City manager outlines outreach events, MDOT speed studies and state law impacts

City Manager (name not provided) updated the Columbia Falls City Council on a series of staff actions and upcoming public outreach items, including an open house for downtown parking and sidewalks, geotechnical follow-up on a hillside mitigation issue and state law changes that may affect local zoning and parking rules. The manager said the city will host an open house on Aug. 27 for the downtown parking and sidewalk projects; materials for that project are in the council packet and on the city website. On the Gateway project, the manager said staff will convene engineers, the city attorney and Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority (MMIA) representatives to better understand liability and geotechnical options and will return to the council with a fuller report at the next meeting. Montana Department of Transportation is conducting two speed studies — one on North Park Road and one to the east — and staff expect the results within a few months, followed by a public comment period of roughly 90–120 days before any final action. The manager also highlighted work by the Destination Marketing Office, funded by lodging tax dollars, which is running a public survey through Sept. 14 to gather citizen feedback on tourism and its local impacts. Staff said the survey results will inform future land-use and growth-policy work. Finally, the manager flagged a League of Cities summary of recent state legislative action and said some changes will limit local parking requirements for uses such as child-care facilities, assisted-living and deed-restricted housing and will allow taller structures in some instances (references to state changes limiting height restrictions to no lower than 60 feet). Staff recommended councilors review the summary to understand impacts on zoning and subdivision processes. The council asked for more detail on the hillside/erosion mitigation study; the manager said engineers had not provided sufficient information at this meeting and promised a fuller geotechnical report and options at the next council meeting.