Garden City’s council voted to adopt an urban renewal plan for a roughly 293-acre area south of Chinden, authorizing a revenue-allocation financing area intended to fund water, sewer and other public infrastructure improvements.

Attorney Megan Conrad, appearing for the urban renewal agency, told the council the proposed revenue-allocation area would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025, and run for 20 years, with the agency’s final revenue year in 2046. "It's approximately 293 acres," Conrad said during her presentation, and the plan lists public projects including water and sewer system improvements, stormwater management, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, park acquisition and utility upgrades. Conrad also summarized the economic feasibility study and said the plan’s revenue projection over the life of the district is about $24,500,000.

A city legal memo presented at the hearing recommended a first reading and an immediate suspension and adoption of the ordinance because the matter is time sensitive. "Everything's in order," the attorney told council and recommended adopting the ordinance that same night. A resident who testified in support, Hannibal of Garden City, urged the agency to be more accessible to community-initiated public projects, saying the agency should accept smaller public-benefit proposals that currently were treated as private.

Council voted to approve the related CPA for FY2025 and then suspend the rules and adopt Ordinance 10-62-25. The motion carried following roll-call votes recorded in the transcript.

The ordinance establishes the city’s authority to transmit required information to county and state officials and affected taxing districts and includes statutory elements required under Idaho law, including a termination year and a list of eligible public works. The plan excludes certain overlapping levies (for example, voter-approved fire and ambulance levies) from revenue projections where statutes or district resolutions preclude their inclusion. The city will publish an ordinance summary and complete required post-adoption transmittals to county and state officials as required for the plan’s retroactive effective date.

Procedural next steps include publication of the ordinance summary and recording and transmittal to affected taxing entities; no additional substantive action on the ordinance was recorded at the meeting.