BOISE, IDAHO — Boise native of 71 years, Charles Gibson, appealed his denial of a conceptual conditional use and development permit for his land near the 5000 block of Bogus Basin Road. With his more than 170 acre property, he is hoped to build a subdivision with 20 single-family homes. Now-- he's learned that cannot happened.
City Council denied Gibson's appeal Tuesday night-- mostly on the basis of traffic, lack of infrastructure, and "leapfrogging," or in other words, a domino effect of development.
Testifying opponents are pleased with the victory. "The open space that the foothills represents is something that is important and captures-- really-- the vitality of this sort of outdoor lifestyle that we have here in Boise," said Andrew Masser, concerned resident who testified at Tuesday's public hearing.
Originally, the Planning and Zoning experts' statement was that the annexation cannot be supported due to the lack of infrastructure and services in the immediate area and requires substantial changes.
"There are experts that have spoken," said Masser.
in the hearing, Boise Mayor David Bieter referred to a statement he made in his State of City address, which read, "Today I am proposing that we should not annex or rezone property to allow new development in the foothills. While we do not know the exact number of units still allowed under existing zoning, our best estimate is around 400 lots. I say, after those 400, we say 'no more.'"
Today-- under pressures from opponents who aimed to hold Bieter accountable for those comments-- Bieter reiterated the "estimate" part.
"Uh, it's not a moratorium. I didn't use that language intentionally because it's not that," said Mayor Bieter, (D) Boise.
Many opponents to the appeal argued that, "approving this appeal would really represent putting dollars over open space and money over people," said Masser.
