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Idaho Falls adopts multiple zoning changes, including daycare and setback updates to encourage housing
Summary
Council approved five zoning and code amendments: updates to daycare licensing (to align with state law and allow conditional daycare centers in specified residential zones), fire apparatus access/parking language, corner-lot standards, removal of the R-2 four-unit cap where fire code allows, and reduced front setbacks when alleys exist to enable infill and missing-middle housing.
The Idaho Falls City Council voted to adopt a package of five zoning and code changes intended to align local code with recent state law and to give developers more flexibility for infill and housing variety.
Key changes included: revisions to daycare business rules to reflect state licensing changes and to permit daycare centers as a conditional use in residential estate (RE) and residential park (RP) zones under a C2 review pathway; an update to off-street parking and loading language to ensure consistency with fire access standards; a simplified corner-lot sizing method to ease subdivision design; removal of a hard cap on multi-unit dwelling numbers in R-2 where the fire code would allow additional units; and reduced front-setback options (from 25 to 15 feet) for rear-loaded lots served by alleys to encourage walkable, affordable housing forms.
Community Development Director Wade Saner said the package grew from consultations with developers and public-safety staff to encourage affordable infill and protect agricultural lands outside the city: "What we're trying to do is protect those barley and potato fields around us" by concentrating density inside city limits, he said.
Council discussed whether daycare in some residential zones should require a conditional-use review and settled on the board-of-adjustment (C2) pathway to allow neighbors notice and the imposition of conditions (hours, parking, signage) when necessary. The council adopted the ordinances under suspension of rules and authorized publication by summary.
Councilors and staff said the changes are intended to increase housing choices and ease permitting for certain urban forms while preserving oversight through conditional-use reviews where impacts to neighbors are likely.
