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Council continues Watermark housing plan to March 24 after concerns about density, parking and maintenance
Summary
Boise Hunter Homes’ Watermark preliminary plan for a mixed-use, for-sale attached-housing community was continued to March 24 after neighbors and council members pressed the developer to reduce density, clarify parking and address long-term HOA maintenance and floodway fencing concerns.
Travis Hunter, representing Boise Hunter Homes, presented Watermark — a proposed 140-home, for-sale attached housing development on an 18.5-acre site along the Boise River that would complete a missing greenbelt connection. Hunter said the company reduced the project from an earlier iteration, trimmed the unit count and increased lot and unit sizes after multiple neighborhood meetings and a Planning & Zoning review.
"Watermark is located on an 18 and 0.5 acre site between Riverside Drive and the Boise River" said Hunter, describing the site's history and the project’s intent to provide 600–$700,000 homeownership opportunities near local businesses and the river greenbelt. Architect Mike Woodley described cottage and villa product types and a number of design revisions intended to increase livability and minimize impacts on River District neighbors.
Planning staff summarized the technical requests tied to the application, including waivers for reduced setbacks, smaller lot sizes and an alternate open-space calculation. The staff report noted a remaining 1.03-acre deficiency in required open space that would be addressed with conditions if the council approved the project.
During public testimony, River District HOA president Brett Tyner and other nearby residents said they had worked closely with the applicant on several concerns — resulting in measures such as terminating a planned vehicular connection and removing proposed pickleball courts — but urged the council to keep the short-term-rental condition under discussion. The developer agreed to assume landscaping responsibility for the Riverside Drive frontage.
Council members raised multiple issues: some said the revised density (14.7 units per acre) still approximated apartment-scale density and questioned whether the number and scope of waivers (setbacks, lot coverage, lot-width, easement reductions, and open-space offsetting) were excessive. Concerns also included maintenance burdens the HOA would inherit for permeable pavers, floodway fencing, noxious-weed control, snow removal in narrow alleys, and long-term parking demand.
Councilmember (speaker 8) moved to continue the item to a date certain, allowing the applicant to respond to council and neighbor concerns before a final decision; the council set the matter for March 24 and agreed to reopen the public hearing at that time limited to new information.
