The Bellevue City Council enacted an emergency building moratorium last week after inquiries into the city's development regulations revealed a parcel on Highway 75 is being considered as a site for a model Home Depot store.
The potential for a large-scale retail store being built in Bellevue immediately prompted council members to re-evaluate the city's building standards at a special meeting Thursday, April 21. The evaluation led the council to adopt an emergency 182-day building moratorium.
"I was approached and shown some plans displaying two 36,000-square-foot buildings on a parcel in Bellevue, which made me look over our ordinance and what our ordinance does allow," said Jacki Saul, Bellevue's planning and zoning administrator.
The two men who approached Saul inquired about a five-acre site owned and occupied by the Sun Valley Garden Center. The site is on the north end of the city, on the west side of state Highway 75.
According to Sun Valley Garden Center owner Mike Turzian, the men visited Bellevue City Hall as part of a preliminary evaluation to determine the feasibility of building a Home Depot store on his land.
"What they are interested in doing is something that fits in the confines of Bellevue as it is," Turzian said.
At the special meeting April 21, the council adopted an emergency moratorium on the filing, acceptance, processing and issuance of building applications for buildings with an aggregate roof size greater than 20,000 square feet. All council members except Tammy Eaton attended the meeting.
"Basically, with the small character we have in Bellevue, I don't think the current ordinance has the exact wording we want to see to keep that small-town character," Saul said.
Saul noted that the existing ordinance allows a maximum 72,000-square-foot building to be built on two adjacent lots in the city's Business zone. The ordinance allows for two businesses to be contained in the building but does not define the size requirements for them.
Saul said that as the ordinance is written, a building could contain one 71,000-square-foot business and one 1,000-square-foot business.
"If this moratorium is based upon something for Sun Valley Garden Center, there is no immediate peril, because there is no application to my knowledge that is being worked on or submitted anytime in the near future," said Brian Barsotti, an attorney representing Turzian.
Turzian confirmed Barsotti's statement. In an interview with the Idaho Mountain Express, Turzian sought to clarify the nature of the proposal that had prompted so much concern at Bellevue City Hall.
He said the potential Bellevue Home Depot store would be a retail center unlike any other in the country.
"They want to do what would be a boutique Home Depot on a much smaller scale," he said.
According to Turzian, the store would not only be smaller than most of its kind, it would have a façade that blends with the city's architecture and would not have the box-like structure or orange stripe associated with other locations.
"This is a one-time look at the potential of building a store," he said.
Turzian also indicated the Sun Valley Garden Center business is not for sale.
During the meeting, the council's discussion focused on a concern for building standards, rather than a potential Home Depot.
"I feel kind of ignorant myself," Councilman Eric Allen said. "I did not realize our ordinance would allow a 72,000-square-foot building in Bellevue city limits."
"I am not concerned whether it is the Sun Valley Garden Center property or not. I am concerned whether it is any property or not," said Councilman Jon Wilkes.
Wilkes made the motion to adopt the emergency moratorium. Councilwoman Joanna Ehrmantraut cast the only dissenting vote. She stated that she supports the job potential of large-scale development projects.
The site of the Sun Valley Garden Center in Bellevue is being considered as a location for a boutique Home Depot store. Photo by Willy Cook
