By Michael Howell
Kathleen McMahon of Applied Communications out of Whitefish, the same consulting firm that helped the City of Hamilton develop a Growth Policy that was adopted in 2009, is now back helping the city review and update its policy. The review process was kickstarted last week at an initial scoping meeting attended by members of the City Council, the Planning Board and Zoning Commission, the Zoning Board of Adjustments, a couple of County Commissioners and several members of the public. The update process will continue through the summer and potentially culminate in the adoption of a revised Growth Policy in August. Information and data included in the current Growth Policy will be updated and a survey done in 2008 to help in developing the original policy will be repeated.
McMahon noted that based on a recent census the population growth in the area is slowing. From 1990 to 2000, the growth rate was 36%. From 2000 to 2010, the growth rate slowed to 17%. The growth rate for 2010 to 2020 is projected to be even lower at 6%. The City’s population is also aging, according to McMahon. The percent of the population in the City over 65 years of age is 24.7% while in the state as a whole it is close to 14.8%. This statistic alone has ramifications in terms of community needs and services, home building, and more.
In terms of the economy, she said, from 2000 to 2013, construction jobs are down by 56.7%. Manufacturing jobs are down by 18.9%. Professional and technical jobs, however, have increased by 13% and health care jobs have increased by 13.4%. McMahon said that growth in tourism was a bright spot in the local economy.
The City has a lot of plans on the books that will need to be considered in the process including a Downtown Master Plan, a Water Facility Plan, a Transportation Plan, a Non-motorized Transportation Plan, River Park and Legion Park Master Plans, and a Pre-disaster Mitigation Plan. Other considerations include school facility plans, Bitterroot College plans, Habitat for Humanity homes and a potential county Targeted Economic Development District in the area.
Some of the issues raised for consideration in the review by those in attendance include potential terrorist acts, the hospital expansion, county property wholly surrounded by city property, economic impacts of the Growth Policy, potential annexations, potential big box store development, impacts of land use decisions on landowners, high speed internet, connectivity of parks, and law enforcement.
The issue of potential extra-territorial zoning, that is, extending city zoning outside the city limits, drew a lot of comment from the public, mostly in opposition to any attempt at extending it. County Commissioner Jeff Burrows called it “regulation without representation,” and Commissioner Doug Schallenberger also expressed strong opposition to the idea.
McMahon said that the process would involve updating data and information over the next few months and tabulating survey results by the end of April. A review of goals, objectives and the formation of an action plan will take place in May, planning area workshops are scheduled for June, and a final plan may be developed and aired at public hearings in August.