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3/24/2025
“Missoula This Week” is reported and written By Katie Fairbanks. Send your Missoula news and tips to [email protected].
Planning Board OKs rezone to allow residential, commercial uses and taller buildings
A landowner’s plans to build apartments and commercial space on the corner of River Road and California Street moved forward Tuesday after the Missoula Planning Board voted to recommend the city council approve the request to rezone the five-acre property.
The Missoula City Council will discuss the rezone request on April 2 and hold a public hearing on April 7.
While only voting on the rezone and not the potential development, several planning board members expressed support for the property owner’s vision.
“I think it’s a dynamite location with all the bike-ped access, parks, trails and all sorts of things nearby,” Board Member Shane Morrisey said. “I’m excited to see something happen here.”
Engineering firm IMEG applied for the zoning change on behalf of property owners Richard and Kammy Zavarelli, who own the Sunrise Saloon and Zavarelli Enterprises. The application states the property provides a unique opportunity as one of the few locations of its size that could be classified as infill development.
The property, which includes three parcels at 1201 River Road, 1203 River Road and 401 N. California St., currently has a mix of single-family homes, multifamily buildings and residential outbuildings that would be removed, according to the application. Most of the property is zoned to allow single-family homes, duplexes or two-unit townhomes, with a smaller section on the corner of River Road and California Street zoned to allow all residential and some commercial uses. The Zavarellis requested the property be rezoned to allow all residential, some commercial and light industrial, with a maximum building height of 65 feet, or about six stories.
The proposed site plan included in the application is not binding but illustrates how the property owner intends to develop the site under the requested zoning, said Tara Porcari, senior planner with the city. The plan shows a four-story multifamily building and three five-story mixed-used buildings, some townhomes and green space between the buildings and River Road. The tallest buildings would be 53 feet. That development could include about 235 dwelling units, 245 parking spaces and 8,500 square feet of commercial space, according to the plan.
The property is located in a flood zone with a 1% chance of annual flood hazard. This will require a review and floodplain permit before building permits are issued, Porcari said.
IMEG planner Joe Dehnert said the Zavarellis have been discussing potential development of the property with the city for the better part of a decade. The biggest concern was floodplain and overall vision for the property, he said. This is the perfect time for the project as city planning has “caught up” with the landowner’s vision, Dehnert said. The 2019 Downtown Master Plan and the new Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan call for higher density housing and mixed-use in the area.
“By being able to get this B2-3 zoning on the subject property, you’ve seen on our site plans, we can get the destiny the plans call for,” Dehnert said. “We can get the connectivity and meet all the intent while still nodding to or providing that open green space.”
The Downtown Master Plan envisions the Wyoming Street neighborhood, where the Zavarelli property is located, building on development in the nearby Old Sawmill District with a mix of multifamily and missing-middle housing and businesses located along River Road and Idaho Street. The plan calls for River Road to be moved south, allowing for improvements to the riparian area along the Clark Fork River and extension of the Riverfront Trail.
Mike Morgan, architect with Hoffmann Morgan and Associates, said the development team worked with city staff to follow the Downtown Master Plan. The requested zoning allows the property to be built up instead of out, allowing more open space between the buildings and river, Morgan said.
The requested zoning is consistent with the area’s new land use plan designation of “urban mixed-use low,” which is intended to reflect an urban residential feel with a diversity of housing types and a mix of commercial and cottage industrial uses, according to the staff report. The proposal also complies with the plan’s goal to focus on infill and allows for a variety of housing types in a manner that addresses floodplain concerns, the report said.
A couple board members raised concerns about the 65-foot maximum building height along the riverfront. Board Chair Sean McCoy said he hoped to see the new zoning code address building heights along and moving back from the river.
“As much as I like this plan, I also recognize the fact that if we move forward with B2-3, we’re setting precedent and that precedent will carry up and down the river as we know it,” McCoy said. “It just raises questions for me as far as how much height we’re going to be building close to the river. However, at the same time I also very much support mixed use. I want to see businesses and coffee shops and all of the things we like within our walkability.”
Public Notice
Missoula Parks and Recreation will hold an open house on draft plans for Northside parks from 5 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Lowell Elementary School library. Residents can comment on draft design concepts for the new park on North Scott Street and improvements to the Northside Park and Annex informed by public feedback from two design workshops held last fall. The department will post a survey online for those who can’t attend the open house.
The new 5.4-acre park on Scott Street and Rogers Street will replace the nearby White Pine Park and better serve the growing Northside and Westside neighborhoods, according to the department. The city aims to keep White Pine Park open as long as possible before the new park’s opening in the summer of 2026.
Whooping cough circulating in Missoula, state
Missoula Public Health is alerting the community that pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is circulating in the county and statewide.
