Residents, council members urge clarity as Blackfoot Crossing hearings are rescheduled

Council members and public commenters used the meeting to press for accurate information and to encourage public participation in pending county hearings about the Blackfoot Crossing development.

A commenter said the Blackfoot Crossing project will include about 400 attainable housing units and asserted the development “will provide families for the school, but also workers who can afford to live here.” That commenter linked housing availability to employers’ ability to hire and said the project would help retain workers who otherwise could not afford to live locally.

Another member cited a recent remark from the head of the Missoula Realtors Association to caution that new construction can be so expensive that only existing homeowners can afford it, meaning newly built units do not always expand affordability for renters. The exchange highlighted competing views about whether new construction alone will solve local housing shortages.

Speakers also discussed county hearing schedules: members reported that some testimony at a commissioners’ session was cut short and that a rescheduled comment‑only session was planned (members referred to March 12 and March 19 hearing windows and said a commissioners’ public hearing was rescheduled for the week of April 2). A participant asked the council to correct a Facebook event that still listed an earlier date and asked the council to publicize the updated April 2, 2 p.m., hearing time.

Residents raised a separate communications concern about a mailed postcard they said misrepresents Blackfoot Crossing by showing a broad area as a truck stop and claiming students would be forced to walk through it. A resident countered that planned walkways and a controlled crossing on 1st Street would let students avoid a truck staging area.

Council members urged residents to attend the county hearings and to submit testimony if they have concerns or support. The council did not take a binding vote on the development; members described these updates as status reports and encouraged public participation in the formal county process.