The Board of Missoula County Commissioners approved a 56-unit housing development on the site of the old Lolo School on Thursday, which will include a large parkland dedication and space for commercial growth.
Most of the old school buildings will be demolished to make way for the Belltower Planned Unit Development (PUD) subdivision, except for the original school belltower and one other building.
The PUD subdivisions allow the county and a private property owner to compromise on improving public amenities like parks in exchange for fewer regulations in the subdivision review process.
“The PUD subdivision process has been fantastic,” Brian Throckmorton with 406 Engineering said. “… The county has been great to work through this process. It has been very collaborative.”
The subdivision is mainly located along the Highway 93 corridor where there is more flat land. Much of the 33-acre property is too steep for development, leaving more than 16 acres to be used as a dedicated county park.
“That is what a PUD is, it is the county getting something in exchange for them getting some relaxed standards,” County Planner Jennie Dixon said.
Some of those regulations waived by the county include requirements to build boulevards, follow block-length maximums and construct sidewalks on both sides of the street.
While the county’s growth policy has called for up to 16 units per acre in the development area, 56 units were proposed because of water and sewer limitations.
Throckmorton said the Department of Environment Quality will allow 56 connections to the existing sewer and water system, adding it’s roughly the same equivalent as the utility use of the old Lolo School.
Because of the limitations, two lots in the subdivision will remain undeveloped until water or sewer can be connected, or a proposal comes forward to develop the land without those utilities, like a storage unit complex.
The commissioners would have to approve any new building that is proposed for the site. County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier said he hopes the commercial lots can be productive for the neighborhood.
“Anything that can be done that can add commercial amenities that will really enhance the sense of community, I would love that,” Strohmaier said.
Throckmorton said the belltower will be kept on property for now, but could be moved or restored in the future.
More than half of the development will become a public park managed by Missoula County. County parks staff said at the meeting that a formal trail network is in development to connect different neighborhoods on the hill.
The development will also include access to the trail system from Lolo Vista Drive to the south and a public parking lot within the Belltower subdivision.
Some residents have asked for the return of a frisbee golf course that previously existed when the old Lolo School still operated. County parks staff said it was too early to say whether a course will be included in the new park.
Griffen Smith is the local government reporter for the Missoulian.
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