A Boise village for Christian retirees wants to rebuild. Will residents be safe?

A retirement village in Boise for Christian pastors and missionaries who “ gave their life to God’s mission ” is now on track to go through major redevelopment.

But some of the community’s age-70-and-up residents aren’t happy about the change, mainly because it would include a new public street. They are used to living in a peaceful community where they can walk to the dining hall and community center, sheltered from traffic.

Some neighbors are less than thrilled, too.

Nonetheless, the Boise Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved the redevelopment plan proposed by Boise Christian Homes at 3223 N. 36th St., to update its aging village in a residential neighborhood midway between State Street and Hill Road.

Boise Christian Homes provides affordable housing for retired Christians. About 36 residents live there, said Lynn Holmes, vice president of Boise Christian Homes’ board. Most are over 70 years old, several are in their mid-80s, and some are in their early 90s, Holmes said.

According to the nonprofit, Arnold and Eva Kernan in 1946 saw a need to house children orphaned by World War II, so they founded the Christian Children’s Home . In 1977, the children were relocated to a nearby property, and the houses left behind were remodeled into one- and two-bedroom apartments for retired ministers who had lived in parsonages and no longer had homes, retirement pay or much money beyond “meager Social Security, if any.”

The retirees were “Christian workers who had given a life of service who were literally left on the street,” the Boise Christian Homes’ website says.

No plan to increase rents

The nonprofit now rents one-bedroom apartments for $975 a month and two-bedroom units for $1,450 a month, Holmes said.

But most of the buildings are old, and “things are falling apart,” said Matt McAnulty, the architect for the project. It is time to upgrade and replace the residences, he said.

Holmes said there is no plan to increase rent prices following the redevelopment, but she doesn’t know what the housing market will be like, nor what rent will cost by the time the project is completed.

“We’re going to do our best not to increase (rent) and price people out of homes,” Holmes said. “We do not want to do that, especially with the existing residents.”

The redevelopment plan includes the construction of up to 74 multifamily units, Holmes said. These would include 13 one-bedroom fourplexes, two two-bedroom fourplexes, 10 town houses and four single-family detached homes.

Foster children would get homes too

The redevelopment would unfold in four phases over 10 to 15 years, depending on funding. It would include homes for the retirees and for foster children. The finished development will likely have three times as many residents as it does now, McAnulty said.

Holmes said the developer is hoping to break ground in six months. But Boise Director of Community Engagement Maria Weeg told the Statesman that a preliminary plat subdivision application will need to be heard and decided by the City Council, and that date has not been set yet. The applicant would then need to finalize the plat, which often takes up to a year, Weeg said.

The first phase would include the construction of seven resident cottages, private driveways and parking, portions of public roadways, walking paths and the resident community building, according to the city packet. This phase would cost about $5 million, Holmes said, and would be paid with the funds collected from the sale of the Ranch property, the site where the Children’s Home was moved to decades ago.

Residents would not have to move out of their units during the first phase, Holmes said. The southwest side of the property has an unused large area, and the first new units would be built on that vacant ground, she said.

After the first phase is completed, residents who would be displaced by the second phase would be offered the chance to move into the new apartments, Holmes said.

“Our hope is that the units that we are putting in in Phase 1 are almost equal to the units that we currently have, so we’re not going to displace or disrupt anyone’s living quarters,” she said.

When moving into the new units, residents would be assisted through churches and other organizations at no cost, Holmes said.

Homes for the foster children, including teenagers, would be key to the second phase. A children’s ministry home would be used for a partnership between Boise Christian Homes and a local agency to provide housing for the children.

Elderly residents worry about safety

The redevelopment includes a new public street that would connect Tucker Road and 36th Street, as required by the Ada County Highway District, Holmes said. Boise Christian Homes would have preferred not to build a public road, but it had to meet ACHD requirements, Holmes said.

More than a dozen residents and neighbors emailed Matthew Denis, associate planner at the city of Boise, to oppose the road. Their primary concerns are a potential increase in traffic and the resulting congestion and safety hazards. Some residents are worried that drivers in a hurry would use the new road to cut through the retirement community and avoid traffic on main roads.

Lesa Bynum, a resident of Boise Christian Homes, said in an email to the city: “My husband uses a cane and a walker. He does not have the strength at times to go but a few feet and rest and then walk and rest … Many of the residents here are like this too.. The lane is perfect for the setting we have here. A road is not! We are greatly, unequivocally opposed to having a road put in, in any direction that goes through the Boise Christian Retirement.”

Karolynn Hutchinson, another resident, said in an email: “Do you realize that this will require us to have to cross a busy street to eat, to recreate, and to reach our business office? Will there be a light? I am concerned for our safety.”

Maiyan Linane said in an email to the city: “The increase in population and traffic volume would result in delays and safety hazards for pedestrians and cyclists, especially in a community without sidewalks.”

How street access would change

Tucker Road, which now ends at 36th Street, would be extended west across 36th and connected to North Woody Drive, which itself would be extended north into the Boise Christian Homes village. These are public streets.

