Moscow city code has rules for large stores

According to Moscow’s city code, a large retailer like Home Depot would be required to hold a community meeting and complete a traffic impact study before building a store in Moscow.

In August, the Idaho State Board of Education unanimously approved a ground lease between Home Depot and the University of Idaho to build a 136,000-square-foot store and garden center on UI land just north of the Palouse Mall.

Home Depot has not applied for any city permits as of Monday, but Moscow Deputy City Supervisor Cody Riddle spent part of last week’s Moscow Transportation Commission discussing the city’s ordinance regarding large retail establishments. That ordinance comes into play for establishments that are more than 65,000 square feet.

On Thursday, Riddle said any sort of large retail establishment is allowed as long as there is no zoning issue. The city does not have any discretion on the building’s tenant.

“To us, retail is retail,” Riddle said. “It doesn’t depend on the specific tenant or user. If it meets the definition of a large retail establishment, they’re all reviewed the same.”

The land immediately north of the Palouse Mall is in a motor business zone, which allows for a large retail store.

The ordinance does not require the city to hold a public hearing on the application. It is only reviewed administratively, Riddle said.

However, there will still be an opportunity for public feedback because the city requires the applicant to hold a community meeting.

“The purpose of the community meeting is to allow the applicant for a Large Retail Establishment to present the proposed development to the community and other members of the public prior to consideration by the City so that the parties can discuss and consider neighborhood and community impacts, mitigation, design and construction elements, and the like,” city code says.

The meeting notice must be given to all property owners within 600 feet of the property at least 14 days before the meeting. A notice will also be published in the Daily News. The applicant must send a representative to serve as the chairperson of the meeting.

“The chair should provide the participants in the community meeting a fair chance to be heard,” the code says.

During last month’s State Board of Education meeting, it was noted that more than 150 people sent letters to the SBOE opposing the Home Depot ground lease deal.

Additionally, it is the retailer’s responsibility to provide a multimodal traffic impact study that must be reviewed and approved by the city. The study must account for pedestrian, bicycle, transit and motorized travel for the next 20 years.

The applicant must also provide a public utility service impact analysis that looks at the effects on water, sewer and stormwater services.

While the city may not have discretion over the tenant, it does have authority over the building’s design. Moscow has a design manual specifically for large retail establishments that includes standards on its aesthetic, its parking, public transit access and landscaping.

For example, the standards say that buildings should have “attractive and inviting pedestrian scale features, spaces, and amenities.”

“Entrances and parking lots should be configured to be functional and inviting with walkways conveniently tied to logical destinations,” the city says. “Bus stops and drop-off/pick-up points should be considered as integral parts of the configuration. Pedestrian ways should be anchored by special design features such as towers, arcades, porticos, pedestrian light fixtures, bollards, planter walls, and other architectural elements that define circulation ways and outdoor spaces.”

The city code and design standards can be found in the Transportation Commission’s most recent meeting agenda.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.