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Missoula council releases daycare requirement for Scott Street sale, clearing way for housing project
Summary
On June 16 the Missoula City Council voted 7–2 to remove a contract condition requiring construction and subsidized operation of a daycare at the Scott Street parcel sale to White Pine Parcel LLC, after city staff and community groups said no provider would commit to operate the space.
Missoula City Council voted 7–2 on June 16 to release a contract condition that had required the developer of a portion of the Scott Street parcel to construct and operate a daycare, allowing the sale to White Pine Parcel LLC to proceed without the daycare requirement.
Councilor Jones, who moved to lift the condition, framed the outcome as a reluctant step after months of effort. “Disappointment is a great word,” Jones said during council discussion. Jones told colleagues the city and partner organizations paused for two months, expanded outreach and asked United Way, Missoula Child Care Advantage and Montana Advocates for Children to find an operator; none committed to sign the lease required for the project to proceed.
The council debate highlighted competing goals: several councilors called the daycare requirement aspirational and said market and cost conditions changed since the original agreement; others said the city should hold developers to contract commitments. Councilor Jordan said she was “disappointed that we are allowing a developer to get out of a commitment that they made when they signed the contract.” Councilor Carlino said the city has subsidized the project, stating, “we subsidized this project $9,800,000.”
Public comment reflected the same split. Carrie Schreiber, a resident who spoke online, said she was disappointed the daycare requirement could not be realized and called the loss “a disappointment” for the North and West Side neighborhoods that had pushed for amenities.
Councilors and the mayor’s office described the decision as driven by the absence of a childcare operator willing to sign the lease. Mayor Andrea Davis and staff noted that commercial leaseholders had committed to other ground-floor uses that were necessary for the project’s financing, and that no childcare provider had made the financial commitment required. The administration said it will continue to pursue childcare through other city efforts, including a mayor’s task force on city lands redevelopment intended to identify financing and partnership strategies for city-owned sites.
Council debate and the council’s report to the public distinguished discussion from decision: councilors recounted the outreach and study, described the failure to obtain an operator (discussion), and the council approved a motion directing the mayor to execute the waiver to remove the daycare condition (formal action). The motion passed with seven votes in favor and two opposed; the council record shows Councilor Carlino and Councilor Jordan voted no.
Clarifying details from the council record: the developer had been contractually required to provide at least 4,000 square feet of daycare space and to offer that space at a subsidized rate for at least two years; the city had provided subsidies to the broader project (cited at $9,800,000 during debate); city staff and community partners spent roughly two months pursuing potential childcare operators before returning to council.
Next steps noted by the mayor’s office include continued activation of city-owned parcels through the mayor’s task force on city lands redevelopment and seeking alternate ways to fund or attract childcare services to future projects.