An existing east-to-west lane across the north would be extended through the Woody Drive extension west all the way to 39th Street. That would be a private drive.

These changes would provide three ways for cars or trucks to get into or out of the Boise Christian Homes site, from the west, east and south. The entrance road now from 36th Street would be eliminated and replaced by the Tucker extension.

There are no public street connections from 36th Street to 39th, Weeg said. The private drive, a 10-foot-wide multi-use pathway, is the only public access to 39th Street from the property, Weeg said.

Highway district: Safety is a priority

The street would have a 20 mph speed limit, the same as other residential streets in Boise, said Rachel Bjornestad, public information officer at ACHD.

The road would have two travel lanes and curb, gutter and sidewalks on both sides of the road, Bjornestad said.

Bjornstad told the Statesman that safety is a priority for everyone at ACHD, but the district can’t control how people drive, or the routes they choose. The new street would have pedestrian facilities that meet current standards and would be accessible for all users, she said.

Bjornstad said ACHD will monitor 39th Street after the project is built. “If necessary, safety improvements can be made at that time,” Bjornstad said in an email to the Statesman.

Sidewalks will not be added to 39th Street, as ACHD did not require them as part of this project, Bjornstad said. “The site has limited frontage on 39th Street, only allowing for the construction of the proposed driveways,” she said.

Holmes said it’s not likely for traffic to increase significantly on 39th Street.

The average daily traffic count for 36th Street south of Hill Road was 6,302 in 2022, while the average daily traffic count for 39th Street south of Catalpa Drive was 301 in 2023, according to a report provided to the Boise City Council. This development is estimated to generate 580 vehicle trips per day, with 48 trips during the afternoon peak hour, according to the Institute of Transportation Engineers Trip Generation Manual.

Holmes said the street would have curves that slow traffic. One reason for the street is to provide access for the fire department and first responders, who now must go all the way to the end of the property and carefully turn their trucks around to exit the village, Holmes said.

It would be “easier for first responders to get in there, get things taken care of. and get the patient out to the hospital or off the property quickly,” Holmes said.

Neighbors worry they may lose on-street parking

Ryan Leser, who lives in a neighboring subdivision, said he’s concerned about the development’s impact on parking availability.

“It seems like they’re crowding the current residents out and they’re not considering the street parking,” Leser told the Statesman by phone. “They’re just stacking us up on top of each other, and they’re not thinking of the consequences behind all this.”

Initially, ACHD required that the street through Boise Christian Homes be 33 feet wide to match Woody Drive, which is 32 feet wide. However, Chrysalis Architecture, the applicant, appealed that decision and asked that the street be 27 feet wide.

The city planners accepted the appeal, because “narrower streets provide traffic-calming measures that naturally result in slower driver speeds,” Weeg said. The street would be tapered where Tucker and Woody meet, Weeg said.

In a letter to ACHD, Chrysalis Architecture asked for parking on both sides of the new street because of concerns about potential parking impacts on the existing section of Woody Drive “due to the mix of proposed uses and the project being under parked.”

No home residents will park on street, director says

Bjornestad said the new public road would have on-street parking on just one side.

Holmes said there are two side parking lots on Boise Christian Homes’ property for residents who “have an abundance of guests.”

“You will not find our residents parking on any of the neighborhood streets, because we’ve got adequate parking,” Holmes said.

Neighbors worry about neighborhood’s character

Some residents and neighbors are concerned about losing the tranquility that characterizes this community.

“ Our neighborhood thrives on its family-friendly atmosphere, emphasizing single-family homes and a close-knit environment,” Maiyan Linane said in an email to the city, “Introducing a large-scale multi-family development could disrupt this balance and alter the character of our neighborhood.”

McAnulty said Chrysalis Architecture first considered designing a big apartment building, but then decided to go with smaller, single-story buildings that are the size of most single family homes.

Holmes said the redevelopment “should not” change the nature of the neighborhood and that Boise Christian Homes wants to maintain “that country cottage feel.”

“We want that peaceful, serene atmosphere,” Holmes said, “We really do have an oasis in this big city and we want to keep it that way.”

The village has a small garden where residents can grow vegetables, which will be kept in the new design. There will also be new areas for meditation and a “remembrance courtyard,” where people will be able to remember previous residents, McAnulty said.

The community will have about a mile of walking paths, an exercise area, potential pickleball courts and a small dog park.

A lot of the open space is now “very inefficiently used,” McAnulty said.

2nd, 3rd and 4th phases set forth

Besides the foster homes, the second phase would include maintenance buildings, portions of private driveways, parking and walking paths.

The third phase would include eight residential cottages, four single-family homes, 10 town houses, portions of walking parking lots, completion of the public roadway to 36th Street, and landscaping.

The fourth and final phase would include a teen center and any remaining landscaping, parking and walking paths.

The project’s application came in under the city’s previous zoning code, which required a minimum of 92 parking spaces based on total units and bedroom count, Weeg said. The development includes 125 parking spaces and 74 bicycle spots. A conditional approval added by the P&Z Commission allows the installation of bicycle parking to be part of the final phase of development.

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