Boise approves heavy industrial zoning for 76 acres but keeps fire station land on its original schedule

The Boise City Council has approved rezoning about 76 acres of vacant land in a planned industrial park from light industrial to heavy industrial, a change that opens the door to larger-scale warehousing and heavier manufacturing than the current zoning allows.

The council voted at its Oct. 13 meeting. The applicant, Adler Industrial, also asked to change the site's development agreement, the contract between the city and the landowner that sets out what must be built and when. The council approved most of those changes but turned down one: a request to delay giving the city a 2.5-acre site for a future fire station.

A rezone changes the zoning district on the city map, and with it the list of uses allowed on the land. The owner of record is Pleasant Valley Land Holdings LLC.

What heavy industrial means here

In its letter to the city, Adler Industrial said heavy industrial zoning accommodates uses like fulfillment centers, heavy manufacturing and large-scale warehousing. The company wrote that it is "currently working with potential user that would require this I-2 zoning," but the filing does not name that business or say what it would build.

City planners argued the change fits the area. Their report says the land is marked "Industrial" on the city's future land use map and sits between the Boise Airport and the Syringa Valley business campuses, both of which are expanding. Only about three percent of land in the city's Airport planning area is zoned for heavy industry, the report notes.

The heavy industrial zoning would sit farthest from Orchard Street and the homes to the west, with mixed-use and light industrial zoning in between as a buffer, according to the staff report. The developer's letter says the new heavy industrial area would border only other industrial land on the future land use map.

The council attached conditions aimed at neighbors:

• Loading and site maintenance are limited to 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.
• Exterior construction is limited to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, to reduce noise near homes.
• Outdoor lighting must be shielded and aimed away from neighboring property, at no more than one footcandle at property lines.
• Traffic signal agreements with the Ada County Highway District are required at Orchard Street intersections before final plat approval, and each lot needs its own design review.

The fire station question

The existing agreement requires the 2.5-acre fire station lot to be handed to the city during the first phase of development. Adler Industrial asked to wait until the second phase's final plat is recorded.

Planners recommended against it, writing that the station was meant to serve not only this property but the range of development happening nearby, and that tying it to the first phase was meant to put emergency service in place before the area builds out. The Planning and Zoning Commission agreed on Sept. 14, and the applicant told the commission it accepted that outcome. The council's final decision keeps the original timing.

How it compares

By the size listed on the application, this is the largest of 31 Boise rezone filings in the past three years; the typical one covered about 2 acres. It also moved quickly. Boise rezones that reached a decision in that period took a median of 467 days. This one went from filing on July 6 to a council vote in about 100.

The largest Boise rezone filing in three years went from application to council vote in about 100 days; the typical decision took 467.

Of the other 30 rezone filings in that stretch, 10 were approved, one was denied and 19 are still pending. The denial came the same day as this approval: the council turned down a rezone for a four-lot subdivision of single-family homes¹ on a third of an acre.

The rezone is one piece of a larger build-out. The city approved the 135-acre Innovator Subdivision², a 35-lot commercial and industrial project that includes the fire station site, on Aug. 11. Planners describe it as being on this same property; city records place it about 800 feet away. About half a mile away, a 105-acre farm site³ is seeking subdivision approval, and about a third of a mile away a 33.5-acre commercial subdivision⁴ is under review.

What isn't clear yet

The application's own numbers don't line up. It lists 120.2 acres to be rezoned, while the developer's letter, the staff reports and both decision letters describe 76.3 acres. The county assessor lists the parcel at about 44.7 acres. The filing doesn't explain the differences.

The application form also lists the current zoning as R-1, a residential designation, while every other document, including the form itself elsewhere, says the land is zoned light industrial. And the form answers no when asked whether the rezone includes a development agreement, though changing that agreement is half of the request. The form gives a street address on Orchard Street rather than the Lake Hazel Road address used for the project.

The approval is not yet in force. Adler Industrial must bring in an updated development agreement, with new zoning maps, a phasing plan and a default provision, and record it within one year or the approval becomes void. After that, the council must hold three readings of the rezoning ordinance before the change takes effect. Who the prospective heavy industrial user is, and what it plans to build, has not been disclosed in filings with the city.