[MissoulaGov] committee update 2-11-09

[Kathleen Snodgrass]

Not so sure just exactly where in the "Y" area the high nitrates are, but nitrates do come from other things than septic systems...like cattle feedlots or even pasture land that is heavily utilized.  Not that I'm saying they shouldn't have sewer instead of septic systems out there in the clay, but it IS possible that the nitrates in the drinking water are comming from cows instead of humans, depending on location.  Does that make it any yummier?
Also, is there any chance that the City's new zoning regs could allow accessory dwelling units in some neighborhoods and not others?  The Heart of Missoula, Northside, Westside, the slant streets, the area north of Brooks between Russell and Reserve, Hellgate Meadows, and the area around the Mall north of Brooks are neighborhoods where accessory dwelling units would be perfectly compatible with the neighborhoods.  On the other hand, ADUs would destroy the existing neighborhood character in other areas such as much of the Lewis & Clark neighborhood, Mansion heights, etc.  You can't blame people for not wanting the character of their neighborhoods to change, and in my opinion, there's enough space in Missoula that we should be able to keep the neighborhood variations that make such a wonderful city mosaic.  Isn't there any way to allow for location in this???

Kathie Snodgrass 
kippie_snodgrass at hotmail.com 
2702 O'Shaughnessy Street 
Missoula, MT 59808 
406-541-8639



Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:03:43 -0700
From: BJaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us
To: missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: [MissoulaGov] committee update 2-11-09
















Greetings,

This morning we had Jim Carlson step in for Ellen Lehey for
the health department update.  We mostly talked about the sewer/septic situation
in the Wye area where 93 crosses the interstate.  Due to the nature of the
soils and the hydrology the health department will not permit any more septic
(or private sewer) systems up there.  There is a current project to run
sewer to the area that has been in the works for years.  They are having
problems with exceeding the maximum levels for nitrates.  The only source
of nitrates in the water is from neighboring septic systems.  The effluent
from a septic system contains 50ppm of nitrates. They are seeing wells that are
real close to 10ppm. So that means that the source of 20% of the water in some
of the wells is from neighboring septic systems.

Yum.

We also talked about the move of partnership health care
from the health department building on Alder to the creamery building on
Railroad.  The Red Cross will remain in the first floor of the building
for a few years until their lease is up.  The PHC admin and dental clinic
will move to the second floor this summer after some remodeling.  Jim was
not aware of any plans on what will happen with the space being vacated in the
Alder street building.

 

In PAZ we had our first session on the Chickesaw
subdivision. This one promised to be a be a thorny one.  It is in the
Orchard Homes area and borders the properties of two of the neighborhood’s
most outspoken organizers. The property was recently farmed by Clark Fork
Organics. The Ag preservation community had called for half of the ten acres to
be preserved. The subdivision to the north was platted with a provision for a
through street to be connected if this parcel ever developed. So the neighbors
there who have been living on a dead end are now faced with the possibility for
their road to be a connection between third and seventh. The developer had
offered to preserve 1.3 acres for farmland in the NE corner. Staff was
supportive of the Ag preservation arguments made by CFAC and recommended
preserving a three acre parcel in the SE corner where the best soils are
located. The staff recommendation would have made the subdivision layout
impossible so they included a provision that said the developer could redesign
it to recoup up to the total of 30 lots.  Planning board denied the
subdivision 6-3. 

 

But instead of a big fight the developer came in with two
new layouts that they hoped could meet the goals of Ag preservation and the neighbors. 
One option had the three acres of Ag along the east edge where the better soils
are and had the road connection to the north.  The other option had the Ag
along the north portion of the property on the less desirable soils and
precluding the possibility of the through road.  The first option clearly was
closer to meeting the desires of staff, CFAC, and council as it saved the
better soils and created the connectivity. But plan B preserved the land next
to the neighbors and saved their dead end. 

So we will dig into the merits of the proposals next week
and try to get it settled.

 

We also had a visit from our zoning rewrite consultant who
gave us a presentation on the substantive changes to the code.  The issue everyone
is most eager to spill blood over is the Accessory Dwelling Unit chapter. For most
of us the ADU represents the preservation of the true character of our
community, the best opportunity for affordable housing, and a way to assure
diversity in our neighborhoods. But other folks don’t see it that way. Mr.
Wilkins suggested that allowing ADU’s would lead to the destruction of
his “pristine” neighborhood. 

The consultants, tasked with writing a code for the 21st
century, originally suggested that ADU’s should be permitted by right
throughout the city.  But after staff’s recommendation to avoid the
contentious issue they made it a zoning overlay that could be applied to a
neighborhood or parcel through a zoning change.

 

Our action today was to refer the document to the planning
board to review. So this starts the formal process of public review of the
draft that has been developed over the last year. Jon Wilkins, Dick, and Renee
voted against sending it to planning board for public review.  Ms. Helligard
and Mr. Hendrickson were absent.  The vote was very significant for me. I
interpret the votes against sending the document to planning board for public
review as an indication that regardless of what is or isn’t in the
document these members intend to obstruct its progress. 

It is no secret that the majority have goals that are in
conflict with those in the minority. We are faced with the dilemma of what
concessions to make in order to obtain consensus. Was this vote an indication
that concessions are in vain? Should we compromise what we believe to be in the
best interest of the city to obtain a consensus when in the end they are still
likely to vote against it?  Why should the minority be driving the outcome
of the process?  This is subject to change but at the moment I lean
towards pressing for our objectives and letting the elections that come a few
months after the adoption of the code be the communities confirmation of
support or rejection for our line of thinking. I am open to hearing some
arguments to the value of consensus building.

 

In other business we tangled over an apparent problem in our
rules that Ross Best pointed out where we do business in committees without a
quorum as long as we note it in the report. A strict reading would suggest that
no quorum means no business. But then there is the real world where there are
timelines and public who have taken time off of work to come testify and the
need to move forward. Also keeping in mind that the committees only make recommendations
to council.  We didn’t settle the matter and will have to take it up
again.

 

Thanks for your interest,  

 

 Bob
Jaffe

Missoula
City Council, Ward 3

bjaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us

406-728-1052



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