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McCall council directs staff to finalize draft transportation impact guidelines to standardize traffic reviews
Summary
The McCall City Council on Sept. 25 directed staff to finalize a first‑ever draft of Transportation Impact Analysis (TIA) guidelines that set thresholds and a scoping process for traffic memos and studies, require scoping meetings, and add seasonal and multimodal considerations to reflect McCall’s resort traffic patterns.
The McCall City Council on Sept. 25 directed city staff to finalize a draft Transportation Impact Analysis guidance document that would set when developers must prepare traffic memos or full traffic impact studies and standardize study methods for the city.
City staff said the guidelines would make traffic review more consistent and transparent by establishing thresholds (for example, a memo for projects under roughly 200 weekday trips or 20 dwelling units and a full study for larger developments), requiring a scoping meeting with staff and consultants, and adding multimodal and seasonal considerations tailored to McCall’s resort‑town traffic patterns.
Morgan Stroud, city engineer, told the council: "This is the first draft that we've ever provided to the city council. We don't have one currently. We, as the City of McCall, have unique transportation conditions," and described requirements for July peak counts and a Saturday midday count to capture summer weekend peaks. The draft also directs that traffic analyses be performed by a licensed Idaho professional engineer with traffic experience and that long‑term or phased buildouts submit periodic updates.
Staff explained the scoping meeting would set the study area, determine which intersections and pedestrian/bicycle facilities to analyze, and define trip‑generation assumptions. The draft calls out use of ITE trip generation rates, allows use of the ITD automatic traffic recorder to adjust counts when on‑site summer counts are unavailable, and asks for multimodal assessments where developments affect pedestrian or bicycle access.
Councilors asked about proportionality — how much of a larger roadway improvement a developer may be asked to pay — and staff and legal counsel said mitigation must be proportionate to the development’s impact and consistent with Idaho law. City Attorney Matt Johnson noted eminent‑domain remedies exist for public benefit but cautioned they are not to be used lightly.
After questions and public comment, the council voted unanimously to direct staff to finalize the TIA guidelines and return them in resolution form for formal adoption.
What’s next: Staff will compile council and public comments, finalize the draft guidance, and bring a resolution to the council for adoption. Once adopted, the guidelines will apply to new development applications that meet the thresholds and will be used during scoping meetings to guide required analyses and mitigation.
