The owner of the Laketown Shore Shop in McCall is not taking the waterskis off his business’s roof without a fight.
Cade Huskinson opened his souvenir shop at 200 Lenora St. in July 2023, taking over the building that formerly housed McCall Pet Outfitters and Supply. He made some changes to the store, including lining the shop roof with skis to add a vibe that he feels represents McCall.
“The reason I put the skis there — it wasn’t to say anything about my store, it was to say we’re a ski town. Like we love waterskiing. We love snow skiing. That’s what McCall is all about. It’s got a deep heritage in this and I want my store to reflect that,” Huskinson said. “So that’s why we originally decided to do it. We thought it’d be a cool addition to the downtown but ran into some code issues.”
During a McCall Planning and Zoning meeting in September 2023, commissioners ordered Huskinson to take down the waterskis over design and safety concerns, but they admitted to liking how the skis looked. In hindsight, Huskinson says he probably went about things in the wrong order and should have asked for city approval first. But after receiving a flood of supportive comments after the meeting, he’s decided to fight to keep his eccentric roof.
Plan to appeal
Huskinson said the support he has since received played a major part in his choice to appeal.
“The reason I’m appealing the decision is honestly, I’ve had so much outreach from the community from both citizens and tourists of McCall alike that have said, ‘you need to keep the skis,’ ‘these are awesome,’ ‘we love it,’ ‘it adds to the character of McCall,’ Huskinson said. “Originally, after the decision, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. And then after — I mean, we had people coming into our store every day, basically saying… you should be able to keep these… And so I decided, you know if the community supports it, I’m gonna appeal it and see if I can’t find a path forward for the skis to stay.”
McCall code says harshly contrasting color combinations are prohibited on exterior finishes, and building materials should be natural or natural appearing. The commission said the waterskis do not fit that description.
There was also concern that snow and ice build-up between the cedar shack roof and waterskis could cause the skis to potentially fall off.
Huskinson told BoiseDev that this appeal is about the design standards, not the safety concerns – saying he is “confident” the skis will not fall but is willing to do more to address it.
“I can’t deny that the skis aren’t earth tones and are not natural materials. Those are all things within the McCall city guidelines called for. But if you read the McCall vision document, the comprehensive plan… of what we want McCall to become, what we want tourists to experience when they come into our town, I feel strongly that the skis add to what McCall is trying to do in becoming a tourist location with a vibrant downtown with public art and with character,” he said. “So that’s my appeal to the city council is while the skis may not technically qualify because of the code, the skis do qualify based on the vision of what you want to build downtown the call to become.”
Since the meeting, Huskinson hasn’t taken any action to remove the skis.
An appeal hearing with the McCall City Council is scheduled for January 11. Huskinson spoke about how he was unsure if council could change the code or allow a variance to keep the waterskis up, but he wants to “at least try.”
