Three years ago, homes on Alto Via Court slid off. The bare lots are being auctioned

Three years ago, homes on Alto Via Court near Table Rock slid off their foundations during a slow-moving landslide, sustaining sagging walls, broken windows and damaged sidewalks. Two roads were closed because of the damage.

The homes were ruled uninhabitable and families moved out. Most of the homes in the neighborhood were torn down.

This weekend, four empty lots on Alto Via Court and one on Strata Via Place in the Boise Foothills will be auctioned.

A former home at 140 N. Alto Via was once valued at $500,000. In 2015, the homeowners were billed $10,960 in property taxes, according to the Ada County Assessor’s Office. Today, the 4.4 acres of bare land is assessed at $16,900.

Partial taxes were paid in 2015, but nothing since and the county took title to the property.

“Once the tax deed process has been followed, and the county takes temporary ownership, the Board of County Commissioners is mandated to sell the tax deed property to the highest bidder within 14 months,” Ada County spokeswoman Elizabeth Duncan said in an email to the Statesman.

The lots and minimum bids to cover back taxes are fees are:

• 140 N. Alto Via Court: $8,922.28
• 143 N. Alto Via Court: $6,596.49
• 159 N. Alto Via Court: $5,823.65
• 177 N. Alto Via Court: $4,816.37
• 270 N. Strata Via Place: $23,377.95

“Other open space land in the county is valued at $3,800.50 per acre and that is the value that was applied to the parcels,” Duncan said. “Prior to the landslide, the value of the land was much higher.”

Any future development of the lots would be governed by city and state regulations, Duncan said.

“The parcels can be utilized for purposes other than development or homes,” she said. “People with adjoining properties may want the parcels for their own open space — to ensure that no future development occurs to impede their views.”

There are other homes in the area and trails, with Table Rock not too far away, Duncan said. Someone might want the lots to add additional trails, she said.

This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 2:49 PM.