Livingston land use board recommends rezoning for Northtown PUD, calls for updated traffic and emergency plans

The Livingston City Land Use Board on April 9 recommended that the City Commission approve a zoning map amendment to create a planned unit development (PUD) for a 20.01-acre parcel in the Northtown subdivision, but added conditions requiring an updated traffic study and an emergency-response/egress plan before later development phases are finalized.

The recommendation, made by a majority vote of the seven-member advisory board, forwards the developer's proposal to the City Commission for final action. The developer proposes up to 240 dwelling units (a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments) and roughly 12,850 square feet of neighborhood-scale commercial space on land now zoned R-2 medium-density residential.

Why it matters: The parcel sits on steep topography on Livingston's north side and is adjacent to existing single-family subdivisions. Neighbors and board members raised concerns about traffic at the Fifth Street rail crossing, stormwater detention, wildfire evacuation and how taller, denser buildings would fit the area's terrain and visual character. The board sought to balance those concerns against the city's broader growth policy goals and an acknowledged shortage of rental housing.

Staff presentation and project scope Jennifer, a city planning staff member, told the board the PUD ordinance was adopted last year following the 2021 growth policy and that the Northtown application is the first PUD under that new code. She said the applicant is not requesting additional overall density beyond what current code could allow in other configurations and that the PUD is intended to cluster development, preserve open…