City Council Workshop

CITY OF STAR, IDAHO CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES City Hall - 10769 W State Street, Star, Idaho Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 6:30 PM PUBLIC NOTICE: THIS MEETING IS BEING RECORDED AND PLACED IN AN ONLINE FORMAT, PERSONS MAY EITHER VIEW OR LISTEN TO VIDEO/AUDIO OF THIS MEETING UNTIL SUCH TIME THE RECORDING IS DESTROYED UNDER THE CITY’S RETENTION POLICY. 1. CALL TO ORDER – Welcome/Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Chadwick called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. INVOCATION – Council Member Kevan Wheelock Councilman Wheelock led the invocation. 3. ROLL CALL ELECTED OFFICIALS: Mayor Trevor Chadwick, Council President David Hershey and Council Members Kevan Wheelock, Jennifer Salmonsen and Kevin Nielsen. STAFF: City Clerk Shelly Tilton; City Planning Administrator Shawn Nickel; Assistant City Planner and Sports & Recreation Director Ryan Field; Public Information Officer Dana Partridge; City Engineer Ryan Morgan; City Building Official Kevin Pitt; Assistant City Engineer Tim Clark; Star Fire Chief Zach Hessing and Star Fire Deputy Chief Fire Marshall Victor Islas. Mayor Chadwick stated that this is a workshop that isn’t related to a specific application. The council is only able to hear from the public about applications at public hearings, but staff is available during the week at City Hall to answer questions. 4. CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT DISCUSSION Planning Administrator Shawn Nickel said the purpose of the workshop is to get guidance from the Council on their vision regarding re-development in the downtown area of the city. He reviewed the definition of the Central Business District (CBD) in the city land use section of the Comprehensive Plan including a vibrant downtown center and various commercial uses with emphasis on pedestrian and bicycle compatibility. The CBD is the length of State Street from Plummer to Can Ada on both sides, on Star Road from Lifespring to the river and Main Street between First and Frost south to the river. Shawn referred to the 2011 Star Downtown Revitalization Plan, a later discussion will include an Urban Renewal District. Shawn shared the original 2000 Comprehensive Plan and Land Use Map for the city that recognized the Central Business District; a later plan removed the CBD. In 2019 a major overhaul was done of the comp plan that included an expanded CBD. The current zoning map was reviewed. Shawn said the county had determined the original CBD area. He reviewed the Downtown Revitalization Plan. The plan includes parking, public plazas, preservation of history, store fronts and landscaping. It doesn’t provide for things like land uses, heights, bulk of buildings, transitioning for existing residential or when to start considering downtown public parking. Shawn said with interest in development of the area growing, the intent of this meeting is to provide history for the council members and provide awareness of what is in the existing plans; things to take into consideration include existing services, public safety and parking. Page 1 of 2  CITY OF STAR, IDAHO CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES City Hall - 10769 W State Street, Star, Idaho Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 6:30 PM Council Member Salmonsen wondered if the CBD area should be narrowed to allow more focus. Shawn said that would be something to look at when the Comprehensive Plan is updated later in the year. Many of the parcels have already been developed. Shawn discussed some recent applications in the area. Council Member Wheelock discussed impacts and potential infringement to residential properties along this corridor with commercial going in around them, he wondered about that transition for property owners prior to the CBD being included in the plan. Council Member Salmonsen discussed trying to create a central, active area for gathering. Being a young city with a lot of growth she wondered how to blend the current landscape and history with growth. Mayor Chadwick said Star has become a hotbed and with those coming in, trying to follow a plan made in 2011, he wonders how it will work if the plan changes; plans are made to adjust but everything needs to be in line so it can be done in an orderly way. He discussed the time and community input that went into the current plan. Shawn discussed access points; he stated not all access can be off the highway. Council Member Wheelock discussed learning from things that have been done in the past to ensure things like commercial parking don’t overflow and negatively impact the residential neighbors. With the plan being 14 years old, there was discussion about having a consultant update the plan which would include input from the community. 5. INSPIRADO LOCAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT Taylor Cook and Tony Tseng with the Inspirado development discussed their request for a Local Improvement District (LID). An LID is an alternative financing mechanism used by developers and builders to build public infrastructure for large projects, it allows financing to expedite construction. For the Inspirado development the LID would be used for roads, bridges, signalization and a water booster station and well needed for commercial and fire needs. Tony said that development is expensive, so this is a way to make this size project feasible in a shorter timeframe. This is the first LID that the city would be involved in, it would be for a specific project area. He explained there is no increase to current taxpayers. Tony said they are looking to retain ownership of the commercial property within the development to have control over it. If the city is willing to consider an LID, they would come back with more specific details at a future meeting. The development includes single family and high density residential, commercial and mixed use. They reviewed the planned phases and timeframes of the project. Traffic concerns were discussed. Tony explained that there isn’t liability to the city, if the bonds weren’t being paid back the bond owners would go after the land which would be listed as collateral. Repayment and administration of the bonds was discussed. 6. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Chadwick adjourned the meeting at 8:04 p.m. ________/s/______________________ ATTEST: ______/s/______________________ Mayor Trevor A. Chadwick Shelly Tilton, City Clerk Page 2 of 2