A public hearing on a proposal to build a vineyard, an outdoor amphitheater, and more than 1,100 homes near McCall will wait until 2025.
Valley County Planning and Zoning Administrator Cynda Herrick received a request from Texas-based DF Development on Tuesday to postpone the public hearing scheduled for Thursday night on the company’s RedRidge Village application.
“DF Development would like to postpone our public hearing concerning the RedRidge Village PUD concept,” Christine Richman of GSBS Consulting, a Salt Lake City firm representing DF, said in an email to Herrick.
Herrick told BoiseDev the company’s request will be honored and that the hearing slated for Thursday night will be re-scheduled to a future meeting.
DF plans to conduct public outreach early next year and now has sights set on a public hearing before the Valley County Planning and Zoning Commission in “early to mid-2025,” Richman said.
“DF Development has reviewed the public comments you forwarded as well as other comments posted on social media and would like to take some time to meet with the community through townhalls and community outreach meetings to learn more about their concerns and identify strategies to ensure our proposal addresses a number of these concerns and issues,” she said.
The proposal, which covers 2,250 acres along the western edge of Valley County south of McCall, has drawn more than 100 written public comments since it was submitted in November, Herrick said.
Hundreds of comments have also been made about the proposal on social media posts, including on Reddit and Facebook.
The proposal
The concept plan submitted to Valley County for RedRidge Village calls for 645 acres of development with 1,613 acres of undeveloped slopes and natural buffers.
A village center would serve as the main hub of RedRidge Village. Plans call for a farm-to-table restaurant, a boutique winery, an outdoor plaza, a community hall, retail space, and an amphitheater with seating for 2,000 people.
The village center would be surrounded by five neighborhoods that would connect 1,130 homes to West Mountain Road. A maintenance yard and public trails are also proposed.
Development of RedRidge Village would be split into four phases that could begin as soon as 2026 and be complete by 2034, according to the application.
Each phase of development would be subject to further P&Z review even if the concept plan is approved.
The proposal is part of 30,920 contiguous acres of DF land that stretches about 12 miles from west of McCall along West Mountain Road to U.S. 95 west of New Meadows near the Evergreen Forest Products sawmill.
“RedRidge Village is envisioned as the front door to more than 30,000 acres of pristine terrain in Valley and Adams counties,” according to the application. “We are committed to preserving this unique area for the enjoyment and benefit of future generations.”
The Wilks Brothers
DF Development is controlled by Farris and Dan Wilks of Cisco, Texas. The billionaire brothers purchased 172,000 acres of private land in west-central Idaho in 2017.
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The 57,908 acres currently owned by DF in Valley County are more than the county’s nine other largest private landowners combined, according to a report from the Valley County Assessor’s Office.
The company is also Adams County’s largest landowner, with 60,930 acres across 194 parcels, according to the Adams County Assessor’s Office.
Much of DF’s land was previously owned by Boise Cascade Corp and later Potlatch Corp., which managed the lands for timber harvests. The companies allowed public access for hunting, hiking, mountain biking, ATV use and other activities.
DF Development installed gates and put “No Trespassing” signs across access roads into their land due to what the brothers have said were instances of abuse by users.
The company’s lands are concentrated around Smith Ferry, near Tamarack Resort, along the east side of Long Valley between Cascade and Lake Fork, and surrounding Meadows Valley.
The Wilks brothers, who are estimated to be worth nearly $4 billion per Forbes, earned $3.5 billion from the 2011 sale of Frac Tech, a fracking company they founded in 2002.
