Big changes at Roaring Springs, Edwards theater, Tamarack Resort. Coming near you
The latest proposed developments, other construction projects and new businesses around Idaho’s Treasure Valley:
Boise
The Regal Edwards Boise movie theater is looking to make major changes.
The theater, at 7701 W. Overland Road, wants to remodel 19 of its 21 screens, install new seats to replace existing ones, remodel the concession area and create a new bar and lounge area in the existing lobby, according to an application filed with the city.
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A developer is considering building 11 town houses at 1421 N. Five Mile Road in West Boise.
Jim Coles, of Design West Architects, had a pre-application meeting with city staff members. In a summary of the meeting, the staff members said they want more density, street activation and a pedestrian connection to Five Mile Road.
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David Dufenhorst, the owner of Double D Winery LLC, is applying to create a wine tasting room in downtown Boise.
The site, at 906 W. Main St., would include a tasting bar, seating, kitchen and bathroom. The project is being called Rocky Pond Wine Tasting Room. The building previously was a furniture store.
Dufenhorst wants to install outdoor seating surrounded by a railing. Neither the seating or railing would be attached to the building or sidewalk.
A Google Street View of the winery’s planned location at 906 W. Main St.
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Meridian
Roaring Springs is moving ahead with its plans to expand, according to city filings.
The water park has applied to add an operations building and two mechanical buildings with a pool and action river.
The operations building would be 2,887 square feet, the application said. One mechanical building would have 2,709 square feet. The second building would include a pool and action river; it would have 800 square feet.
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Ron Walsh, of Eagle developer Walsh Group LLC, wants to build another phase of the Jamestown Ranch Subdivision near the southeast corner of the Black Cat and McMillan roads.
The development would consist of 294 houses. on 80 acres on the south side of McMillan.
At a Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Feb. 17, Elizabeth Koeckeritz, a lawyer, said Jamestown Ranch would have a 55-plus age requirement for residents.
“It’s become an infill location within the city of (Meridian) in this rapidly developing, high-priority area,” Koeckeritz said.
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Brighton Corp. is looking to add 216 apartments to Eagle View Landing at 1066 S. Silverstone Way in Meridian.
One new apartment building would include 123 apartments, and another would include 93, according to city filings.
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Scott Tschirgi, with Schultz Development LLC, wants to build 15 single-family homes on 3.4 acres on the northeast corner of Amity and Locust Grove roads.
The Grayson Subdivision would include a mix of single and two-story homes at 1710 E. Amity Road.
Matt Schultz, of Schultz Development, wrote in the application that the company considered all aspects of the Meridian comprehensive plan, surrounding neighborhoods and the housing market in Meridian to develop “a high-quality residential development.”
The Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hear the proposal at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at City Hall.
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The Ada County Highway District says it will build a new maintenance complex on Ustick Road, between Black Cat and Ten Mile roads near Meridian’s wastewater resource and recovery plant.
The complex would give the highway district easy access to the western part of the county. It would eventually house a full maintenance crew, according to an ACHD news release.
There are two other ACHD maintenance complexes, one on Cloverdale Road in Boise and one on Adams Street in Garden City. ACHD plans to move operations from the Adams Street complex to property it owns on Apple Street in Southeast Boise.
The Meridian City Council approved ACHD’s application.
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Nampa
The Idaho Horse Park, a horse park and show center in Nampa, wants to expand its RV park.
The Idaho Horse Park is a major tourist draw for Nampa, organizers said in a letter to the city. The park has an RV park with 44 spaces, but it needs 100, the letter said.
“The need for additional RV spaces is the primary source of requests from our show participants,” the letter said.
The park estimated the cost of the additional RV spaces would be $2 million. The application said that money could be earned back within two seasons with “monies infused to our community through direct and indirect economic impact and within 10 years through operating-budget impact.”
The Idaho Horse Park is located at 16200 N. Idaho Center Blvd.
The Nampa City Council was scheduled to hear the proposal at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 17, at a special meeting in City Hall.
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Vertical Equity, a Meridian-based development company run by Sharon Robnett, plans to break ground on 60 apartments at 3225 E. Greenhurst Road.
The complex, Greenhurst Meadows, will be made up of three 3-story buildings on a 3-acre site in central Nampa. All units are designed larger than the average apartment, the developer said in a news release.
The apartments would consist of six one-bedroom/one-bathroom units, 36 two-bed/two-bath units with different layouts and room sizes, and 18 three-bed/two-bath units.
“America has a true housing shortage, and we are proud to add 60 new units in the Greenhurst Meadows project to our portfolio,” Robnett said in the release.
The construction company plans to break ground on the project on Friday, March 25.
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Around Idaho
The Boise National Forest has accepted Tamarack Resort’s application for a special-use permit to expand its activities into 2,099 additional acres of National Forest land. While the acceptance of the application does not mean the proposal has been approved, it is an important step.
The expansion, which would mostly add the land to the south of the resort, would include the installation of new ski lifts, rock climbing areas and new hiking and mountain biking trails.
Tawnya Brummett, Boise National Forest supervisor, said there has been an increase in outdoor recreation in the area and this could be a way to meet public needs.
The Donnelly-area resort, which offers skiing, snowboarding and outdoor summer activities, has seen significant updates since it came under new ownership in 2018. The original application, which sought 3,300 acres, was submitted in January 2021.
Once the project is officially, launched, members of the public will be able to provide input on the proposal at https://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/boise/landmanagement/projects.
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Notable
The Idaho Army National Guard has completed certification of its new Digital Air-Ground Integration Range at the Orchard Combat Training Center south of Boise.
The range, which allows air and ground units to train together while receiving real-time feedback on their performance, was completed last year. It realistically tests the coordinated combat capabilities of military aircraft and ground equipment.
The system captures the actions and reactions of soldiers and aviators traveling along lanes and engaging pop-up, stationary or rolling targets. Those actions can be played back to assess successes and challenges of various combat scenarios.
Apache helicopters and soldiers from Washington state assisted Idaho in the final testing. Previous components of the test were completed last spring with Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Stryker armored troop carriers.
The digital air-ground range is one of two such ranges in the United States and the only one operated by a National Guard unit. The other range is at Fort Bliss in Texas, while another is under construction at Fort Knox in Kentucky and is scheduled to be finished next year.
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Idaho Power has filed the first of two annual cost adjustments with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.
The utility is seeking a decrease of $4.9 million, or 0.8%, in its fixed-cost adjustment for residential and small general service customers in Idaho.
If approved, a typical residential customer using 950 kilowatt-hours per month would see about an 81-cent decrease to the monthly bill beginning June 1. The final impact to customer bills won’t be known until a second annual adjustment, the power cost adjustment, is filed in April.
Idaho Power has also requested a price increase to collect the cost of an accelerated depreciation schedule for coal-related investments at the Jim Bridger Power Plant in Wyoming. Idaho Power’s most recent long-range plan has concluded that ending coal-fired operations at Bridger by end of 2028 will lower costs for customers.
The Bridger filing calls for a revenue increase of $27.1 million, or 2.2%, to facilitate an earlier exit. If approved, that change would also go into effect June 1.
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The cost to park in downtown Boise garages is going up. The Capital City Development Corp., Boise’s urban renewal agency, which owns and operates ParkBOI garages, approved the increases. They’ll go into effect May 1.
Most of the monthly rates are increasing between 5% and 10%. The hourly rates are remaining at $3 per hour, with the first hour free. The weekday maximum is increasing from $15 to $20 at the Ninth and Main garage and the Capitol and Main garage.
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This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
