A city failing to grow from within, and instead growing outward, has defined many of America’s largest metros now characterized by sprawling suburban development and a degradation of the natural environment. By prioritizing density, Boise’s new zoning code seeks to avoid the mistakes of its larger counterparts and retain its reputation as the City of Trees.
Boise’s new zoning code began implementation at the close of last year, marking the first time in decades that the city’s zoning code received a rewrite. Named the “Modern Zoning Code,” it is a rewrite of rules and guidelines for development that hadn’t been updated in 60 years, when the density of Boise was far different than it is today.
What has seen comparatively less change in that period is the landscape that surrounds Boise: desert to the south, mountains to the north and the river that flows through the city — these defining characteristics have all remained and continue to shape the state of the city today. In the overhaul of the code, Boise’s Planning and Development Services Department sought to determine how to retain the closeness of nature while accommodating the needs of a population that continues to grow.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data , Boise’s population in 2014 was estimated to be 216,280. In 2023, the population was estimated to have grown to 235,416, an increase of 8.8% over the nine-year period.
“If the city could seek to accommodate its growth, it will have growth, there’s no question about that,” Tim Keane, Boise’s former Planning and Development Services director, said. “If it could accommodate its growth by growing within itself rather than sprawling into the desert in particular, but also into the mountains, then that would be an enormous accomplishment.”
This challenge, of growing within rather than out, has been faced by many large American cities and few have been able to successfully address it, Keane said. When Keane took over as Boise’s Planning and Development Services director in the spring of 2022, discussions were already underway regarding how to protect Boise’s unique natural environment as the city continued experiencing substantial growth, he said.
“What does this specifically mean if we’re to protect nature and still grow?” Keane said. “Well, it has to do with more diversity in housing in your neighborhoods, and it has to do with density along streets like State Street and Vista and Fairview.”
The task of implementation now falls to Shawn Wilson, who was appointed as Planning and Development Services director in July. Wilson comes into the role with more than 10 years of experience working for the city of Boise, having previously overseen the facilities team responsible for capital projects. His work encompassed about 800,000 square feet that included parks, buildings, fire stations and city halls, he said.
The philosophy that Wilson brings to his new position, in terms of the role that he has in determining what is and is not being developed in the city, is much the same as Keane’s was.
“Everybody gets treated exactly the same,” Wilson said. “We strive to be as consistent as we possibly can.”
For both directors, past and present, the department’s role is not to say “yes” or “no” to particular developments within the city, nor is it to impose growth in the city — its objective is to determine whether a development falls under the guidelines of the zoning code and provide approval accordingly.
Keane’s resume in the realm of city planning and zoning leadership positions spans decades. He had a 16-year run in Charleston, South Carolina, before spending six years in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was commissioner of city planning. He arrived in Boise in spring of 2022 and departed last March for a brief, two-month stint in Calgary, Alberta. He then returned to the Charleston as the section chief for planning, permitting and engineering.
Keane said that Boise maintaining its relationship with the natural environment remains a central distinguishing factor from other cities he has worked in.
“Once you leave the desert, you’re in the city — it’s a very close relationship, same goes for the mountains,” Keane said. “Preservation of the foothills has been a long effort in the city and has had a lot of success, but that has to continue, protecting the foothills and then the desert on the south side — I think that’s what distinguishes Boise from Charleston, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, you name it.”
In terms of his time in Boise, Keane described the department’s regular responsibilities as having a facilitator role for the “difficult conversations” that needed to be had on growth and density and how these factors could be accommodated in future plans for the city.
Rather than any one individual, it is the Modern Zoning Code, developed by Planning and Development Services and adopted by Mayor Lauren McLean and the Boise City Council, that will have a direct role in shaping the future of the city. For Wilson, the code’s proper implementation will be the priority while he serves as director.
“How do we implement it correctly, to help housing, to help transportation, to help our climate initiatives — that’s really my vision,” Wilson said.
GROWING UP, NOT OUT
The former code comes from a time of far different needs and priorities in terms of development. Dating back to 1966, the code emphasized larger lot sizes, single-family homes and communities designed for car use.
“Traditional mid-century Americana living,” Maria Weeg, Boise’s director of community engagement, said.