So far this year, 23 pertussis cases have been reported in Missoula County and more than 140 cases have been reported statewide, according to the health department. The highly contagious respiratory illness is especially dangerous for infants, pregnant individuals and those with weakened immune systems.
Statewide, pertussis cases began increasing in September, with a high of 80 cases reported in January, according to data from the Montana Department of Health and Human Services. Last year, three cases were reported in January, February and March combined.
Missoula County is also seeing more cases than in past years, said Pam Whitney, infectious disease specialist with Missoula Public Health. The higher number of cases is due in part to the illness spreading among high school and college students, she said.
The illness often begins with mild cold-like symptoms and can progress to severe coughing spells, according to the health department. Anyone experiencing symptoms should seek medical attention, especially if they’ve been in close contact with someone else diagnosed with pertussis. Symptoms can include persistent cough for more than two weeks, severe coughing fits sometimes followed by a “whooping” sound, vomiting after coughing, difficulty breathing and apnea or pauses in breathing, particularly in infants.
Missoula Public Health recommends people who suspect they have pertussis to seek medical care, follow treatment guidelines and stay home if sick. To help prevent the spread of pertussis, people can get vaccinated, practice good hygiene and avoid close contact with sick people, especially in group settings like schools and childcare facilities.
By the Numbers
The number of Narcan boxes distributed from vending machines installed last spring as part of the Dose of Hope program, according to Missoula County. The machines also distributed more than 620 fentanyl test strip kits.
The United Way of Missoula County is facilitating the Dose of Hope program in partnership with the Missoula Drug Safety Coalition and Missoula Public Health in an effort to increase distribution of the opioid-reversal medication and reduce opioid overdose deaths.
The free vending machines are located at the Mountain Line transfer center, Johnson Street shelter, Missoula Food Bank and Community Center and Hope Rescue Mission. The United Way received about $43,000 from the Independent Emergency Room Physicians Trust to purchase and maintain the vending machines. Narcan nasal spray for the machines is provided for free from the state through a federal grant. The University of Montana’s Students for Sensible Drug Policy program provides the fentanyl test strips.
5 Things to Know in Missoula
Last week, the Missoula County commissioners voted to cancel 17 upcoming special district board elections and elected unopposed candidates by acclamation. Several positions remain unfilled and the county is taking applications through 3 p.m. on April 11. Lists of candidates elected by acclamation and open positions are available online. The May 6 special election will still be held for some special district positions, school board positions and school district levies. Candidate filing for school board positions is open until March 27.
Missoula County selected Jason Mitchell as its new public works director to replace Shane Stack, who retires in June. Mitchell, who starts March 31, was most recently director of facilities, health and safety for Engie, a multinational corporation specializing in low-carbon energy and services. He previously worked in the public sector as an engineering project manager for Jackson, Wyoming, as construction superintendent for the Missoula Housing Authority and as a technology specialist for Missoula County 911.
The Missoula Interfaith Collaborative’s Housing Advocate Network is holding a community event addressing homelessness in Missoula on Tuesday at the Zootown Arts Community Center. The event includes an update from Mayor Andrea Davis on the recently completed strategy to address homelessness and the screening of locally produced short documentaries highlighting stories of Housing Advocate Network volunteers and participants and the documentary “Americans with No Address,” which explores homelessness across the United States. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. and is free with donations welcome.
Common Good Missoula is hosting a community gathering on Wednesday for Missoulians to discuss local impacts of federal actions. The event will feature a brief presentation and several short stories, including testimonies from a USAID worker and Forest Service employee who lost their jobs. Attendees will then participate in small group discussions to share personal experiences, connect with neighbors and explore ways to act in solidarity. The event begins at 6 p.m. at the ALI Center in the Phyllis Washington School of Education at the University of Montana.
Soft Landing Missoula is hosting a discussion on “international aid in a changing world” at 6 p.m. Thursday at the University Center Theater. The lecture is a partnership between the nonprofit, which works with refugee and immigrant families, and the University of Montana’s Davidson Honors College, Franke Global Leadership Initiative and International Development Studies program. International aid experts, UM faculty and individuals with lived refugee experience will discuss the current state of U.S. foreign assistance, its implications in a changing political climate and how these global shifts affect the local community.
Might Be Fun
New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones will be reading from his latest novel on Sunday at the Missoula Public Library. Montana poet laureate Chris La Tray will join Jones for a conversation about the book.
“The Buffalo Hunter Hunter,” set in 1912, follows a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire haunting the Blackfeet Reservation in search of justice.
Doors open at 5 p.m., and the reading begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Cooper Space on the fourth floor of the library. Fact & Fiction will be on hand to sell copies of the book and Jones will sign books at the end of the night.