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By NATHAN HOWELL | Special to the Reporter

HELENA – The Helena City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution requesting that the Planing and Zoning Commission adopt a regulation ensuring that neighborhoods with more than 100 lots have a certain number of entrances and exits.

Councilors Laura Joseph and Hewy Woodman introduced the resolution to better ensure that neighborhoods had adequate ingress and egress for residents of these neighborhoods and visitors as well.

These new standards would also allow people who live on the backside of a larger neighborhood to more easily access their homes instead of having to drive a longer distance.

“This is a recommendation to the commission to amend the zoning board’s regulations to establish numbers of points of ingress and egress for future subdivisions,” Joseph said. “Because they are responsible for their own ordinances and regulations, this is a recommendation from the cancel that they take this action.”

The resolution asks the Planing and Zoning Commission to adopt a standard of two entrances per 100 lots, three entrances per 200 lots and four entrances per 300 lots in each neighborhood.

The resolution was adopted following a unanimous vote by the city council, and will be sent to the Planning and Zoning Commission, who will then decide if they want to adopt the regulations.