Full Text
DRAFT RESOLUTION NUMBER A RESOLUTION TO ADOPT WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE AMENDMENTS TO THE MISSOULA COUNTY GROWTH POLICY. WHEREAS, MCA 76-1-604 authorizes the City Council to adopt or revise a growth policy, or any of its parts; and WHEREAS, the City Council did adopt a comprehensive plan for the urban area in 1961; and WHEREAS, the City Council has updated this comprehensive plan in 1968, 1975, 1990, and 1998, and has amended parts of it by adopting facilities and special resource plans, sub-area and neighborhood plans at various other points in time; and WHEREAS, the 1999 State legislature amended state law to replace the terms “Comprehensive Plan” and “Master Plan” with “Growth Policy”; and WHEREAS, the City of Missoula adopted the Missoula County Growth Policy and its associated amendments in 2002; and WHEREAS, the City of Missoula reviewed the Missoula County Growth Policy in 2005 and adopted the Missoula County Growth Policy 2005 Update in 2006; and WHEREAS, the 2007 State Legislature passed SB-51 requiring counties to address the Wildland Urban Interface in adopted growth policies, and MCA 76-1-601(3)(j) requires that growth policies include “an evaluation of the potential for fire and wildland fire in the jurisdictional area;” and WHEREAS, MCA 76-1-601(2) states that “the extent to which a growth policy addresses the elements listed in [the statute] is at the full discretion of the governing body”; and WHEREAS, the proposed Growth Policy amendment consists of an Appendix F generally mapping and describing the Wildland Urban Interface in Missoula County; and WHEREAS, the Wildland Urban Interface amendment to the Missoula County Growth Policy was contemplated without adverse response by various City agencies and other organizations during the comment period; and WHEREAS, after public notice in the Missoulian, a newspaper of general circulation, on January 17, 2010 and January 24, 2010, the Missoula Consolidated Planning Board held a public hearing on February 2, 2010 to hear and consider citizen comment on the Wildland Urban Interface amendment; and WHEREAS, The Missoula Consolidated Planning Board recommended by a vote of 9-0 that the proposed Wildland Urban Interface amendment to the Missoula County Growth Policy as shown in Attachment A be adopted; and WHEREAS, after public notice in the Missoulian, a newspaper of general circulation, on March 7, 2010 and March 14, 2010, the Missoula City Council held a public hearing on March 22, 2010 to hear and consider citizen comment on the Wildland Urban Interface amendment; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Missoula City Council hereby adopts this resolution to amend the Missoula County Growth Policy to include Appendix F “Wildland Urban Interface” as ---PAGE BREAK--- recommended by the Missoula Consolidated Planning Board and shown in Attachment A. PASSED AND ADOPTED this day of , 2010. ATTEST: APPROVED: Martha L. Rehbein, CMC John Engen City Clerk Mayor (SEAL) ---PAGE BREAK--- ATTACHMENT A APPENDIX F: WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE (WUI) 1. The County has determined that a high potential for fire hazard exists that may jeopardize life and property in Missoula County. Missoula County mapped and evaluated the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) through several planning documents; that mapping is included herein. Neither the definition of the WUI nor the mapping of its extent shall inform future land-use decisions beyond the paragraphs that follow: In 2010, in order to protect human life, private property, and natural resources, Missoula County is adopting a county-wide Emergency Operations Plan and Pre-Disaster Mitigation Plan. Those plans are currently under revision by the Missoula County Office of Emergency Services and will be completed in 2010. The plans, upon adoption, and the adoption of any future revision of those plans or the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), will concurrently amend the Missoula County Growth Policy 2005 Update after going through the appropriate public review process. 2. Wildland fire hazard exists throughout the County. Further study of fire prone areas in both Missoula County and the City of Missoula should inform future land use action. a. Missoula County will begin a 2010 revision of its subdivision regulations to address fire hazards in the County, including consideration of, among other items: defensible space around structures; access for emergency services and fire planning; and the potential for delivery of adequate water for fire protection. Amendments are anticipated to be proposed for adoption in 2010 and 2011. Further regulation will be based on additional consideration of fire hazard and other health, safety, and welfare concerns. b. Missoula County is in the process of reviewing its zoning regulations to determine if or how zoning could be used to protect life and property in fire prone areas. That review includes but is not limited to issues such as defensible space around structures, access for emergency services and fire planning, and the potential for delivery of adequate water for fire protection. Further regulations will be based on additional consideration of fire hazard and other health, safety, and welfare concerns. 3. Existing maps of the Wildland Urban Interface, noted as Map B (Wildland Urban Interface – Excluding Seeley and Swan), Map C (Wildland Urban Interface – Swan), and Map D (Wildland Urban Interface – Clearwater), are hereby amended to the Missoula County Growth Policy 2005 Update. ---PAGE BREAK--- ---PAGE BREAK--- ---PAGE BREAK---