Business
Simplot Housing Not Welcomed By All
October 31, 2008 
We got a message from some folks in Eagle who complained about the low cost houses being “Touted in the Daily Paper.” They said the landscaping was nice, but claimed the units on tiny lots didn’t meet city design standards.
A check with Eagle’s planning department indicates the concerns of locals may be well founded. Planner Mike Williamson told the GUARDIAN, “We are of the opinion that what is depicted in the planning design agreement photos is not what exists on site.”
Williamson said Eagle officials will meet Tuesday with the developer, J.D. Simplot, grandson of Jack Simplot,the famous founder the Simplot Companies. Top of the agenda will be compliance with the application design details including roof pitch and other construction and engineering issues.
The buzz on the street in upscale Eagle is not in favor of the development. Some folks say the new “affordable homes” are akin to the “skinny house” issue that raised the ire of some Boise citizens over the past few years. Eagle has a history of favoring large lots with high value houses which make it possible to levy taxes at one of the lowest rates in Idaho.
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Comments & Discussion
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Oct 31, 2008, 10:02 pm
Good work Guardian…as I posted on the Daily Wipe blog site, Estrella once again missed the real story here. The story is not about affordability but rather how these StoreMor sheds got passed off as houses. JD’s homes make the “skinny houses” of Hale fame look like architectural genius. When I first drove into Eaglefield (there is your first clue the name of the place shows little more creativity than does the housing product) I saw three huts off in the distance and honestly thought they had to be water well pump houses or maintenance sheds. But lo and behold sure enough as I approached them I could see that they were residential structures. Forget Eagle these dogs wouldn’t make the grade in Kuna or Caldwell or anywhere I doubt. Shameful. Keep on this story Guardian. Why is Eagle P&Z just now catching on that the houses don’t meet their own Design Guidelines? Were they not inspected during construction? Wouldn’t even the most uninitiated inspector see that the homes he/she were inspecting were so far south of acceptable that it would raise a red flag at the framing stage? The Daily Wipe article made it sound like JD was some sort of freakin genius for being able to throw up 4 walls and a roof for under $150k. One look at these square little 1,200 sq ft crappers and I’m thinking $99k tops!!
Nov 1, 2008, 11:30 am
Being a pro-land-rights guy, I can’t begrudge Simplot III his right to disgust me. Fair is fair and all builders/developers need to be held accountable for the standards they agreed to abide by to get their project approved.
Affordable homes those may be, but you can get a better bang for your buck almost anywhere else in the Treasure Valley.
Nov 1, 2008, 4:10 pm
Wrong Roberto you are obviously missing the point big time. Pro-land rights are one thing, subverting or ignoring the design and construction guidelines of the municipality under which you are approved is quite another. Read the Guardian Blog again as well as my first response and then please re-evaluate your answer.
Nov 2, 2008, 9:48 am
God bless residential developers, and God bless Eagle if it wants to have more great big homes. There are homes out in Eagle right now where people sank over a million in them and are hoping for offers of 600,000.
Nov 2, 2008, 12:24 pm
It is time to let those folks who speculated and built the million dollar houses out in Eagle loose the houses. No bail out! Too bad that they were just stupid.
Dec 2, 2008, 12:57 pm
Sounds like another attempt to keep out the rifraff. Eagle’s historic town center is full of small lots.
Also, the reason Eagle’s levy rate is so low is because it performs few city functions, just library, administration and land use permitting. Other agencies handle sewer, water, fire, streets and law enforcement.