“It takes a lot of water to get the crops up,” he said. “The agriculture part is tough for small producers.”
And now he finds it difficult to subdivide, too.
On Wednesday, the Missoula Board of County Commissioners unanimously denied the 33-lot, 67.3-acre Linda Vista Acres subdivision proposed near the southern intersection of Lower and Upper Miller Creek roads on the back side of the “little hill.” They also denied Twite's request to rezone a portion of the land to accommodate higher density.
Issues raised Wednesday with regard to the area's growth plan - traffic and water - likely are a preview of what's to come Monday night, when the Missoula City Council takes up Twite's other subdivision proposal. Linda Vista Estates is a 212-lot residential subdivision on 93.6 acres of land located immediately west of Linda Vista Acres.
Charlie Graham has lived up Miller Creek for 46 years. He's not opposed to the subdivision, but he is worried about the water supply.
“The aquifer is insufficient to support the homes there,” he said. “I have personal evidence of two wells drilled and two wells dry.”
Karen Wagner, 66, has lived in Miller Creek since 1994.
Traffic in the area is “atrocious,” she said. “The traffic is maxed out already if not another house was built.”
It worries Wagner that as more homes are approved for construction in Miller Creek, the traffic at peak hours will be backed up so far that she may not be able to exit her driveway, she said.
Twite's subdivisions have shed light on how Miller Creek has developed over the years.
Part of what city officials must decide Monday is whether Linda Vista Estates meets the requirements outlined in the Miller Creek Comprehensive Plan. On Wednesday, the county commissioners voted it did not.
City-county planners recommended denial of Linda Vista Acres and Linda Vista Estates because a policy change would be necessary to bring the subdivision proposals into compliance with the growth plan, adopted in 1997 to reduce sprawl, maintain the area's rural character and create a logical framework for phased growth.
According to the plan, land closest to services should be urbanized. The plan outlines the “urban” area, and states that not until it is 80 percent “built-out” can developers request higher densities on land farther up the drainage.
The problem, however, is the urban area has not been developed according to its highest allowable density.
The city zoned Miller Creek to allow up to 6,687 lots, but only 2,171 have been approved. Technically, the area is only 33 percent full.
Even by including subdivisions that have been approved but aren't yet under construction, development doesn't reach the 80 percent threshold.
That means the development community is stuck subdividing at a one-home-per-5-acre density on land outside the urban area, or local officials need to change the policy.
“This has been a frustrating project,” said Twite's representative, Gilbert Larson of Professional Consultants Inc. “It seems as though every time we take one step forward, we take two steps back.”
The message the county commissioners sent Wednesday is that if the development community wants to subdivide land farther out at higher densities, construction on hundreds more homes inside the urbanized area needs to begin first.
Commissioner Larry Anderson called Twite a “forward thinker” as he began to develop the Miller Creek area years ago. Twite also is the developer of the Miller Creek View Addition, a massive subdivision approved in 1998 with six to seven phases over the course of 20 years.
“I've known Lloyd a long time ... but in this particular situation, this threshold for not meeting higher density has not been met,” Anderson said.
Larson, meanwhile, tried unsuccessfully to get a hand count Wednesday at the city's plat, annexation and zoning committee meeting to see whether council members were open to approving only the zoning and annexation request, and allowing Twite to submit a revised subdivision proposal at a later date.
Twite agreed to help pay half of the city's $1.1 million shortfall for its Miller Creek Road improvement project from Briggs Street to Mockingbird Way, which includes the roundabout at the Wye on the north side, but only if the city approves Linda Vista Estates, Larson said. The developer of Teton Ranch is pitching in the remaining $550,000 for the project.
In exchange, the city would not collect as much in transportation mitigation fees from each developer.
The subdivision and zoning and annexation requests for Linda Vista Estates will go before the Missoula City Council at its weekly meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in City Council Chambers.
Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260 or at chelsi.moy@missoulian.com.
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