Residents press council and county on proposed data center and Franklin Crossing housing plan

During public comment at the June 1 Missoula City Council meeting, multiple residents raised concerns about two development proposals affecting Missoula: a proposed data center located in county jurisdiction and the Franklin Crossing housing project in the MRL triangle.

Christine Thompson, attending her first council meeting, said she lives in the county and asked what input the city would have on a data center proposal she said was close to a school and in a residential area. Thompson said she was concerned about water and other potential impacts and planned to attend the county meeting on the topic.

Counselor Pontton and others clarified during later remarks that the data center land‑use review is before the Missoula County Consolidated Planning Board (a county hearing), with a special‑exception request that was expected to be heard on July 1 but has been delayed for additional applicant submittals. City officials urged residents who want to affect the outcome to follow county proceedings and attend the appropriate hearings.

On Franklin Crossing, Susette Dau urged the city to require permanently affordable outcomes such as transferring land to a community land trust rather than selling to an out‑of‑state developer. She criticized proposed four‑ and five‑story buildings, flagged a large parking heat island, and suggested the city reconsider the plan to favor smaller scale buildings similar to an example in Ashland, Oregon. Council members and staff later described the Franklin Crossing proposal as a major, multi‑source financing project under review by the Montana Board of Housing and the Missoula Housing Authority; a council member said preliminary approval had been granted by the Montana Board of Housing and that the funding stack is substantial.

Public commenters also urged greater transparency about city and county spending on surveillance and AI‑adjacent systems used by law enforcement; Mr. Larson asked for vendor names and retention policies and cited a statutory request (46‑5‑117) referenced in public comment about retention and audit obligations for certain surveillance data.

Council members reiterated that land‑use hearings for the county are the forum to influence the data center decision and encouraged residents to monitor Missoula County notices and attend hearings.