Consultants from WSW Consulting, Western Spaces and Urban Rural Continuum presented a city‑commissioned comprehensive affordable housing study to the Columbia Falls planning board on a meeting that focused on data collection, outreach and timelines.

The consultants said the study will evaluate housing supply and demand across the income spectrum, examine commuting and regional market interactions (including Whitefish and Kalispell), and provide recommendations that align with Montana Senate Bill 382. "Affordable simply refers to household spending no more than 30% of their gross income on housing payment," said Wendy Sullivan of WSW Consulting, describing the study's working definition of affordability.

The consultants outlined a mixed approach of secondary and primary research. Secondary sources will include the U.S. Census and the American Community Survey; primary research will include stakeholder interviews and an online employer survey the team plans to launch in mid‑October and keep in the field through early November. "Employers in the community can be an excellent resource," Sarah McClain of Western Spaces said, asking the board to help distribute the online survey and provide contacts for large local employers and real estate professionals.

Board members and residents raised several scope questions the consultants said they will address. Commissioners asked whether the consultants will capture seasonal workers and short‑term rentals; Wendy Sullivan said seasonal employment and short‑term rental dynamics will be examined and that the team will attempt to match study boundaries with available ACS and state employment geographies. The consultants said the employer survey will target employers in the ZIP‑code area (59912) and that they will pair survey responses with secondary commuting data to understand cross‑community employment patterns.

Public speakers pressed for meaningful public involvement beyond employer outreach. Residents asked the team to: include second homes and short‑term rentals in the inventory, consider how added housing affects rents, incorporate mortgage‑lender perspectives, and reach out to federal and county employers such as the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. "I would like to see what the short‑term rentals and investment properties are doing to the market," said Mark Johnson, deputy commissioner. Several residents offered to participate in interviews and to assist with outreach.

Consultants listed key local data needs they had already obtained (building permits back to 2017 and vacant‑parcel mapping) and asked staff to provide additional items such as counts of restricted units, short‑term rental tallies and contact lists for interviews. They also noted practical limits: some adjacent areas fall under county jurisdiction and may require county or state data sources (for example, septic records). The consultants proposed completing analysis through January, issuing a draft report in February for board review, and presenting a final report in March or April.

City staff and consultants agreed on next steps: staff will post a portal on the city website for residents and employers to submit interview suggestions and contacts; the consultant team will circulate a draft employer survey to staff and board members for feedback and finalize it by early October. The planning board adjourned at the end of the meeting after those next steps were confirmed.

What happens next: the consultant team will collect the employer survey responses and stakeholder interviews, incorporate recently released ACS data into January analysis, and return a draft report for the board's review in February.