Boise embraces Accessory Dwelling Units

2019-07-03T12:35:00-04:00

Backyard cottages typically provide affordable housing in already developed neighborhoods. They’re one way Boise city leaders hope to rein in runaway rents and house prices. On Tuesday, the Boise City Council voted unanimously to relax city regulations on these units to encourage more density and affordable housing.

Bigger and better Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) are headed to Boise, Idaho, where city officials have embraced a series of measures that could spur the development of new ADUs in the city. ADUs, for example, will now be able to include up to two bedrooms and up to 700 square feet of interior space. Parking restrictions have been lifted for one-bedroom and studio ADUs, as well.

Speaking in support of the new regulations, Holli Woodings, a Boise resident, told the City Council there, “It’s a way to build affordability, to build density and to allow folks to make a little bit of extra money off their properties.” She added, “I want to keep looking at how we can do things to encourage more than one dwelling per parcel.”

NIMBYs in Boise find success in establishing neighborhoods as conservation districts

2017-12-13T14:12:00-05:00

In the East End, a plan for a home on Mobley Drive off Warm Springs Avenue spurred a group of neighbors to start organizing what the city calls a conservation district. The house would have been two stories and narrow, while most nearby homes are single-level ranch-style structures built in the 1950s.

A 16-year-old ordinance in Boise that allows for the establishment of conservation districts is coming back in favor as neighborhood groups have figured out they can use it to quash projects they don't like. Conservation districts are similar to historic ones in that they define development through the regulation of architectural styles, height, massing, and uses of buildings. Through their establishment, property owners decide the district’s contours and which uses, building types or design features are allowed.

In Boise, such ordinances have been used to successfully restrict massive parking lots and prevent the demolition of homes. Now, in the East End neighborhood, community members are pushing for a conservation district in order to curb the building of a two-story, 30-foot-wide home that would clash with the street's dominating midcentury architecture. A hearing was scheduled with the Planning and Zoning Commission for Monday, but the developers withdrew their application befo...

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Boise embraces Accessory Dwelling Units

NIMBYs in Boise find success in establishing neighborhoods as conservation districts