McCall council and planning commission kick off comprehensive plan, transportation and design-guidelines update

McCall city staff and consultants on April 9 opened a joint work session of the McCall City Council and the McCall Area Planning and Zoning Commission to launch updates to the city’s comprehensive plan, transportation master plan and design guidelines.

“This is really kind of our first meeting on the comp plan, transportation master plan and design guidelines,” said Michelle Gunvelt, community and economic development director and the project manager for the effort. Consultants from Logan Simpson and subconsultants outlined a phased schedule that they said will coordinate outreach across all three projects, with vision-builder events this summer, immersion workshops in fall and winter, and public-draft reviews and adoption hearings targeted for winter–spring 2027.

Why it matters: the comprehensive plan sets the city’s long-range vision and policy framework; the transportation plan will define parking, multimodal connections and street standards; and design guidelines are intended to translate vision into visual, implementable standards and (where appropriate) code requirements. Consultants noted the project received a grant to allow a specific public-health focus for the plan update and reminded the bodies that Idaho statutory elements must be addressed in the comp-plan process.

Consultants introduced a visual-first approach to the design guidelines, saying the existing guidelines are “word-heavy” and lack clear image-based guidance for development and code implementation. Jen Gardner, Logan Simpson senior planner leading the design-guidelines work, described the intended role for the guidelines: “they’re image-rich principles that sit between the high-level vision and the fine-grain code standards,” and can inform specific code elements such as street trees, façade treatments and materials.

Elected officials and commission members raised recurring local priorities during the kickoff discussion: housing affordability and sewer-capacity constraints that limit development feasibility; downtown parking pressure and how off-street requirements affect small retailers; protecting the lake and watershed where jurisdiction overlaps county boundaries; walkability and pedestrian comfort; and preserving tree canopy and green space while allowing appropriate infill.

A commonly repeated design observation was a preference to move away from the town’s current neutral-dominated palette. Consultant Michaela Duny summarized earlier feedback, saying the existing guidelines “favor warm neutral tones” and that participants described the result as too much “beige.” Several council members and commissioners said they want a stronger local character that remains grounded in McCall’s mountain context while allowing more color and creativity downtown.

On technical topics, consultants flagged a number of issues they will study and bring back to the bodies: potential adjustments to residential site-coverage standards so yards and tree canopy are preserved; clearer guidance on adaptive reuse and what kinds of existing buildings merit preservation; treatment of solar and mechanical equipment (including whether to require screening or better integration into building design); temporary-sign and sandwich-board rules; and balancing dark-sky lighting standards with nighttime pedestrian safety.

Public input and documentation: staff reported no in-person public commenters for the general comment period and said 16 written comments had been distributed to council and planning and zoning commissioners. Staff noted many were student speech projects; one written comment from Carlen Gillenberg addressed temporary signage and asked the city to consider signage guidance in the forthcoming design guidelines.

Interactive engagement: consultants ran a short Mad Libs-style workshop to capture council and commission preferences, then collected worksheets for later analysis. Reported group outputs emphasized three recurring themes: harmony with nature, preserving local authenticity, and prioritizing durable, climate-appropriate materials and tree canopy.

Next steps: consultants will analyze the worksheets and written comments, complete a design-guidelines audit of the existing document, and prepare public outreach materials and immersive workshops. Staff and consultants said they will coordinate outreach so the public sees a single, aligned engagement campaign across the comprehensive plan, transportation master plan and design-guidelines update.

Procedural note: the meeting opened with a motion to approve the agenda, which passed by voice vote. The session concluded after the design-guidelines exercise and synthesis; planning and zoning commissioners remained afterward for a brief follow-up.

The project team plans to return to boards and the public with draft documents and workshops through late 2026 and into winter–spring 2027 for public review and adoption hearings.