Eagle faces big decision: Annex planned Foothills megadevelopment with 8,800 houses?
A megadevelopment that would house nearly as many people as Kuna is advancing toward possible annexation by Eagle, something its developer has sought for years.
At full build-out, more than 22,500 residents could live in Avimor, a community in the Eagle Foothills in unincorporated Ada County. Kuna has about 24,000 residents, according to the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho.
The fight over annexation was pivotal in the 2019 city election, when Mayor Stan Ridgeway, who opposed annexation, was defeated by Jason Pierce, who received thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the McLeod family, which owns the property, and its developers.
More recently, a group that opposed Avimor annexation, called Eagle Citizens for Open Government, launched a petition drive to put the recall of Pierce and all four City Council members on the ballot. The drive fell short of the needed signatures in December.
Many Eagle residents say annexing Avimor into their city would be a mistake, costing existing residents more in taxes for local-government services in the long run than the development would generate in tax revenue. But Dan Richter, general manager of Avimor, said it has always been the plan for Avimor to be added to the city.
“Avimor has been working with Eagle since 2008, when we spent the time and money to get included in the city’s comprehensive plan,” Richter said in an interview with the Idaho Statesman in August.
On Tuesday, Jan. 17, the Eagle Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Avimor’s proposal, which includes 8,761 homes. At Ada County’s average household size of 2.57 people, that’s 22,516 new residents, including those in the 700-plus homes already built.
Avimor would nearly double Eagle’s geographic size
Avimor would occupy 17,522 acres, or more than 27 square miles. In comparison, Eagle now has 30 square miles, Meridian has 33, and Garden City has four.
The development would include 860,000 square feet, or nearly 20 acres, of commercial and retail buildings.
Avimor may have had its eyes on annexation for over a decade, but since 2019 Avimor-backed city candidates have dominated Eagle City Hall.
Alongside Pierce’s victory,Charlie Baun and Brad Pike ousted incumbents. Like Pierce, they received thousands from Avimor donors, the Statesman previously reported.
Avimor was approved in the early 2000s by the Ada County Commission as a planned community. But in 2016, the county has tightened restrictions around planned communities so that urban development would be allowed only within city limits. The county allows far sparser development than Avimor’s owners want, so Avimor is counting on annexation.
Why does Avimor want to join Eagle?
Avimor hopes to grow to over the next 30 years. Richter told the Statesman that as Avimor spans across pieces of three counties, it would be difficult to accommodate what three county commissions want. It would be far easier just to accommodate Eagle’s requests when it wants to develop.
“We have one spot that we’re going to be developing here in about three or four years where you can stand and be in three counties at one time,” Richter said in August. “And can you imagine getting something approved?”
In a series of meetings in 2021, when Avimor was educating the City Council about its plans for annexation, there were conflicting reports of the cost of Avimor to the city from two fiscal analysts, one hired by the city and the other by Avimor.
The Eagle analyst projected a total $9 million deficit over 30 years if Eagle annexed Avimor. The Avimor analyst said Eagle would roughly break even financially at the end of 30 years, and said impact fees imposed on new development could pay for the growing need of services like police and fire, the Statesman previously reported.
Citizens group set to fight annexation
A resident group called SOS Eagle, made up of Eagle residents concerned about growth and development, conducted an unscientific, voluntary online survey in September. According to the results on the SOS Eagle website, 107 respondents answered yes to the question “Do you support the annexation of Avimor into the city of Eagle?” Over 1,400 respondents said no, and 27 were not sure.
Jay Combs, one of the leaders of Eagle Citizens for Open Government, said after the failed recall effort that his group would be focused on “stopping the annexation of Avimor.”
“I think there will probably be a lot of people that want to participate in (the public meeting),” said Combs. “That’s certainly going to be our our goal.”
During the same town hall in August, Pierce said that he entertains the Avimor annexation because it as a way for Eagle to control the growth around it, rather than “sticking our head in the sand.”
The Planning and Zoning Commission meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, at Eagle City Hall. People can watch the hearing remotely at https://www.cityofeagle.org/305/City-Agendas-Videos. Written comments are required to be submitted to the city clerk five days before the hearing day.
