Buildings, Land Use, & Transportation

Goals and Strategies

Given the buildings, land use, and transportation sector's vulnerabilities, we have developed the following goals and strategies.

Goals are presented in bold with their corresponding action items below it.

Implementation

Implementation has begun for the strategies in the Buildings, Land Use, and Transportation sector.

If you would like to receive more information or would like to apply to join the working group, contact Caroline Lauer.

Balance competing land use needs in the context of population growth.

Consider, and ultimately incorporate, climate migration in population growth projections in growth policy and other planning efforts.
Ensure that city and county land use plans adequately protect habitat, open space, and agricultural land.
Encourage urban gardens and small-scale agriculture to preserve the ability to grow food in Missoula County.
Protect strategically important private lands with conservation easements and acquisition.

Reduce cooling costs by increasing efficiency of building stock.

Develop programs to implement and incentivize more energy efficient building practices (new and retrofits) that are accessible to all socio-economic groups, including weatherization and cool roofs.
Develop an educational campaign to increase consumers' energy efficiency, with a focus on cooling.

Reduce vulnerability of buildings to wildfire.

Adopt regulations and programs to address the home ignition zone (structure and surroundings), such as neighborhood ambassadors, Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) building codes, WUI zoning codes, and WUI standards in building, zoning, and subdivision codes.
Restrict and regulate new development in high wildfire hazard areas.
Levy impact fees and/or use other funding sources to fund fire protection related infrastructure (fire trucks, hydrants, responders, etc.)

Address urban heat island effect and maintain and grow healthy, diverse urban forests that account for social equity considerations.

Create incentives and programs to decrease urban heat island effect, for example through building siting, shade and vegetation.
Develop and promote an educational campaign to build shared understanding of value of urban forests and encourage planting appropriate species, watering, and care.
Develop and promote an educational campaign to build a shared understanding of the importance of xeriscaping.

Reduce development in the floodplain.

Prevent or restrict new development in the floodplain.
Work with federal partners on education and buy-out programs in floodplain areas where there is a history of repetitive loss.
Enhance FEMA floodplain maps with climate change projections to be used for local regulatory and educational purposes.

Ensure sustainable transportation options are part of land use planning and development.

Support land use regulations and incentives that encourage densities and mixes of uses that allow for and support a wide range of sustainable transportation options.
Pursue policies and prioritize funding to achieve transportation mode split goals in the Long Range Transportation Plan, considering population growth projections.
Strengthen public transit system to provide safe travel during heat and/or smoke events.
Pursue complete street policies and programming that incorporates urban forestry and stormwater management.

Related Upcoming and Ongoing Efforts

There are many ongoing and upcoming planning efforts that intersect with Climate Ready Missoula's goals and strategies. The Buildings, Land Use, and Transportation working group is currently focused on the efforts listed below. Click on each to learn more about each effort.

Community planning assistance for wildfire (CPAW)

The Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire policy and regulation assessment was initiated by CAPS with involvement by Office of Emergency Management, Public Works, Missoula Rural Fire. The goal is to reduce risk of wildfire to structures and communities by addressing the home ignition zone through a combination of regulatory measures and voluntary programs.

cskt Climate change advisory committee

This is an effort of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) of the Flathead Reservation. The CCAC plan is designed to set standards for decision making, and serve as reference regarding methods and opportunities for collaboration within the various entities of the Tribal government and community.

missoula county zoning update

This is a comprehensive update to the Missoula County zoning code to reflect Missoula County’s growth policy, including the Missoula Area Mapping Project and Climate Ready Missoula. With a few exceptions, these zoning regulations will apply not to the entire county but to those parts of the county that are closer to the urban area (specifically the area that was included in the Missoula Area Mapping Project). These zoning regulations also will not apply within the City of Missoula, which has its own zoning code.

mullan area master plan + BUILD GRANT

The Mullan Area Master Plan is a joint city-county planning process which will adopt new growth policy land use designations for the area and implement a new set of zoning regulations. The goal of the effort is to provide some relief to Missoula's housing supply challenges by increasing the amount of allowable housing units, requiring diversity in housing types, and requiring land use patterns and transportation facilities that will result in walkable, bikeable connected neighborhoods.

The Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development, or BUILD Transportation Discretionary Grant program, provides a unique opportunity for the DOT to invest in road, rail, transit and port projects that promise to achieve national objectives. Together with the City of Missoula, Missoula County has received a BUILD Grant for the Mullan Road area. If awarded, the grant would help reduce congestion, improve public safety and create economic development in the area of Mullan Rd, Mary Jane Blvd, England Blvd, and George Elmer Dr.

office of neighborhoods community survey

The Office of Neighborhoods is developing a survey to assess quality of life and areas of need in Missoula's neighborhoods.

subdivision and townhome exemption development updates

These updates are opportunities to streamline, clarify, and update the subdivision and TED regulations while considering the values and high quality development expectations of the community.

Strategies of Interest

Within the existing planning efforts detailed above, there are several intersections with the Climate Ready Missoula plan. In total, 38 of the plan's 77 strategies are already represented in these plans, representing multiple sectors of Climate Ready Missoula. Implementing these strategies will be a multi-year process, but ensuring they are included in ongoing efforts is a key first step. Click below to learn more about each strategy.

wildfire smoke, heat, and health

Develop voluntary measures and incentives, such as certification program for clean air buildings, to encourage safe indoor air in public buildings, schools, and businesses.

buildings, land use, and transportation

Ensure that city and county land use plans adequately protect habitat, open space, and agricultural land.
Encourage urban gardens and small-scale agriculture to preserve the ability to grow food in Missoula County.
Protect strategically important private lands with conservation easements and acquisition.
Prevent or restrict new development in the floodplain.
Develop programs to implement and incentivize more energy efficient building practices (new and retrofits) that are accessible to all socio-economic groups, including weatherization and cool roofs.
Adopt regulations and programs to address the home ignition zone (structure and surroundings), such as neighborhood ambassadors, Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) building codes, WUI zoning codes, and WUI standards in building, zoning, and subdivision codes.
Restrict and regulate new development in high wildfire hazard areas.
Create incentives and programs to decrease urban heat island effect for example through building siting, shade and vegetation.
Develop and promote an educational campaign to build shared understanding of the importance of xeriscaping.
Support land use regulations and incentives that encourage densities and mixes of uses that allow for and support a wide range of sustainable transportation options.
Pursue policies and prioritize funding to achieve transportation mode split goals in the Long Range Transportation Plan, considering population growth projections.
Pursue complete street policies and programming that incorporates urban forestry and stormwater management.

water

Take water availability into account in county growth policy and zoning.
Expand storage (natural and human created, e.g. reservoirs, wetlands, beavers, and beaver mimicry).
Develop a funding mechanism to support green infrastructure.
Implement low-impact development standards to encourage fewer impervious surfaces.
Improve and expand stormwater facilities, via new land use regulations or other methods.

ecosystems and wildfire

Maintain and enhance connected habitat corridors.
Implement best practices such as prescribed fire, streamside buffers, and support of beavers to increase watershed resilience to fire.
Grow educational and outreach efforts within and between agencies, community partners, and public to build support for forest management options (including allowing natural fires to burn), considering divergent values (for example, Wildfire Adapted Missoula).

agriculture

Promote diversification of farm income sources (e.g. carbon offsets, value added products, and ecotourism).

emergency preparedness and response

Assess infrastructure needs and vulnerabilities to inform infrastructure strategic plan (protect, enhance, develop redundancies).
Enhance emergency communication capabilities and evacuation strategies, routes, and safety zones.

business, recreation, and tourism

Enhance energy efficiency and weatherization workforce and business opportunities.

energy

Develop local energy savings programs to reduce energy cost burden and exposure to energy price volatility.
Accelerate adoption of distributed renewable energy systems, electrification and microgrids.
Manage vegetation near utility infrastructure to reduce the risk of igniting fires in very hot/dry periods.

Working Group Members

Andrew Hagemeier, Missoula County Community & Planning Services
Karen Hughes, Missoula County Community & Planning Services
Chase Jones, City of Missoula Energy Conservation and Climate Action
Gwen Lankford, Sapphire Strategies
Diana Maneta, Missoula County Community & Planning Services
Laval Means, City of Missoula Development Services
Tara Osendorf, City of Missoula Transportation Division
Aaron Wilson, City of Missoula Transportation Division
Laurie Yung, University of Montana

Do you prefer to think about strategies in terms of which climate impacts they respond to?

You can sort all buildings, land use, and transportation strategies by related climate impact below, as well as whether they have a mitigation benefit or strengthen resiliency in a different sector as well as buildings, land use, and transportation.