The high costs and low supply of housing in Valley County are making it difficult for people to find a home.
Rebecca Kay and her family moved to McCall in November 2021. Up until this February, Kay and her five-year-old daughter were living in a home with her husband until she says he kicked them out.
Without family in the area, limited income, and no rentals available, Kay and her daughter are moving around from hotel to hotel.
“I dropped off an application with the manager (of a McCall apartment complex),” Kay said. “She’s like, ‘oh, so you’d have to sit down and have an interview.’ I met the income requirements for low income.”
She said she explained that she is living in hotels with her daughter.
“Does that move us to the top of the list? She said, ‘no, there’s still a waiting list. You still have to wait.’ Being homeless doesn’t help you at all.”
Kay said she can afford about $1,000 a month.
Looking at the latest available data, in 2022, the median rent for a one-bedroom was $729, and that’s if you’re lucky enough to snag it while it’s available.
Online listings show only a handful of rental properties available in the county. The one apartment listed for rent on Zillow in McCall is a 500 square foot one-bedroom one-bath going at $1,900 a month.
Income level aside, residents are struggling to find a home that’s available and affordable, leaving them wondering where they will be living next.
Supply and demand
The demand for housing in Valley County is high, but the supply is low. County Commissioner Sherry Maupin, who is also a real estate agent, called the state of housing supply “terrible.”
“Oh, it’s terrible. We have zero. Our supply is zero our demand is great. It’s crazy times in local housing right now,” she said.
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Matthew Castringo, who owns properties in Donnelly, said if a unit of his becomes available, it does not stay that way for long.
“It is a very strong demand,” he said. “The last time I had an apartment available, I got 40 responses in three days, advertising it on Facebook. There are certainly a lot of people looking. There’s not just the lack of affordable housing, there’s a lack of any housing, really.”
Shannon Foster, her high school-aged son, and her husband moved to McCall from Montana back in 2017 for her husband’s career in the Forest Service. Foster said even with her husband’s salary as a high-ranking Forest Service employee, they still could not afford to buy a home in Valley County. The Fosters were able to find a rental, which they have lived in for almost five years. But the Foster’s time is running out as their landlord has now decided to sell the home.
“When interest rates started going up, they (their landlord) decided to sell it, but the amount that they wanted for it was more than we could afford in our budget,” she said. “The reason we’re looking here in McCall is because we have a son. He’s a sophomore in high school, he’s already been in five schools since he started school, and we really don’t want to move him in his high school years… There’s nothing available for us to buy, much less rent.”
Foster said their budget is about $2,000 a month but noted that that figure is “on the high end.”
“It is impossible,” she said. “I told my husband, ‘well, we’ll be homeless on the 23rd of May.’ Maybe we’ll just get a tent, and I don’t know, camp in Ponderosa Park.”
Foster acknowledged that if her family is struggling this much, it must be really difficult for people working in the service industry or retail.
“We don’t make bad money. I mean, my husband makes decent money. But there are people who are working in the community for a lot less. I’ve had students that I’ve run into who are doubled up in the same house with another family,” Foster said. “… There’s a lot of that stuff that goes along around here for people who can’t afford to even find a home. Not a big house, even just a normal size house.”
There is also no shelter or emergency housing in the area. The closest shelter is in Boise, more than 100 miles away.
Workforce housing
Kay works two jobs to support herself and her daughter. She works as a lunch lady for the McCall-Donnelly School District, and she drives a school bus for Harlow’s School Bus Service. Kay said she contacted her school’s administration inquiring about workforce housing. This type of housing can give employees a temporary place to stay.
“I explained to them my situation and she said, when they get a notification that housing is available, they send out an email to everybody on the list,” Kay said. “I go, ‘ok, put me on the list.'”
She said the opportunities are few and far between.
Foster’s husband has also looked into workforce housing. Workforce housing in the Forest Service usually consists of “bunkhouses” that are often dorm-style, with more than one employee sharing a space. This style of housing is not ideal for a family.
“That housing is intended for seasonal or for people who just move in until they can get into their own home. When they get here, a lot of that space is taken up. They do have something in Council, but that’s 45 minutes to an hour away. Which isn’t local. We could move down there if we want to, but they’re a bunkhouse situation rather than individual houses.”
Large employers like Tamarack Resort, Brundage Mountain Resort, and Shore Lodge have or are creating their own housing units to try to help with the supply issues.
BoiseDev reported earlier in March that the conversion project to turn an old structure into a single one-bed, one-bath workforce housing unit in McCall could end up costing more than $90,000. Last April, St. Luke’s purchased ten studio apartment units for employee housing, and Tamarack said it would add more than 500 units of housing.
“We’re seeing more and more major employers and even some small employers that are either getting rentals or purchasing homes or constructing actual housing for their employees,” Michelle Groenevelt, McCall’s Community and Economic Development Director said.
Housing plans
The City of McCall has an incentive program that aims to increase affordable housing. The program encourages private developers to build deed-restricted units where builders can be reimbursed up to $10,000 per unit. The program ensures the units go to locals and that they “stay affordable for the long-term.” Groenevelt says there are currently about 14 units under this incentive program.
McCall also adopted its Local Housing Action Plan last year. The plan looks at the next five years and identifies what needs to be done to create more housing. Groenevelt said they have prioritized a list of 27 strategies, with the top priority being to coordinate with the sewer district to align sewer capacity and capital improvements with local housing needs.
Valley County is also working to increase affordable housing through the West Central Mountain Housing Trust, which operates another 13 deed-restricted homes. The trust is a non-profit that works to create and preserve affordable housing in the west central region of Idaho.
The housing trust recently applied for a project that would use American Rescue Plan Act funds through the Idaho Housing and Financing Association to create affordable housing. If funding is received, the project would create seven units, a triplex, and a four-plex in Raven Ridge in Cascade.
Rules and regulations
BoiseDev has reported on a number of subdivisions that are either being proposed or that are currently being built in Valley County. Some of these are considered “high-end.” Maupin emphasized that Valley County Commissioners can’t make people build certain types of properties.
“So you can’t demand somebody build local housing in the state of Idaho,” she said.
The City of McCall said it was sued by the Central Board of Realtors for its inclusionary housing requirements and community housing fees. In response, the city repealed its ordinances and refunded fees.
She said the commission is trying to look closely at subdivisions that have lots available for local housing.
Castringo says that as a developer, there are many regulations that hinder building, such as Donnelly’s parking requirements, that can be major obstacles when trying to make a unit affordable.
”If you want to make a studio, which would be the most affordable, you’re going to have to dedicate almost 50% of the space to the car and the space needed to get the car in and out of the parking space,” he said. “That’s a big obstacle that certainly drives up the cost.”
Castringo added that it seems like every time a multifamily project is proposed, it faces opposition.
“The other problem, multifamily is going to be the most affordable, but every time a multifamily project is proposed, people come out in droves to oppose it,” he said. “It’s like they want affordable housing, but they don’t want it next to their house.”
Foster said while she thinks city and county officials may listen to residents’ stress about housing, they are not taking enough action.
“I think that yeah, they’re addressing it by listening, but I don’t think they’re addressing it by doing,” she said. “I think there are a lot of rules and regulations that they try and put onto people… We’ll let you do this with your business, but you have to do this first. In my opinion, one of the things is widening the road, putting in a turn lane, putting in curbs, putting in a sidewalk. It really discourages people from developing because the city either can’t do it because we don’t have the money or they don’t want to do it, they want somebody else to foot the bill for it.”
Update: The story has been updated to reflect that the City of McCall has been sued.
