and particularly, this woman who's reached out to me mentioned that the later they stay open the more people spend, and the more people drink. And I think that this is a really great opportunity for us to pick and choose the kind of neighborhood that we want in Missoula and I'm, I'm not pro casino and I think that this lies within our purview of decision making regardless of what the state provides us, and so I will be voting no as well.
Mayor Jordan Hess Any additional comments Council? Ms. West.
Alderperson West In the virtual world. So, I just wanted to say that I'm going to support this. I think that we're losing a lot of potential benefit to the neighborhood by just focusing on the, the casino portion of this development. I think the design itself intentionally segregates and I think downplays that there is a casino component, that it also offers spaces for people to socialize and recreate and access food that's close to their neighborhood. And I think that having local, you know local businesses go in adjacent to where there is a lot of development and a lot of development happening is something we want to see, so people aren't driving as far to go to a restaurant or to get dinner or to go grab a beer after work. So, I think, I think that we're kind of losing sight on this, on that by just deciding based on the casino alone. So, I’m going to support it.
Mayor Jordan Hess Anyone else? Mr. Nugent.
Alderperson Mike Nugent Thank you. Sorry, just a real quick kind of addition. I don't disagree with the, the points being made, but I think the reality on Council is we don't get to make decisions in silos and with, with those license values being almost a million dollars if, if any business, this one or others want to, want to start a restaurant that has a full beverage license, they are, they have a million dollar deficit before they even buy a property or start building a building or putting in renovations or buying equipment or buying all that. So, I think it's easy for us to say we could choose to do this, but we would be hamstringing Missoula entrepreneurs and business owners because we would be kind of ignoring one of the realities of the state law. I don't disagree at all that there are issues and I'd love to see the gaming decoupled from the, from the liquor license and, and the full beverage license but I just I think that it's, it's easy to say that, but we haven't actually had anybody come in and tell us that that's a, that's a doable business model.
Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Jordan.
Alderperson Kristen Jordan Yeah with respect Mr. Nugent, I think this is where we actually take the time and say we can make decisions that the state is not giving us a perfect angle to choose from. This is a decision we could make to create a neighborhood that we want, that doesn't encourage gambling, that doesn’t encourage addiction, that doesn't encourage something that we don't want to have in our neighborhoods, and I frankly really would like to ask my colleagues to, to actually, I'm going to rephrase this. I think this is an opportunity for us to actually keep decision making local and to pick the kind of neighborhoods that we want regardless of the, the sideboard that the state is putting on us, and I would love to see us choosing some of these opportunities where we can, when we can actually make decisions that are within our purview, regardless of what the state is saying because we can and we will, and not using the state's kind of hamstringing to say that we can't create the kind of neighborhoods that we want.
Mayor Jordan Hess Anything further? Mr. Carlino.
Alderperson Carlino Yea, just to kind of add on to that. I think you know we could blame the state for anything we'd like but a lot of land use issues is where local governments have control, with our code reform coming up, I think it's a good opportunity for us to think about what we'd like Missoula to feel like and what we'd like it to look like. And also with, to address the high licensing costs, I don't think it, that sounds like it could be an issue for trying to get small businesses up and running but at the same time, I don't think using a casino to subsidize those high licensing costs is very ethical solution.
Mayor Jordan Hess All right, I’m not seeing any additional hands up. We had a public hearing and a comment from Council on the motion. We can have a roll call vote.
Mayor Jordan Hess Okay and the motion passes.