The Boise City Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 2 approved CUP25-38, allowing Idaho Power to expand an existing substation at 3155 North Maple Grove Road.

Planning staff recommended the permit and asked the company to install a 10-foot detached sidewalk and a 10-foot landscape buffer along the Maple Grove frontage to create a multiuse pathway that would improve pedestrian separation and connectivity. In a presentation to the commission, staff said the expansion is supportable: the substation has served the area for decades and the upgrade would allow Idaho Power to meet current and future energy demands for the West Bench while retaining screening and mitigating noise and traffic impacts.

Idaho Power representatives said the expansion is needed to replace aging equipment and avoid lengthy outages in the roughly five-square-mile service area the substation supports. Applicant Jeff Mafuccio and KAM Engineering’s Stephanie Hopkins described a construction plan that would place new equipment south of existing metal-clad apparatus to allow cutover with minimal outage risk. They opposed the staff requirement for the full-width, detached path on Maple Grove, saying it would force removal of a mature white oak, require relocation of a large utility vault and other facilities, risk service interruptions for customers, and add costs — the applicant estimated utility relocation could raise project costs by roughly 10–20 percent.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on safety and operational trade-offs. Staff explained that the development code measures front setbacks from the back of a detached sidewalk and that the 10-foot pathway has become a standard multiuse treatment on Boise arterials. Commissioners also discussed alternative design approaches such as tapering the landscape buffer, locating the path to preserve trees, and adding ADA improvements at an existing bus stop; the applicant said some compromises (removing one driveway, improving pedestrian pad details, replacing red pavers) would be possible.

After public comment from a nearby property owner and a design professional who supported consistency with other local projects, Commissioner Sahoff moved to approve CUP25-38 “with all terms and conditions as outlined by the staff report.” The commission voted in favor on a roll-call vote. The permit approval requires the applicant to meet the conditions listed in the staff report and to comply with any subsequent design-review requirements.

Next steps: The applicant will move into design and permitting for the substation expansion and must satisfy the listed conditions before project construction proceeds.