East Missoula subdivision poised for final consideration

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) Without a recommendation, members of the Missoula City Council this week sent a proposed East Missoula subdivision to a final hearing on Monday, where the project will either be approved or denied.

Members of the council’s Land Use and Planning Committee took an opportunity on Wednesday to quiz those behind the proposed Aspire phased subdivision in East Missoula, and to hear more concerns from neighbors regarding the project.

As in most cases, neighbors largely opposed to the project, citing changes to the character of their community and traffic. One resident claimed that East Missoula was being used as a “dumping ground” for more housing while others said the project “just doesn’t fit this area.”

“It’s three lots to each of the single lots in our community,” said resident Lee Bridges. “With a 3-1 ratio to lot size to our existing neighborhood, we don’t consider that to be in step with the character of our community.”

But Missoula faces a dire shortage of housing, one that experts have contributed to the area’s rapidly rising housing costs. Increasing the city’s housing inventory could help address the issue.

The Aspire project looks to place 127 single-family homes on 35 acres in six phases over 10 years. The project would ultimately create 250 homes and include a 2-acre park while protecting the Clark Fork River with another linear park of more than 2 acres.

While some area residents criticized the project and those behind it, members of the development team said they’ve been working for more than three years with the city, county and residents to make the project work.

“They (neighbors) don’t want apartments,” said project member Dave Sanson. “We’ve heard that loud and clear, and that’s why we’ve gone through this arduous process to come up with a single-family project. It’s been a very long process to get to this point.”

While that project plays out, the Aspire project will make improvements to Sommers Street from the highway to the development. That includes a wider roadway and sidewalks, among other things.

“We contribute to the (traffic) impact and we are voluntarily committing to over-commit to the mitigation as it relates to the traffic,” said Sanson. “As Highway 200 improvements also move through, those improvements would be funded through state and federal grants and take our resources and put that into the neighborhood.”

City planners also said the proposed development complies with the growth policy and that any traffic impacts have been closely modeled.

“They went through three revisions before the city and county felt comfortable that the traffic impact study accurately reflected what was going to happen once the full build-out occurs,” said City Engineer Troy Monroe.