Redesigned plans for a storage unit complex on South Samson Trail still do not meet city standards, according to the McCall Area Planning and Zoning Commission.
The P&Z denied the design review application for the Alpine Storage Condos at 450 S. Samson Trail in April, but the plans were resubmitted in a new application that was reviewed on May 20.
The new plans reconfigured the layout of the site to reduce the frontage of the storage buildings along South Samson Trail, which is designated by the city as a scenic route.
The reconfiguration reduced the storage complex’s Samson Trail frontage by about 80 feet, while also eliminating one storage building from the 2.8-acre site and cutting the overall number of storage condos from 37 to 34.
The commission said the redesigned plans are an improvement from a design it denied in April because the storage buildings butted up against Samson Trail, making it incompatible with scenic route design guidelines.
Alternative options wanted for fencing, siding
However, commissioners still asked the developer, Cam Echanis of Boise, to provide different options for fencing and siding that could further improve the aesthetics of the property.
“I don’t think that solid fence really works,” P&Z Chairman Robert Lyons said of proposed security fencing around the storage condos.
Commissioner Liz Rock suggested the building facades along South Samson Trail could be “gussied up” to “not look like a box.” Rock also questioned if gray siding on the buildings would be “dull and drab” given the scale of the project.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Dave Petty said nothing could be done to make the proposal comply with the city’s scenic route code, which requires developments to not “block or disrupt” scenic features and to “be compatible with…the desired visual quality of the scenic route.”
“It’s still a storage unit (complex) on the scenic route,” Petty said. “Nothing has changed.”
The application is expected to return before the P&Z at its July 1 meeting.
Land use already approved
The P&Z’s review of the proposal has been complicated by the fact that a conditional use permit needed to build the storage condos was already approved by Valley County. The design of the buildings is the only aspect of the project at the P&Z’s discretion.
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However, the design review could be appealed to the county commissioners if denied by the P&Z. Lyons suggested the commission should factor that into its decision.
“I worry about what the county may do if we just deny it,” he said. “It could be worse. Most likely it would be worse.”
The hearing last month marked the application’s seventh appearance before the P&Z. Nearly 11 hours of meeting time have been spent on the application since it was first submitted in July 2023.
The P&Z recommended the denial of a conditional use permit needed to operate the storage units in December 2023, but last June, Valley County Commissioners reversed that decision and sent the design plans back to the P&Z for approval.
The county has jurisdiction over the application because it is in the McCall Impact Area, which consists of county land administered under zoning laws that closely resemble those in place within city limits.
The 2.8-acre parcel on which the storage condos are proposed is zoned for commercial use. The zoning predates the designation of South Samson Trail as a scenic route in 2021.
