Zoning & Subdivision Update Meeting Wednesday, 6 p.m.

April 2, 2008 in Missoula, Zoning and Planning

by jhwygirl

Missoula Office of Planning & Grants will unveil its Concepts and Directions Report in a public workshop tomorrow night, with a short reception beginning at 6 p.m., at the MCAT Center for the Performing Arts, 3rd floor, at 200 N. Adams.

The draft Conceptions and Directions Report has been out since mid-March, and has had some brief discussion at at least one Planning Board meeting. The concept, initially, was to rewrite the regulations – that are sorely in need of rewrite from a merely technical point of view. Anyone familiar with having to head to OPG to find clarity in either the zoning or subdivision regulations is aware of the massive amount of interpretations and secondary documents that are often utilized by staff to assist in addressing issues.

What has developed, once the consultants met with staff and interested parties, was a clear call for a desire to overhaul the regulations – streamlining the regulations and updating the 33 zoning districts and 8 overlay districts and looking at the actual patterns that have developed in those neighborhoods.

It’s much more complex that that – and rather than risk boring some of you with the tedious details, a read, at least, of the 3 page Executive Summary will give most readers enough of an understanding of what direction is being contemplated.

This is your community, folks – both the Zoning Regulations and the Subdivision Regulations set forth how development and how uses will occur in your neighborhoods and your city. With the consultants in town, it is an excellent opportunity to speak with outside professionals who can answer your questions from a perspective of having seen rewrites undertaken and overhauled in other communities all over. It’s your tax dollar at work – go get your money’s worth.

Seriously. Life’s a learning experience. You might even have fun.