Sign up for the free Missoula This Week newsletter and stay in the loop on Missoula city government, public school meetings, business news and upcoming entertainment and events.
12/12/2025
“Missoula This Week” is reported and written By Katie Fairbanks. Send your Missoula news and tips to [email protected].
Council questions the potential health, environmental effects of artificial turf
The Missoula City Council Wednesday spent about two hours questioning the potential environmental and health impacts of a proposed artificial turf field for the city-owned baseball stadium before delaying its vote until the new year.
Big Sky Professional Baseball, which owns the Missoula PaddleHeads, leases the Ogren Park stadium and wants to install a Tarkett Sports artificial turf to extend the field’s usable season. Matt Ellis, the PaddleHeads president, said the change would allow for more youth and high school sports to play on the field. Ellis said the project could also alleviate the need for another public or private turf to be installed in Missoula.
“If we don’t do it right, then somebody else is going to do it, and they’re going to do it less responsibly,” he said.
In response to questions from last week’s discussion on the proposal, Ellis said that the turf would be made from recycled tires and that the PaddleHeads are committed to installing a turf that is made without PFAs, long-lasting chemicals found in many products and throughout the environment, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Research on health and environmental effects is ongoing, but some PFAs have been linked to certain health problems, according to the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Kyla Bennett, director of science policy for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told the council that no proper analysis has shown the existence of PFAs-free turf. Even if the turf did not have PFAs, its microplastics would contaminate soils and water, Bennett said.
Jared Petrino, regional manager with Tarkett Sports, said he respects that information, but not all turf companies are the same.
Council Member Amber Sherrill expressed skepticism that the field would be fully recycled, while Council Members Kristen Jordan and Stacie Anderson raised concerns about the potential presence of toxic chemicals in the recycled tires used in the turf.
Petrino said the tires are cleaned and cryogenically frozen at a low temperature to help eliminate as many toxins as possible, but that he would have to check with the company’s toxicologist to see how that chemical is measured in its products.
When the artificial turf is removed, the company can reuse the infill material, while the turf grass is ground up and often reused as nailer boards or an alternative infill for fields, Petrino said.
Tarkett Sports is part of a larger flooring company that’s been around for a long time, he said. Ellis said that the PaddleHeads will not sign a contract for the turf without a recycling guarantee and that they chose this company because they think it’s the best.
Council members also voiced concerns about potential chemicals spreading to the nearby Clark Fork River and Missoula’s aquifer and the heat effects of the turf. Ellis said the PaddleHeads have played on an artificial turf field in Kalispell without heat problems.
Several members of the public also commented in opposition to the artificial turf, raising similar concerns about its health and environmental safety risks.
Council Member Mike Nugent suggested delaying the council’s vote until January and asked council members to send questions to city staff for them and the company to address.
Ellis said he supports the council’s process, but if the decision is made too late in January, the PaddleHeads won’t be able to install the artificial turf until after the next baseball season, and the cost could increase. A new natural grass field would have to be installed in the fall after the next baseball season, he said.
The Missoula Redevelopment Agency board in August approved spending $1.6 million in tax increment financing to replace the field. Artificial turf would cost around $2.2 million, and Big Sky Professional Baseball would pay the difference.
Developer’s appeal to demolish Old Post Hospital without redevelopment plan denied
The Missoula Board of Adjustment Wednesday denied an appeal from the owners of the Old Post Hospital who sought to demolish the building without first submitting a plan for its redevelopment.
The city zoning officer previously concluded that demolition of any historic resource within the Historic Fort Missoula Neighborhood Character Overlay District is subject to permit and review requirements. The zoning district was established in the 1990s to protect the buildings and grounds and to limit certain development, according to the city code.
In its appeal, FAE Missoula Hospital, LLC, owned by Kenneth and Max Wolf, argued that the code’s plain language and intent indicate that only buildings that are individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places are required to follow the demolition regulations outlined in the section.
After about two hours of presentations from both sides and discussion, the board of adjustment denied the appeal, determining that the city’s interpretation of the code was correct.
