Middleton council adopts updated comprehensive plan after heated debate over Highway 44 alternatives

The Middleton City Council voted to adopt an updated comprehensive plan, including revised maps and text that city staff say reflect growth since the plan's last major update in December 2019.

Roberta, city staff, opened the public hearing by summarizing the package: amendments to the comp plan text (including sections on existing conditions, community design, economic development, housing, land use, natural resources, transportation and an appendix) and updates to 17 map layers such as the future land use map, transportation and school maps, parks and recreation, flood hazard, sewer and stormwater maps, and a new Crane Creek Plaza / Riverwalk District map. "The future land use map is the vision for the city," Roberta said.

The primary focus of public comment and council debate was the transportation map and an ITD (Idaho Transportation Department) PEL study alternative known as the one-way couplet (Alternative 4). Nathan Davis, consultant with Downtown Redevelopment Services, described the plan elements and said the update builds on 18 months of outreach, multiple workshops and a November 13, 2024 final workshop with the governing board.

Planning and Zoning had recommended approval of the comp plan text and maps but unanimously recommended removing the one-way couplet from the comp plan maps and removing any text promoting or approving that couplet until the ITD PEL study is complete. Roberta read that recommendation into the record, noting the P&Z public hearing was held on Jan. 13, 2025.

Council members and members of the public gave mixed responses. Several residents, including Tyson Sparrow (former planning and zoning commissioner) and representatives of neighborhood homeowners associations, urged the council either to refuse the P&Z recommendation and keep the couplet on the map or to remove it, depending on concerns about property impacts and neighborhood division. Don Reynolds, a longtime Middleton resident, warned that an elevated highway or sound walls could "cut the city in half," citing other towns where major highways changed neighborhood outcomes.

Staff and some council members argued that keeping the couplet on the transportation map would preserve a corridor and give the city a stronger position in future coordination with ITD and federal review. Roberta warned that if the couplet is added, planning staff will need to preserve right-of-way along connector streets and decline development approvals that would obstruct the corridor. She also said the city would soon begin zoning workshops to align the zoning code with the comp plan if council approved it.

Multiple speakers noted the PEL study is ongoing and that NEPA-level environmental review and federal funding processes would follow. Speakers differed on how soon those reviews would occur; one attendee said NEPA could take at least two more years. Roberta noted that the state legislature had required counties to reconfirm areas of city impact by the end of the year and that the comp plan update would, if approved, align Middleton's area of city impact with county records.

The council closed the public hearing, then voted on Resolution 521-25 to adopt the comprehensive plan as presented. The resolution was moved and seconded on the record; the council approved the resolution by voice vote. "All in favor, say aye," the presiding officer said; participants replied, and the mayor declared, "Motion carries."

The adopted comp plan package makes the Crane Creek Plaza and a 93-acre park official components of the plan and incorporates transportation features that staff said will guide future zoning and development review. Staff emphasized the adoption does not immediately change zoning; rezoning and development approvals would continue to require separate proceedings.

Council members said adoption would provide a unified framework for economic development, land-use decisions and infrastructure planning, and that the city will continue coordination with ITD as the PEL and subsequent NEPA review progress. Staff also signaled follow-up work: zoning code updates, additional public workshops, and coordination with Canyon County and ITD.

Votes at a glance: Resolution 521-25, "Adopt Middleton Comprehensive Plan (text and maps)", moved and seconded on the record; council approved the resolution by voice vote and the mayor declared the motion carried. The resolution becomes the city's adopted comprehensive plan document; any zoning or development changes remain subject to separate processes and approvals.

Community members and councilors said they expect further public engagement as zoning changes and project applications arise that would implement the plan. Staff recommended and council agreed to begin zoning workshops and other follow-up steps to align regulations with the new plan.