The new code is about making the best use of the resources the city has by increasing density and allowing greater population along “transportation corridors,” Weeg said.
“Conceptually, we’re trying to grow up and not out,” Wilson said. “So a lot of the zones are more dense, more efficient use of resources, more opportunity for housing — that’s the direction of the zoning code in layman’s terms.”
This philosophy has tangible impacts on how the city’s services will operate, with Valley Regional Transit potentially facing significant changes.
The mass transit bus provider had been working closely with the city’s Planning and Development Services Department to identify areas where transit could be improved, Elaine Clegg, Valley Regional Transit CEO, said.
Clegg said that with denser development, and, in turn, improved service demand, Boise can shift away from active transportation zones, strictly oriented around biking or walking, and toward transit-oriented zones, that have development concentrated around transit stations.
Through frequent meetings with Planning and Development Services, VRT has been able to identify key areas where these shifts in zone priorities would allow for greater use of bus services, with more people being able to live along transportation corridors. At the same time, VRT has recently improved its service along Vista and Fairview avenues and State Street. These thoroughfares were all identified as ‘premium’ routes receiving “15-minute bus arrivals during rush hour and 30-minute arrivals during other weekday times and on Saturdays,” Jason Rose, VRT communications director, said.
These changes are intended to align with VRT’s long-range service plan of 15-minute bus frequency at key areas in the city, Clegg said.
The increased density that stands to increase the demand for VRT’s services relies upon the realization of a change in development strategy, particularly in the area of single-family housing.
SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING
Among key issues the code seeks to address is that of single-family housing. Keane noted that many of the older single-family neighborhoods in Boise had modest homes — ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 square feet — that were being torn down and replaced with larger single-family homes.
With the zoning ordinance revision being the city’s first in decades, the department was looking to ensure that the ordinance allowed various ways to “provide density appropriately in the city,” not just on busier streets but also within neighborhoods, Keane said.
“We need more single-family homes,” Keane said. “But why don’t we create more diversity and options for people in neighborhoods?”
Opening up the ability for single-family homes to be replaced with multi-family homes has provided options to shift away from the “monolithic thinking” of simply replacing a single-family home with another single-family home, Keane said.
“That’s how you don’t get anywhere when it comes to housing affordability and transportation and all these kinds of things,” Keane said.
To encourage the move away from this thinking, the zoning code includes incentives for developers pursuing projects that align with the department’s philosophy.
INCENTIVIZING DENSITY
These incentives extend beyond single-family housing, broadly impacting residential development in the city. Updated requirements for residential developments in areas like State Street and Fairview Avenue have been implemented to remove the need for a public hearing for taller and denser development. On the flip-side, a one-story development with a surface parking lot would require a public hearing, Keane said.
This has similarly been applied to neighborhoods. Putting, for example, a duplex in a single-family neighborhood no longer comes with the requirement of a public hearing.
Additional incentives have been added for strategic infills, which is a “tailored approach” to developing middle- and small-scale density housing on vacant or under-utilized parcels in developed areas, according to the city of Boise’s website.
Incentives are also available for property owners who make affordable housing a priority, and/or also meet electric and geothermal energy requirements. Those incentives can include deferred city impact, sewer connection and/or exempted building permit fees.
The hope is that these incentives around density can allow Boise to address its housing demand while avoiding being characterized by urban sprawl.
STATE OF THE CODE TODAY
The presentation of the Modern Zoning Code before city council last year involved a week-long public hearing, allowing the department to present evidence and hear suggestions — in favor of and against — various areas of the zoning code rewrite before it was ultimately adopted, Keane said.
An opportunity for additional feedback is estimated to be coming around January of next year. The code, though fully adopted, has yet to be fully implemented with some projects still developing under the legacy code. Wider market forces have also had a hand in reducing development since the code’s adoption, offering a limited testing for how the code functions in practice, Wilson said.
“The market’s pretty soft right now because the higher interest cost and everything, so we haven’t had a lot of tests with it yet,” Wilson said. “We’re still working with developers, encourag(ing) them to get as much feedback as possible, everything we can do to make sure it is the best code for Boise.”
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