California firm hired to do Columbia Falls housing study
An aerial view of the Columbia Falls neighborhood north of the high school.
By CHRIS PETERSON
Hungry Horse News
The City of Columbia Falls earlier this month OK’d a contract with a California firm to do a housing study here.
Wendy Sullivan of WSW Consulting will do a comprehensive housing study for the city. The contract is for $57,100, of which $30,000 is covered by a state Department of Commerce grant and the remainder by city coffers.
The study is mandated by the Montana Land Use Planning Act, also known as Senate Bill 382, passed by the Montana Legislature in 2023.
Sullivan is no stranger to housing studies. She specializes in resort communities and completed one for Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 2022 that found it would need 5,300 more units to satisfy the demand for affordable housing there.
While Columbia Falls is no Jackson Hole, which is oft the home to the rich and famous, it still has similar problems, like the lack of affordable rental housing, a median price that has nearly tripled in a few years and a lack of housing for workers.
According to the contract with the city, Sullivan expects to have her study completed by late March or early April of 2025 for Columbia Falls.
The housing study is a key component for the city’s new planning commission, which is tasked with coming up with a new land use plan for the city in the coming years.