BOISE, Idaho — Boise's City Council denied a request from Lombard Conrad Architects, and the Roman Catholic Diocese, that would have allowed them to build offices for the Diocese. Now the empty lot on 8th and Fort will stay vacant, for the time being.
- The Diocese took over the property and the development agreement attached to it. They hoped to modify it and gain a height exception as well as a parking space reduction. The Diocese tells Idaho News 6 they were disappointed in the decision, and they are not yet sure what their next step is.
- The City Council denied those requests based on their desire for a mixed-use project, instead of just office space.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
If you've driven down 8th into the North End, you've seen this plot of land.
"This is a sad little vacant lot," said North End Neighborhood Association President Eric Hagen.
The space is owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise, hoping to build a new office space on the property, but to do so, they needed to modify the land's original development agreement, which they obtained when they bought the property.
The Diocese wanted a taller building with less parking than what was approved, that's something the neighborhood association had an issue with, saying the requested height wouldn't fit the neighborhood.
In Tuesday night's city council meeting, council members denied the diocese's request.
"Based on the desire for a mixed-use project at that site and they felt like the proposed office use did not meet the expectations that had been set on that property."
That's Josh Wilson, a planning manager for Boise. Idaho News 6 spoke to him to get a better understanding of the situation.
He says the plans the applicants had are now pretty much dead, unless they request a reconsideration or submit new plans, but since the last application was accepted, Boise's Zoning Code changed
"Now that's been denied, they'd have to come back into the modern zoning code," Wilson said.
"So, how does the new zoning code change what they have to bring to the table," Idaho News 6 reporter Brendyn Jones asked.
The New zoning code does not allow for height exceptions, so the MX1 zone, which is what it currently is now, has a 45-foot height limit, so a new project that came along would have to comply with that," Wilson responded.
Idaho News 6 spoke to Christian Welp, the special of the Roman Catholic Diocese over the phone.
He said the Diocese is disappointed in the Council's decision, as it worked with city staff on the proposal. As of Wednesday they still don't know how they'll move forward but 8th and fort is still their priority as of now.
Hagen tells Idaho News 6 he left the meeting disappointed. He echoed some of Mayor Lauren McLean's thoughts.
"I think there was room on both sides to compromise here," McLean said Tuesday night.
Hagen says it would've been nice to have a building there instead of empty space.
"It's a lose-lose"
But for now, it stays empty.
