Garden City council approves formation of new urban renewal district on south side of Chinden

Garden City's City Council adopted a resolution June 9 to establish a new urban renewal district covering parts of the South Side of Chinden and the East Side of Glenwood, including certain Ada County-owned properties.

The City acted after a presentation from Denny Houston, chairman of the Garden City Urban Renewal Agency, and a feasibility report from Phil Cushlon of Cushlon Associates, who said the agency found the area meets urban renewal eligibility criteria and recommended moving to the next step: preparing an urban renewal plan and financial feasibility analysis.

Phil Cushlon, principal of Cushlon Associates, summarized the eligibility work and legal requirements and said the agency and the Ada County Board of Commissioners had already approved the district formation step: "We found that, of the 13 criteria, only 2 of them were not met in this district. So, clearly, the area is eligible in our opinion, and the county agreed with that as did the urban renewal board." Cushlon said the parcel-level review covered roughly 350 parcels in the proposed footprint and relied on the latest certified 2024 assessed values.

Denny Houston, chairman of the Garden City Urban Renewal Agency, described the geographic footprint offered to the council and said the agency expanded the proposed district at the city's request to include the south side of Chinden from Glenwood down to Curtis Street and other publicly owned parcels. He noted the district boundary includes the ballpark footprint, the RV park, the county park at Ladybird Park, and extends to the southern city limits.

City staff and the consultant told the council the proposed district would consume most of Garden City's remaining urban renewal capacity under the statutory cap that limits total urban renewal area to 10% of the city's total assessed valuation. Cushlon presented city valuations and said the citywide certified assessed value is about $2.7 billion and that, combined with the existing River East district, the new district would bring the total committed value to roughly $274 million, or about 9.84% of the city's valuation.

Council members asked about technical details such as base valuation and rights-of-way inclusion. Cushlon explained the base year for the district uses the certified 2024 assessed value, which fixes the base value for future increment calculations: "You take ... the taxable value of those and added those up to, demonstrate what the current, 2024 AV is because that's the latest certified assessed value." Council members confirmed that rights-of-way on Glenwood and Chinden are included so that whole roadway improvements could be funded from district increment if needed.

The council voted on Resolution 12-07-25 to establish the new district. The clerk called the roll and the recorded vote was unanimous: Council member Jacobs, Council member Jorgensen, Council member Page and Council member Rasmussen all voted yes. The resolution passed.

What happens next: if the council chooses to proceed, staff and the Urban Renewal Agency will prepare an urban renewal plan and a financial feasibility analysis for later council review and approval. Cushlon told the council those documents would return to the council if it directs staff to proceed. He also noted the agency retained legal counsel to guide the formation process and that the county portion was included by intergovernmental agreement.

The council's adoption of the resolution begins the formal process but does not authorize specific projects or funding until an urban renewal plan and budget are adopted in subsequent actions.

Votes at a glance: Resolution 12-07-25 — Adopted (4-0).