McCall council approves Dawson Trails PUD after multi-hour hearing; developer to fund key road and pathway improvements

The McCall City Council voted unanimously to approve the Dawson Trails Plan Unit Development (PUD) and preliminary subdivision application, PD-24-02/Subdivision-24-04, following a public hearing and extensive staff and applicant presentations.

The project proposes 28 residential units on a 3.67-acre parcel zoned R-8: 12 detached single-family homes and 16 townhome units configured as eight duplex buildings. The applicant offered one deed-restricted local housing unit and a prohibition on short-term rentals for the detached single-family homes. The council approved staff-recommended conditions and a development agreement, and asked staff to return findings of fact and conclusions of law consistent with the approval.

The approval followed detailed staff testimony from Meredith Todd, city sustainability planner, who told the council the project had received Planning and Zoning Commission design-review approval and proposed a mix of pedestrian pathways, a private park and a public dog park. Todd said the developer requested several PUD alleviations commonly used to enable clustered townhome-style development, including reductions to minimum lot size, certain setbacks, and allowances for garage door width relative to the street-facing wall.

Applicant representatives said the design responded to site constraints. Steve Millman, attorney for the applicant, said the team adjusted the plan after staff and neighborhood input, dropping one unit during redesign to…