Public hearing for Libby business district proposals scheduled for June 15

Residents and area business owners will again have an opportunity to weigh in on a pair of once-controversial proposals to reimagine portions of Libby, including the downtown.

The zoning overhaul, which calls for creating two business districts in the heart of the city, will be the subject of a public hearing scheduled for 6 p.m., June 15 at City Hall. A hearing was set for mid-March, but cancelled as concern about the COVID-19 pandemic elevated.

The proposal has undergone various revisions since first going public. The document would, if approved, create a Downtown Business District centered on California and Mineral avenues. A second zone, the Highway Commercial District, would run along U.S. Highway 2.

Certain types of stores and industries would be banned from the districts, like adult bookstores in the downtown area and commercial storage units in the portion of U.S. Highway 2 falling under the plan. Redevelopment projects in the areas would need to meet new requirements governing parking, landscaping and exterior aesthetics.

More stringent requirements in the original drafts initially drew outrage from residents and many members of the business community. Although city officials reiterated that existing businesses would be grandfathered into the plan, critics worried the requirements would foist costly renovations upon the business community and even discourage entrepreneurs from setting up shop in Libby.

Other opponents argued against the proposals on principle, decrying it as undue government interference on private property rights.

A slightly more relaxed set of proposals made it nearly to a city council vote late last year. But on the advice of the city attorney, who had uncovered a state attorney general ruling dating to the 1990s related to the issue, they delayed.

While the proposals already had received approval by Libby’s planning board and gone through multiple public hearings, the newly discovered ruling required a zoning commission to sign off on it. At the time, Libby lacked a resident-led board dedicated to zoning.

In the intervening months, city councilors formed a zoning commission and staffed it with members of the existing planning board. That body reviewed and approved the proposals — which many had helped write as part of the planning board — after a public hearing.

Following the June 15 public hearing, city councilors will finally have the opportunity to vote on the proposal. Residents can use the hearing, which also will be broadcast on Zoom, to ask questions and voice concerns or support.

To log into the hearing via Zoom, residents can dial 253-215-8782. The meeting ID is 4042719951 and the password is 151041.