Ready for Eagle to double its size? It’s what adding Avimor would do. Here’s what P&Z did

The Eagle Planning and Zoning Commission doesn’t think Eagle is ready to annex Avimor, the nearly 8,800-home development that could almost double the city’s population.

Four commissioners combed through 2,000 pages of development application materials and spent nine hours in meetings ahead of a major decision: To annex or not to annex?

Their final decision was to recommend to the City Council that Eagle not annex the development.

There were too many unknown economic consequences and constituent worries about water, traffic and growth, the commissioners concluded Monday night.

Commissioners voted 3-1 to recommend denial. Commissioner Derek Smith, Trent Wright and Diane McLaughlin voted to deny, and Commissioner Steve Guerber dissented. Commissioner Todd McCauley, who was not present for most of the two Avimor meetings, abstained.

The decision came after 10 p.m., after the conclusion of two meetings and hours of public testimony. Now it’s up to Avimor’s proponents to go before the Eagle City Council to plead their case.

“I believe that the decision made is essentially: Choose your pain,” Smith said. “Annexation brings control but doubles the population, and we accept financial uncertainty, while declining annexation eliminates control, maintains the population and reduces financial uncertainty.”

McLaughlin worried about the negative economic impact annexation could have on the city after the first 15 years. She cited an economic study from an Eagle-hired financial analyst that projected an economic deficit after 30 years.

The commissioners also worried that Avimor was not prepared for the water needs of its growing community.

And Smith said he heard people’s cries about the “loss of community” that annexation could bring.

“Its a very difficult thing to quantify, but it appears to be a major issue, and I don’t know how to tackle it and resolve that sense of loss,” he said.

Avimor has 700 homes built and plans to add 300 homes per year on average, said Deborah Nelson, land use attorney for Givens Pursley, who represented Avimor in the discussions. With 8,800 homes, Avimor would have an estimated 22,500 residents, compared with 32,000 in the city of Eagle now.

The developer wants to annex into Eagle because it would span three counties at full capacity and would have to go through three sets of commissioners when it wants to build. The developers would rather have one entity, the city, in charge of building applications.

The Ada County Commission approved Avimor’s development nearly two decades ago. But since then, the county has tightened restrictions around planned communities to the point where they are nearly impossible to build, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. The county allows far sparser development than Avimor’s owners want, another reason why Avimor is counting on annexation.

‘I would not say no forever’

But a no vote today does not mean never, one commissioner said.

“My feeling at this stage is that I am not willing to say an absolute no,” Smith said. “I would not say no forever, but I would say not now.”

The Eagle City Council does not have to take the planning commissioners’ advice. Reversals of Planning and Zoning Commission decisions re not unusual in the Treasure Valley. In April 2022, the Boise City Council rejected Boise’s Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation and allowed Interfaith Sanctuary to move its homeless shelter to a former Salvation Army building on State Street.

Residents opposed to Avimor’s annexation have already accused the city of having a bias toward annexation. During the 2019 mayoral election, Jason Pierce, Eagle’s mayor, and at least two City Council members received campaign donations from the McLeod family, which owns the property, and Avimor’s developers.

Avimor proponents want more control

Last summer, during a town hall discussion, Pierce said he would entertain Avimor’s annexation as a way for Eagle to set limitations on the growth surrounding it.

This idea was echoed in a handful comments during public testimony.

“Its inevitable,” said Spencer Kofoed, a former Eagle resident who now lives in Middleton. “The growth will continue. The growth around Eagle, whether it is annexed or not, will still come. It’s my belief that if Eagle does annex this in, at least you guys have control over the surrounding growth around us.”

Kofoed is the president of Tradition Custom Homes Inc., a building contractor in Middleton.

Tyler Craig, a former Eagle resident who now also lives in Middleton, said he believed the Avimor-promised road improvements to Idaho 55 would benefit Eagle. Craig is the registered agent of Chapel Creek Properties LLC, a development company in Middleton.

“Avimor is built in the Foothills where people can reside, but where it is less beneficial for agricultural purposes.,” Craig said. “It seems like it would be good to encourage incoming residents to move to the Foothills.”

But the voices in favor of annexation were fewcompared with the dozens of people opposed.

Matt Rydzon, an Eagle resident, worried about the traffic that annexing Avimor could bring to the city.

“Avimor being one of the largest single developments in Idaho will put an additional 16,000 cars on our roads — this is two cars per household,” Rydzon said.

Diana Bush was born in Eagle and has lived there for the last 73 years, she said. She complained that some Eagle residents won’t be able to afford the increase in property taxes that it could take to provide services to Avimor as the community grows.

“Seniors on fixed incomes cannot afford property taxes going much higher,” she said. “I do not want this beautiful Eagle community to change.”

The next Eagle City Council meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14. The agenda was not available Monday night.

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