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Missoula annexes 400 North California Street and zones parcel B2-3, with water-main and street-improvement conditions
Summary
City Council voted 11-0 on April 7 to annex 400 North California Street to Missoula and zone it B2-3. The annexation includes conditions: a water-main extension and half-street improvements on North California Street must be completed or secured with an improvements agreement within two years.
The Missoula City Council on April 7 approved a resolution to annex and incorporate 400 North California Street into city limits and to zone the parcel B2-3 community business, subject to two conditions: extension of a water main from Idaho Street to the north end of the property, and half-street improvements on the North California Street frontage (drive lane, parking lane, curb and gutter, boulevard and sidewalk). Council set a two-year timeframe for the developer to either complete the improvements or secure an improvements agreement with Public Works and Mobility.
Planner Tara Porcari presented the staff report and said the parcel — roughly 35,000 square feet — is in Flood Zone AE and lies within the city’s high-priority annexation area. Porcari told council that annexation will fill a small county island and aligns with the city’s land use plan, which designates the area as urban mixed use low. Under county zoning the parcel was NR (neighborhood residential); the requested city zoning of B2-3 would allow substantially greater density (staff noted a theoretical increase from 8 units per acre to up to 43 units per acre, subject to title 20 standards) and slightly higher maximum height (county NR allows up to 60 feet; B2-3 allows up to 65 feet).
Porcari said the annexation conditions were requested by Public Works and Mobility and engineering staff to ensure public utilities and frontage improvements are extended to serve the property. The staff report recommended annexation and included the two conditions. Public comment on the annexation was limited; resident Jeff Stevens spoke in favor of redevelopment.
Joe Dehnert of IMEG, representing the landowners, said the application is intended to bring the parcel into town for coordinated redevelopment that could provide mixed use housing and commercial space. Porcari and city staff noted that floodplain permitting and all building-permit requirements will be checked at the time a development application is submitted and that applicable streambed/permitting reviews remain in force.
Councilor Cheryl Nugent moved the annexation resolution. After the public hearing closed and no further council questions were raised, the resolution passed by roll call vote, 11–0. The conditions require the water main extension and half‑street improvements or an executed improvements agreement within two years of the annexation action.
Public Works and Mobility will manage the required utility and street improvements; the developer may secure an improvements agreement to delay construction if needed but must meet the two-year timeframe in the resolution.
