Idaho Falls agency accepts Narrows eligibility report; consultant finds 7 of 15 statutory criteria met

The Board of Commissioners of the Urban Renewal Agency of Idaho Falls on Sept. 18 accepted an eligibility report covering the Narrows area and approved Resolution 2025-11 directing staff to transmit the report to the city council for consideration of designation as an urban renewal area and revenue-allocation area.

Agency consultant Brad Kramer summarized the report’s findings to the board. Kramer said the consultant reviewed 15 statutory eligibility criteria and found seven criteria met for the study area. He identified shallow exposed basalt rock and difficult topography as primary constraints that make development costly and challenging. Kramer showed photos and a soils map (noting an area labeled “33” for lattice rock outcrop) to illustrate the shallow rock outcrop and undulating ground conditions.

Kramer said other criteria met included a defective or inadequate street layout in portions of the site where historic right-of-way vacations have reduced access, and fragmented lot layouts that left many parcels undevelopable on their own. He said ownership consolidation has recently occurred, addressing earlier concerns about divided ownership. Kramer also cited localized accumulation of debris and a drainage pipe discharging near the river as reasons to note sanitary concerns; he did not find elevated flood or fire risk sufficient to meet the flood/fire criterion.

Kramer told the board the 10-percent base-value limit that restricts the share of city valuation captured by any single district would not be exceeded if the Narrows area were approved—the report’s preliminary calculations put the study area at about 1.5% of the city’s total value.

After discussion commissioners voted to approve Resolution 2025-11 accepting the Narrows eligibility report and authorizing staff to transmit the report and the resolution to the city council for further consideration. The vote was recorded in the meeting as passed; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

What happens next: by approving the resolution the agency sent the eligibility documentation to the city council for the next steps in urban renewal designation. The report recommends further coordination on access, US-20 right-of-way implications, and remediation of on-site drainage and debris issues before any developer may proceed with infrastructure and lot sales.