Developers proposed a hotel. Then it was pulled from Caldwell’s agenda. Here’s why
The city of Caldwell has delayed action on a hotel that could be part of a growing district near The College of Idaho.
Developers filed a letter of intent earlier this fall asking for a 50-year, $5,000-a-year lease to build the hotel. But after public pushback, the Caldwell City Council removed discussion on the letter from its Nov. 4 meeting.
“That is to allow for additional time for staff to research parking and other potential concerns and issues in that area, to wrap up some other loose ends on that,” Mayor Jaron Wagoner said during the meeting.
The goal is to bring it back for the Dec. 2 meeting, Caldwell spokesperson Char Jackson said in an email. But nothing is set in stone.
The hotel, with more than 100 rooms, would be built on a 4.2-acre site on 21st Avenue, in a lot now used for event parking, according to a presentation during the Oct. 21 council meeting.
Caldwell has a “hospitality ‘leakage,’ ” according to the October presentation. The city has only four hotels, way fewer than Pocatello and Nampa, which each have around 15.
But some members of the public voiced concerns with the hotel’s impact on the Caldwell Night Rodeo, Jackson said. In a local Facebook group, for example, one person worried about the impact to parking and staging for horse trailers.
Councilwoman Diana Register said on Oct. 21 that she believed Caldwell needs a hotel. But she had concerns with the process.
“We’re being asked to support the mayor in signing a letter of intent for a hotel when we don’t even have this sub-area master plan done yet,” Register said. “We’re putting the cart before the horse.”
A couple of weeks after that meeting, the City Council approved the master plan for the Caldwell events center district, which surrounds Simplot Stadium and the Caldwell Night Rodeo area. The goal of the plan is to turn this district into a “vibrant, multi-use area that hosts year-round sporting events and activities,” according to a memo.
This hotel would be a “key element of the vision for this growing area,” according to the Oct. 21 presentation.
Wagoner said during that meeting that a letter of intent was just a starting point. He said he wanted perspectives on what direction the council would want to go in.
Other council members said they were in support of the letter or, at least, unwilling to shut it down.
“This is adding into the cart, putting in what do you want in the cart,” Wagoner said. “… That’s where the council has to make that decision of what’s right and best for Caldwell.”
The mayor and council would need to approve the letter of intent, Jackson said in an email. To finalize the project, a development agreement would need to be created and approved, Jackson said.
This story was originally published November 14, 2024 at 2:52 PM.
