Commission approves Walnut Place preliminary plat, delays subdivision of Alameda firehouse pending historic review

The Pocatello Planning and Zoning Commission on July 9 approved a preliminary plat the city submitted for a 1.55-acre property at 409 Washington — known locally for the former Alameda fire station and several city-leased social-service uses — but added a condition intended to preserve options for the historic structure.

Staff (Grama, planning development services director, and Becky Babb, planning manager; Merrill Quayle, development engineer) presented the city-owned proposal to subdivide the unplatted civic parcel into eight lots, with four lots identified in the staff packet as potential sites for duplexes or small homes. Grama told commissioners the application is a division of land only; "what this application is just an application of division of land," and decisions about demolition, rehabilitation or future use of individual buildings would be made later by City Council.

Grama acknowledged that the city engaged an architectural historian to assess the historic significance of the former Alameda fire station and that the city had received an environmental site assessment noting asbestos and lead-based paint in the structure. He told the commission the building "would need to be completely gutted out" and that remediation would be costly. Grama said the city had been offered federal funding to develop low- or moderate-income units on the site but that those funds would not pay for building rehabilitation; the grant option would require any units produced with IHFA funding to meet low/moderate-income restrictions for 30 years and likely involve a housing authority as property manager for that term.

Several dozen residents and neighborhood representatives urged the commission to deny or delay the preliminary plat, saying the fire station is Alameda's last remaining civic-era building and asking that the city preserve the structure and explore neighborhood-based solutions. Roger Fry, representing NeighborWorks Pocatello and the Alameda Neighborhood Association, said the group had offered to take a lease-to-own arrangement for the fire station and urged a preservation-focused approach. Commenters raised concerns about stormwater retention on the parcel, limited on-street parking (including use of street parking by Bright Tomorrows and other adjacent facilities), and the precedent of using infill rules to justify subdividing an existing, occupied site.

In response to public concern, the applicant (city staff) offered a recommended change that the commission adopted as a condition: Lots 1 through 4 (the portion that contains the historic building) will be combined into a single lot and will not be further subdivided until the city's historic assessment is complete and City Council has had an opportunity to weigh in. The commission recorded the motion to approve the preliminary plat with that condition; the chair was authorized to sign findings of fact and decision.

Commissioners and staff noted two practical limits: (1) if the city later disposes of the property through sale, state law requires an open auction process, meaning the city cannot directly convey the property to a private nonprofit without following public-disposition rules; and (2) the environmental findings mean substantial remediation would be required for reuse of the fire station, a costly proposition for which the city currently lacks funding.

The approval advances subdivision of the city parcel to final-plat and Council review steps; Council will consider how to proceed with building rehabilitation or disposal once the historic assessment and fiscal analysis are complete.