A McCall tax renewal recently approved by voters could help the city leverage more local housing units out of a 42-townhome subdivision it approved last week in downtown McCall.
The McCall City Council voted unanimously last week to approve the Trail’s Edge Subdivision on six acres along First Street. Plans call for 42 townhomes contained within 19 duplexes and triplexes—all built along a network of public trails.
Four of the townhomes would be reserved for local residents under the city’s housing program, which offers developers up to $20,000 in development credits for each unit permanently committed to the program.
McCall Mayor Bob Giles floated getting more local units from Trail’s Edge by using money from the city’s Streets Local-Option Tax to offset some of the expense tied to developer-funded upgrades on First Street.
“We were wondering if you might…be willing to work with our staff to see if you qualify for that program where we would be doing more cost sharing than we currently have signed up for to help create additional deed-restricted properties,” Giles said.
Amy Holm, a McCall attorney representing the developer, Alan Cottle of Bountiful, Utah, agreed to the request.
“I fully understand the sentiment as a longtime McCall resident and with how expensive it is to live here, I get it,” Holm said. “We will absolutely research that with our folks and your experts.”
Giles’ suggestion follows a 10-year renewal of the streets tax McCall voters approved in May. The renewed tax language broadened allowable uses to include street and sidewalk improvements associated with local housing projects, as Valley Lookout reported.
The city’s local housing program began in 2018 and currently manages 16 deed-restricted units. Nearly 50 more units are entitled but not yet built.
First Street sidewalk
As approved, Cottle must pay to widen First Street, dedicate land for the expanded roadway, and build a sidewalk along the west side of the roadway from near Washington Street to Colorado Street.
He also must record an easement for a future extension of First Street south to Stibnite Street. There is no certainty that the extension will ever be built, but it is contemplated in city planning documents.
Cottle, a former Hyatt executive who led the hotel chain’s development in North America, plans to retire to McCall to live in the subdivision, Holm said.
Council: Trail’s Edge ‘much better’ than previous proposal
The city council’s approval of Trail’s Edge follows last year’s denial of Cottle’s formal proposal, known as Wood Moor Crest, which featured larger homes packed more tightly into the six-acre parcel.
That proposal was designed by architects based in Park City, Utah, and led by Star developer Rick Williams of Plantation Homes, while Trail’s Edge was designed by Epikos Design + Architecture in McCall in conjunction with City of McCall Arborist Kurt Wolf.
“This is much better than the last go round,” council member Colby Nielsen said. “It really looks more like a neighborhood.”
“It’s a step forward, for sure, from what we previously saw,” agreed council member Lyle Nelson.
Without donors like you, this story would not exist.
Make a donation of any size here
Each townhome will be built along a network of public trails in the subdivision, with direct trail access from backyards. The trails would connect to the city’s Railroad Pathway.
Trail’s Edge will connect to First Street near Colorado Street and through another access on First Street planned as part of the six-home Blackwell Subdivision, which was approved by the city last year.
Nobody spoke during a public hearing held before the council for Trail’s Edge.
