The owner of five acres off S 500 W (shown in orange) applied for a rezone in order to build a ten-unit vacation rental complex. This week he withdrew his application after the proposal received significant public pushback at Victor Planning & Zoning Commission’s June meeting. Under the property’s existing zone, the owner is allowed to develop up to five seasonal rental cabins.
The proposed 70-lot Twin Slides Subdivision is in the Victor city limits, east of platted vacant lots in the Settlement. The two-phase subdivision includes a multi-use pathway along the canal that runs east-west near the south end of the property.
Rezone application withdrawn after public opposition
Earlier this month, the Victor Planning & Zoning Commission made recommendations to the Victor City Council on two applications: the first phase of a 70-home subdivision directly east of the Settlement on Highway 31, and a rezone in order to install ten seasonal rental cabins south of Golf Vista Estates. The commission recommended approval of the former and denial of the latter; the rezone applicant later withdrew the request.
The proposed 70-lot Twin Slides Subdivision is in the Victor city limits, east of platted vacant lots in the Settlement. The two-phase subdivision includes a multi-use pathway along the canal that runs east-west near the south end of the property.
Courtesy Image/Harmony Design & Engineering
Yes to Twin Slides
Twin Slides Subdivision (previously referred to as Kylea Drive Subdivision), a 70-lot neighborhood on 18.4 acres of vacant land accessed from the Settlement on the western edge of Victor, received concept plan approval last summer. On June 16, Victor P&Z considered a preliminary plat application for the first phase of the subdivision, which entails 28 residential lots and one park lot on 9.2 acres. The same land was once the site of a proposed 54-lot subdivision, Buffalo Creek Village, that received final approval from the Victor City Council in April of 2008. The plat was never recorded with the county.
According to the project narrative, “Twin Slides is not a high end exclusive subdivision, but a welcoming community-oriented neighborhood that will bring great value to Victor.” The narrative specifies that the developer intends to build and sell “entry level houses” rather than selling lots.
The subdivision’s covenants, conditions, and restrictions do not include any language regulating short term rentals, an omission that Commissioner Kristi Aslin questioned. She said that affordable housing is important to the community but that “entry level” houses are also the kinds of units that get “snapped up by people” intending to make them into vacation rentals.
Commission chair Christian Cisco and planning administrator Kim Kolner expressed pessimism about the efficacy or legality of any restrictions on STRs. Kolner mentioned that the city council had recently required a subdivision to include the prohibition of STRs in its CC&Rs but said that the prohibition was not enforceable by the city, and Cisco said that state code may even prevent homeowner’s associations from restricting STRs. (Idaho Code Section 55-115 allows HOAs to limit rentals as long as all owners consent to the restriction.)
City council member Sue Muncaster put the planning department and P&Z on notice with an email the day of the meeting informing them that, with any future rezone applications the council reviews, she “personally will be looking for some effort from the developer to support housing that meets the needs of low-moderate income households as outlined as a development goal of the Comp Plan and current housing crisis.” Her email was in reference to the proposed rezone for a vacation complex, but the P&Z commissioners brought it up during the Twin Slides Subdivision discussion.
According to the Twin Slides application, the primary entrance to the neighborhood would be via the public Settlement Drive, which will connect with the extended Kylea Drive. During the concept plan hearing in June of 2021, several Settlement residents voiced their displeasure about the possibility of increased traffic within the neighborhood and at the intersection with Highway 31. Fewer people submitted comment during the June of 2022 public hearing but brought up similar concerns. One speaker, Corey McGrath, expressed skepticism that the development would bring in more tax revenue than it would cost in terms of public infrastructure, unless the houses were much more expensive than entry level units.
The developer commissioned a traffic impact study over the winter, accounting for summer traffic and population growth. According to the traffic engineer, even at full build-out of the proposed development, “the study intersections can operate acceptably” and would not warrant turn lanes on the highway or more access roads. Development representative Rob Pitts did note that the owners would prefer an additional access for the second phase of the subdivision, and negotiations were ongoing with neighboring property owners for an easement.
One person speaking during the June 16 public hearing pointed out that parking for the soccer field complex next to the proposed subdivision was beyond capacity during soccer season, which happened to coincide with the beginning of construction season. The P&Z commissioners decided to add a condition of approval that Justin Avenue, an unfinished east-west road on the north side of the Settlement connecting to 2000 W, be finished by the developer to serve as construction access.
With that added condition as well as several others suggested by the public works department, the commissioners voted to recommend approval of the preliminary plat. The Victor City Council will make the final decision on the preliminary plat during a public hearing on July 27.
The owner of five acres off S 500 W (shown in orange) applied for a rezone in order to build a ten-unit vacation rental complex. This week he withdrew his application after the proposal received significant public pushback at Victor Planning & Zoning Commission’s June meeting. Under the property’s existing zone, the owner is allowed to develop up to five seasonal rental cabins.
No to Cabin Rezone
The council chambers were filled with people awaiting the second public hearing on the P&Z agenda: a requested rezone on a five-acre property north of Teton Springs. Pennsylvania-based LLC Esh Premier Properties purchased the land in late 2021 and is seeking to build a ten-cabin vacation rental complex on the property.
The application narrative reads: “There is a need for lodging options like this in this southwest area of the City of Victor. There is a somewhat similar lodging option to the north at Teton Valley Resort but this proposal is significantly less dense than TVR and intended to be more consistent with surrounding uses and less impactful.”
Planner Kolner specified to the P&Z commissioners that the requested rezone, from residential single family to residential cluster, was considered a downzone, meaning it enabled less density, and that the developer would have to apply for a conditional use permit before installing seasonal rental cabins.
“The future proposal is not necessarily the topic of tonight’s discussion, but is still relevant as that is their end goal,” Kolner said.
Despite that, around two dozen people wrote or spoke in opposition of the application, voicing their concerns about traffic on S 500 W, the inappropriateness of a commercial use in the rural outskirts of the city, the seeming excess of lodging options in Victor, and the lack of long-term housing across the community.
Attorney Jon Wylie, representing Esh Premier Properties, said that the owner, Marv Esh, was “cognizant of the issue” of a need for workforce housing in Victor but was not currently committed to addressing it.
With minimal discussion, the P&Z commissioners decided that the criteria for a rezone had not been met and voted unanimously to recommend denial of the application.
On the morning of June 27, Wylie alerted the city that Esh had decided to withdraw his application for a rezone. Under the property’s existing zone, the owner is allowed by city code to develop up to five seasonal rental cabins without seeking a conditional use permit, pending site review by the planning administrator and approval from city departments and public safety agencies.
