Planning commission recommends allowing salvage/recycling yards in industrial zone with environmental safeguards

The Idaho Falls Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 2 recommended that the mayor and city council amend the zoning code to allow salvage and recycling yards in the city’s industrial and special purpose (I‑M) zone, while adding screening, setback and environmental controls.

Bridal Stevens, long‑range planner and GIS analyst for the city, told the commission that staff recommends approval of an amendment to sections 11‑2‑5 (allowed uses), 11‑2‑6 (standards for allowed uses) and 11‑7‑1 (definitions) to define salvage yards and allow them only in the I‑M zone. “Staff recommends that you recommend approval to the mayor and city council of the amendment of the zoning ordinance as presented,” Stevens said.

The proposed text sets development standards intended to reduce nuisances and environmental risk: no stored material within 30 feet of the right of way; a 10‑foot‑tall screening fence or wall; limits on stack inventory height visible from the street; and requirement of an impermeable surface with means to collect and dispose of oils and fluids from vehicles. Stevens said other environmental issues would remain under the oversight of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). She also noted the ordinance includes separation distances from residences and the Snake River.

Commissioners raised annexation, nonconforming uses and cleanup concerns. Commissioner Mann asked whether the salvage sites would be annexed and whether existing operations would have to immediately meet the new standards; Stevens said existing facilities would be treated as nonconforming ("grandfathered") and could continue to operate as they have but would be restricted from expanding without coming into conformance. Stevens described a plan to allow orderly future annexation in the city’s area of impact and said some annexations may be contested under recent state law changes.

Several commissioners pressed staff on environmental risk and monitoring, with one commissioner noting that DEQ field capacity can be limited. Stevens and other staff said the city intends the ordinance standards to reduce on‑site contamination risk (consolidating activities on impermeable pads, requiring proper draining and disposal) and that DEQ remains the primary regulator for chemical and hazardous waste handling.

After discussion, the commission voted to recommend approval as amended: change the use label from “salvage yard” to “recycling facility/salvage yard” and direct staff to research and add definition language addressing chemical reclamation prior to submittal to council. The motion was moved from the dais and seconded by Commissioner Eiler; the motion passed (vote counts not specified in the transcript). The commission’s recommendation will be transmitted to the mayor and city council for their consideration.

The commission’s discussion emphasized two parallel goals: provide clear rules for recycling‑scale uses as those sites become part of the city, and use development standards to limit visual, traffic and environmental impacts as the city grows north into its area of impact.

The planning staff presentation noted the salvage/recycling sites first appear in local aerial photos in 1969 and that codifying a definition now is intended to avoid later, more difficult conversations during annexation or redevelopment.