AIRWAY HEIGHTS – Developing adequate housing is on the forefront of the minds designing the comprehensive plan for the city.
And according to City Planner Heather Trautman, the plan is to develop a variety of housing options.
The majority of properties in the city are single-family homes on large lots and large multi-family apartment complexes, she said. But there are not many options for people in between.
Trautman said people will need different levels of housing to fit different cycles of life.
Families may want a large fenced in yard to run around with pets at one point, she said. But when people get older, they don’t always want to continue maintaining a large yard and may need to downsize.
According to Trautman, the city has a population in which close to 10% of residents are 65 years or older.
Framework representative Jeff Arango said the city is looking into square footage allocation programs and other development testing systems that can potentially help new designs to be put in place.
Airway Heights was initially in place as a small support community for Galena Air Depot, so it was designed more for commercial development said Trautman.
Amy Aiello with Big Sky Public Relations said the city is the fastest growing city in the state.
Trautman added the city has increased in population by 30% since 2017.
With the growth surge, more than 600 residential units have been developed since 2018, Jeff Arango of Framework said, noting demand for housing remains high.
Airway Heights is relatively balanced in terms of rental units compared to home ownership, Trautman said, noting 57% of residents rent. The vacancy rate is less than 1%.
The planner said most of the residential development will be in the northwest part of the city, geographically, and that is because there is a lot of available land there.
Highland Village is one new neighborhood residents can already see growing, she said.
The Kalispel Tribe also owns 220 acres of trust land inside the city limits; the tribe is also looking to develop some as residential space, Trautman said.
Another possibility is to develop part of the downtown area into an area that can hold mixed-use housing and buildings.
Mixed-use housing has buildings with retail shops on the ground floor and apartment-style housing on floors above the retail space, Trautman said.
As neighborhoods grow, the question of price surfaces, and Trautman said the average cost for a home increased by 29 % between August of 2020 and September of 2021 to around $340,000 on average.
Trautman also said the median annual income is close to $55,000 and it leaves quite a gap between the cost of homes compared to the income a resident can bring in.
Trautman added that nearly 20% of the city’s population is considered low-income.
Matthew O. Stephens can be reached at [email protected]
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