FAE Missoula Hospital purchased the Old Post Hospital in 2019. In 2023, the developers proposed building townhomes and commercial buildings adjacent to the hospital and using the revenue for the rehabilitation of the historic building, the Missoulian previously reported. The commission denied that permit, and the city council upheld the decision. Early last year, the developers announced their decision to apply for a demolition permit. The Historic Preservation Commission denied the permit in March, contrary to the staff’s recommendation.
In September, the Missoula City Council overturned the commission’s denial and granted the demolition permit, subject to conditions of approval that included a redevelopment plan that complies with applicable zoning regulations. Kenneth Wolf argued during the Sept. 17 meeting that the section requiring a redevelopment plan in order to receive a demolition permit does not apply to the Old Post Hospital. During that meeting, Deputy City Attorney Tim DeFors said that the argument was outside the scope of the permit appeal, and the council did not discuss it.
DeFors told the Board of Adjustment Wednesday that the city issued the zoning opinion in late September in response to Wolf’s insistence that the Old Post Hospital demolition was not subject to certain requirements. FAE appealed the opinion Oct. 24.
FAE’s attorney Griffin Stevens said the zoning officer’s opinion incorrectly extended the requirement to all historic resources. Stevens’ argument centered around part of the code that states: “Any property proposed for demolition or relocation which is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places requires an historic demolition/relocation permit.”
Stevens said that his interpretation doesn’t mean that historic resources not individually listed on the national register are not subject to regulations, but just not this specific section of the code.
“This idea that we’re opening the floodgates to demolition without review is simply not the case,” he said. “More importantly, however, whether there is a gap in the ordinance is immaterial to this board’s review.”
Elizabeth Johnson, the city’s historic preservation officer, explained to the board that while the city has several historic districts, it only has three overlays, including the Fort Missoula district. Buildings in historic districts are not subject to the specific demolition requirements in question unless they are individually listed on the national register, Johnson said.
“The only way that a historic district gets protected through the historic preservation permit process is through the establishment of an overlay,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the Fort Missoula district is on the national register, making it unnecessary for its contributing structures to be individually listed.
John Newman, chair of the adjustment board, said it seems like “splitting hairs” to apply the regulations to buildings that are individually listed on the register but not buildings that are part of historic districts on the register.
“What would make an individually listed property more special than a property that is in a listed district?” he said. “Both deemed historic, both listed on the national register, but we would protect one more than another? I don’t know.”
The board voted unanimously to deny the appeal. Kenneth Wolf did not immediately respond to MTFP’s request for comment.
Public Notice
The public hearing and final vote on Missoula’s new unified development code, which includes zoning and development regulations, has been pushed to January. The Missoula City Council was set to open the public hearing on Dec. 15 and take a final vote Dec. 22.
Council Member Mike Nugent said during the council’s Monday meeting that the Missoula Consolidated Planning Commission was still reviewing the code, so the council decided to move its schedule. The planning commission Tuesday voted to recommend that the city council adopt the unified development code after discussing it over the course of five meetings and proposing several amendments.
The first reading of the ordinance to adopt the new code will take place Monday, Dec. 15. The public hearing is set for Monday, Jan. 12, and the council will discuss amendments during its meeting the following Wednesday. The final vote is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 26.
The unified development code encompasses zoning, subdivision, public works and parks-related regulations previously separated in different documents that sometimes conflicted with each other, according to the city’s webpage on the project. The updated Standards and Specifications Manual includes administrative rules, design standards and details, and clarifies how projects can meet code requirements. The updates to the code follow the adoption of the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan last December, which will guide the city’s growth and development over the next 20 years.
Residents can find more information and submit a comment on the proposed zoning code and regulations online.
