Residents urge more public input, affordable units and a larger park for Midtown Commons

Missoula ' Residents raised repeated concerns about the Midtown Commons development during public comment at the Missoula City Council meeting on Nov. 10, saying outreach to nearby residents was insufficient and asking the city to protect affordable and senior housing and to expand the size and programming of the planned park.

"The Midtown Commons project had little public input by the mayor or the city council until [the] Oct. 23 presentation," said Barbara Polley of the South Pete Triangle neighborhood, who asked whether the developer or the city will assume environmental cleanup costs and urged the council to require "at least 20% affordable and 80% midrange" housing mix. "The purpose of Midtown Commons was to build more affordable housing," she said (public comment, Nov. 10).

Other neighbors echoed Polley. Carrie Schreiber of the Southgate Triangle leadership team said the park-planning process had low visibility and asked why parks staff had not pursued more in-person outreach, noting a public park visioning meeting set for Nov. 19 at Jefferson School from 5 to 8 p.m. "Without knowing what type of commercial is going to border the park, it's really hard to plan what that park should look like," Schreiber said.

Katie Thompson, a nearby property owner, told the council she feared the project is "going too quickly" and urged the city to require explicit protections for senior and affordable housing before a developer is allowed to begin construction.

Mayor Andrea Davis told residents the Midtown Commons site (formerly called Southgate Crossing) was purchased with the Midtown master plan goals in mind and described a multi-year public engagement process that led to the developer selection. She encouraged residents to review background materials on Engage Missoula and reiterated the park visioning open house scheduled for Nov. 19.

Multiple members of the public asked when council would see a development agreement, and whether public input would still be meaningful once an agreement is drafted. Mary Giuliani cited a recent Missoula Redevelopment Agency meeting and said she was told "we don't buy or sell land without city council approval," asking when the public would be able to influence the terms of any agreement.

The council did not take action on Midtown Commons at the Nov. 10 meeting. City staff and council members indicated that more details will be provided when project materials are ready for formal review and that the upcoming park workshop is an opportunity for residents to provide input on park design.

Next steps: the mayor and staff pointed residents to Engage Missoula for background documents and to the Nov. 19 park visioning event at Jefferson School for immediate input.