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Consultant recommends targeted amendments to Hayden comprehensive plan; council schedules workshop
Summary
SCJ Alliance recommended amending Hayden's comprehensive plan rather than a full rewrite, estimating $30,000 for an amendment vs. $80,000–$100,000 for a full update. Council directed staff to schedule a workshop to weigh options and next steps, including potential updates to transportation, sewer and parks master plans.
Hayden City Council heard a report from consultant SCJ Alliance on proposed amendments to the city's comprehensive plan and agreed to schedule a council workshop to decide how to proceed.
Aaron Merkhar of SCJ Alliance presented the firm's assessment, saying he had reviewed the city's proposed amendments to goals, policies and the future land use map and "recommend[s] doing the amendment part of it and not an entire new comp plan" because the proposed changes did not appear large enough to require a full rewrite.
Merkhar said the consultant also examined how changes to the comprehensive plan could affect other city master plans. "We looked specifically to the transportation plan, the sewer master plan, and the parks plan," he said, and recommended updating the travel demand model and transportation strategic plan if the comp-plan amendments move forward. He estimated a planning-only amendment at about $30,000 and a full update at $80,000 to $100,000; updating transportation and sewer plans tied to the amendment could add tens of thousands more.
Why it matters: council members pressed staff and the consultant about costs, timing and whether portions of the future land use map are already "in the pipeline." Several members said they wanted a clear picture of trade-offs between lower-density alternatives and the resulting infrastructure costs for roads, sewer and parks. Council member Tom (last name not specified in the record) said that reduced density "requires expanding roads, utilities, and public infrastructure over larger areas" and raised concerns about higher long-term maintenance costs.
Discussion highlights included: - Council member Sandy asked for a council-only workshop, saying the topic was a campaign priority for her and that she did not want to commit to any package tonight. - Merkhar advised that transportation and sewer master plans'which are about five years old'would likely need updates regardless of whether the comprehensive plan is amended. He estimated travel-demand-model work at about $40,000 and the transportation strategic plan at about $50,000 under the amendment scenario. - Members debated whether areas already annexed or under development should be treated as part of the city's future land-use calculations. Merkhar said the comp-plan amendment exercise includes recalculating acreage and density and tracing effects across plans.
Outcome and next step: Mayor Davis said he would "direct staff to query your calendars here in the next 30 days to see if we can schedule a workshop" so council members can deliberate and provide direction. The council did not adopt a plan amendment or ordinance at the meeting; the action taken tonight was to accept the SCJ report and arrange a workshop to consider the recommended next steps.
Background: Idaho code allows a governing body to adopt or amend a comprehensive plan; major changes may require additional hearings and final approval by resolution.
