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Missoula residents press council on affordable housing, parks and engagement
Summary
Public commenters urged more action on affordable housing and better engagement on zoning changes, while several speakers urged the city to transition municipal parks to pesticide‑free maintenance citing health concerns and personal experience.
During the public comment period preceding the UDC hearings, dozens of residents raised neighborhood-level issues alongside broad housing policy. Speakers asked for more active city intervention to preserve and expand affordable housing (including tools such as tax-increment financing and land trusts), better outreach to ward residents about zoning proposals, and mandatory inclusionary zoning (which councilors noted state law currently prohibits).
Separately, several speakers—Donna Flannery and Sarah Flannery among them—urged the council to adopt a timeline this calendar year to transition Missoula’s municipal parks and playing fields to pesticide-free management, citing links between pesticide exposure and neurological disease and emphasizing the risks to children. Donna Flannery described the impact of Parkinson’s disease on her family and requested a city timeline for conversion to organic management.
Councilors and staff acknowledged the testimony and noted that the UDC adoption is not a substitute for other policy tools. Staff and councilors encouraged continued engagement and said several non-code policy tools or future phases could address topics such as parks, targeted housing finance, and outreach improvements.
