BOISE, Idaho — The City of Boise’s Design Review Committee unanimously approved plans for Interfaith’s new building – the old Salvation Army on West State Street on Wednesday night.
This approval comes nine months after Planning and Zoning denied the homeless shelter’s conditional use permit back in January.
After an appeal, the Boise City Council ended up overturning that decision a few months later - with 30 conditions. Since then, the City of Boise and Interfaith have worked together to come up with a design plan that meets those conditions, Interfaith Executive Director Jodi Peterson-Stigers said.
The move has been hotly contested by residents and the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association, but Peterson-Stigers said all the back and forth actually resulted in a better design.
“I do believe collectively, with all the conversation, this design reflects a really amazing shelter taking into consideration so many things that without that kind of village gathering to talk about how we do this together, I think that it wouldn’t have been as sound as it is,” Peterson-Stigers said.
Several people spoke at the meeting expressing their disapproval with the project. Katy Decker, Veterans Park Neighborhood Association president, said the design does not have enough space for everyone and would be too loud for neighbors.
Decker, along with other speakers, said having a homeless shelter on West State Street would potentially be unsafe for people in the neighborhood.
Decker also said she was disappointed the design review committee did not deliberate longer; the committee spent about 15 minutes for final questions and voting.
“It’s frustrating to me that anytime we raise concerns about the quality of life inside the facility creating impacts outside the facility, it’s taken as insincere,” Decker said.
The Neighborhood Association is suing the City of Boise. Decker said the city did not follow proper code when they approved the project. There is a hearing set for March 2023.
Now that the committee approved the building’s design, project architect Andy Erstad said securing building permits comes next.
However, Interfaith is not in the clear yet. He said they expect Veterans Park Neighborhood Association to appeal the decision made Wednesday night. If that happens, it gets sent back to Planning and Zoning.
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