5 Things to Know in Missoula
The Missoula City Council Monday approved a new casino and tavern off Mullan Road. The project at 2315 Clark Fork Lane would include a casino with 20 gaming machines, a small attached food and drink store and a restaurant and tavern. The council first approved the project in 2022, but the developer did not submit a building permit application within the required timeframe. Jeffrey Crouch, principal architect with Paradigm Architecture, said the project was delayed because of a change in private partners, and the increase in construction costs led developers to downsize the project. The developer, MMW, LLC, already built an office building on the site and a parking lot to serve the three buildings planned for the parcel, said Lauren Stevens, a senior planner with the city. The developer has three years to submit a building permit that must substantially conform with the plans presented for review. Crouch said they plan to submit a building permit in the next several months to start construction by spring. Some council members said the city does not need more casinos but that the neighborhood wants a restaurant. Council Member Kristin Jordan voted against the request because of resident concerns about casinos and bars that are “very addictive practices.” Council Member Daniel Carlino also voted against the request.
The city and Missoula County are taking steps to create separate planning commissions in the new year as required by state law. The governments currently share a consolidated planning board. The Missoula City Council Wednesday voted to establish a nine-member municipal planning commission that would review land use documents, zoning and subdivision regulations and decide appeals from site-specific land use decisions made by city staff. The members, who must be city residents, would serve staggered three-year terms without term limits. The Missoula County commissioners in November established the Missoula Consolidated Land Use Board to review land use plans, subdivisions, zoning requests and administrative action appeals. The board will comprise seven members and two alternates who must reside outside the city limits of Missoula in the county. More information is available online.
On Wednesday, the Missoula City Council approved a contract amendment for up to $2.47 million for the final engineering phase of the Downtown Safety Access Mobility (SAM) project. The city contracted with engineering firm DJ&A earlier this year to design the project, which includes converting Front and Main streets into two-way streets, updating Higgins Avenue to a three-lane street, creating protected bike lanes along Higgins, trail improvements and upgrading traffic signals downtown. The project is primarily funded by a $24.5 million federal grant awarded in June 2023. The amendment brings the total contract amount to about $3.9 million, Megan McMeekin, a senior project manager with the city’s public works department, told the council. The amendment includes changes to the engineering firm’s scope of work, scaling back parts of the project because it was running over budget, McMeekin said. Council Members Bob Campbell and Kristen Jordan voted against the contract. McMeekin said she would present a larger update on the project design in January.
The candidate filing period for the Missoula County Public School Board of Trustees opened Thursday. Four of the board’s 11 seats are up for election in May 2026, including two seats representing elementary and high school districts, one representing high school district D — Seeley Swan, Potomac, Clinton, Sunset areas — and one representing high school district C, the Hellgate area. Trustees Jeffery Avgeris and Lisa Davey are up for election, along with two trustees appointed this year — Leslie McShane and Denise Juneau. Davey was appointed in 2024 and was elected last year to finish out that term, which expires in 2026. As of Thursday afternoon, no one had filed for any of the seats. The filing period closes at 5 p.m. on Feb. 9. More information and a list of candidates who have filed are available on the county elections website.
Missoula Parks and Recreation is gathering community input on Splash Montana, its outdoor waterpark. An online survey is open through Jan. 7. The survey includes questions about programming, food service, customer experience and overall park operations. Missoula’s aquatics facilities, including Splash Montana, turn 20 years old next summer, and the department is exploring how these facilities can meet residents’ needs for the next 20 years.
On Campus
The University of Montana will celebrate more than 800 degree candidates during its fall commencement ceremony Friday, Dec. 12. The ceremony at the Adams Center is free and open to the public.
Doors open at 1 p.m., and the procession begins at 1:45 p.m., followed by the ceremony at 2 p.m. Attendees can park in the commuter/day pass/employee parking permit and hourly pay areas for free beginning at noon. The ceremony will be livestreamed online.
“When these graduates arrived on campus, we made a commitment to put their success at the center of everything we do,” UM President Seth Bodnar said in a press release. “This ceremony will celebrate their contributions to our University as they pursue the next chapter of their lives with a hard-earned diploma in their hand.”
During the ceremony, UM will present an honorary doctorate to commencement speaker Lana Batts, a trucking industry executive and 1968 UM graduate.
Batts, the former president of the Truckload Carriers Association and senior vice president of government affairs with the American Trucking Association, launched investment firm Transport Capital Partners and co-founded Driver IQ, a background screening company for the industry.