Avimor Annexation by the City of Eagle FAQ

The owners of Avimor, the McLeod family, are a 4th generation Idaho family who have owned the property since 1916 as a family ranch. It has always been their belief that Idahoan's should have a close relationship with wildlife and the great outdoors. This conviction continues to be held and the McLeod family has grown concerned with the increasing urbanization across Idaho. Urbanization, with its vast swaths of concrete and asphalt, threatens everyone's ability to enjoy and recreate in the countryside.  

After going through an extensive "Charrette Process" (look it up, quite a fascinating approach to problem-solving) the McLeod family realized there are a couple major obstacles to permanently protecting sizable parcels of land while simultaneously empowering families to live in and enjoy nature:

1. As months turn into years, and years into decades, ownership inevitably changes hands. State & Federal lands frequently undergo "land swaps" (some good, some bad), private land owners pass away, future owners subdivide parcels to accommodate the growing population, etc. 
2. The inevitable change of ownership is often accompanied by a changes in vision and land use. 
3. Common approaches to conserving large portions of land often disallow people from living on the land or recreating on it. Furthermore, the constant shifting of political power comes with changes in policies. Thus, more uncertainty about the future of the foothills 50 or 100 years from now.
4. Subdividing parcels would certainly result in a hodge-podge of roads and fences that would make trails and wide-open spaces impossible.
5. Without a reliable and consistent source of funding, the accessible land would fall into disarray. Lack of funding hurts the quality and variety of trails (hiking, biking, horseback riding, ATVing, etc.) and degrades the ability to preserve the natural features of the environment.

After debating many innovative ideas there was one solution that simultaneously prevented changes in land use, freed families to raise their kids and retire in the countryside without being mired in urbanization, and provided adequate funding to preserve the natural environment:

A "Conservation Community" - Avimor

They wanted something resembling Mayberry. A safe place where kids could safely take their red wagons down to the local community store and get a treat. A place where people knew each others names and helped one another. And most importantly, a place where everyone can breath fresh air and be surrounded by our natural habitat. 

Still, it had to be done RIGHT. As you can imagine, the McLeod's weren't too keen on an "country-club" feel where only the wealthy could have access. They certainly didn't want a snooty atmosphere. They wanted a community that embodied the American Dream - something available to anyone. 

Thus, Avimor was born. The McLeod's found the man who shared their vision and rural perspective; Dan Richter. Dan grew up on a farm and ranch in Montana and had an incredible amount of experience building communities that stood the test of time. Playfully, Dan says; "Avimor should be a community for newly-weds and nearly-deads. I'm allowed to say that because I fit into the second category."

Dan helped the McLeod's design this new Conservation Community and had the know-how to make it ironclad and permanent. They would build clusters of villages and hamlets connected by pathways and trails. They would keep almost 70% of the land as public open space - not limited only to the folks who call Avimor, "home." But open to all Idahoan's. 

However, it wouldn't be economically feasible to saddle the families here with the costs of maintaining over 15 miles of public open space. Dan worked tirelessly with numerous elected officials throughout Ada County to see if a public/private partnership was possible. The City of Eagle felt strongly about preserving the foothills surrounding it. So over 15 years ago, it was included in Eagle's Comprehensive Plan. Annexing the Eagle Foothills has remained in Eagle's Comprehensive Plan through 5 different mayors and 8 different city councils. 

Still, Eagle's various public servants wanted to protect existing Eagle residents from an increase in property taxes. After many years of deliberating and planning, we reached an agreement where the Foothills could be maintained without raising property taxes. Annexation helped to accomplish that because the residents of Avimor now pay Eagle property taxes and Avimor itself would build the parks and trails while the city would maintain them for everyone's enjoyment. 

Annexation allowed for the planned development of Avimor with predictable growth over time. Avimor will take several decades to complete and create an average of 2,493 jobs annually over the life of the project. At completion there will be approximately 914 permanent jobs created by Avimor.

With annexation complete, the City of Eagle is now receiving revenue from impact fees, permitting, and property taxes from current homeowners living in Avimor.  

An independent economic impact study showed that annexation would result in a net positive fiscal impact for the City of Eagle for 30 years, under current fiscal policy. Additional positive impacts from annexation were outlined in the report including a $11 million in avoided cost for residents since Avimor will pay for improved parks and pathways, and an estimated value of $191 million in land from the additional 15 square miles of public open space.

You can read the Economic and Fiscal Impact Study by clicking the link below.

Avimor’s boundaries spread across three separate school districts: West Ada, Horseshoe Bend, and Emmett. Avimor is committed to donating the needed school sites in each district to service the residents . 

Avimor has already entered agreements to donate a school site to meet Horseshoe Bend's needs and a school site to serve students living in the West Ada School District boundaries. 

Additionally, Avimor has agreed to also donate a school site to the Novus Classical Academy. This is a public charter school that will be an open enrollment school to not only Avimor residents but City of Eagle residents. If all goes well, they hope to open doors for the school year starting in 2024. It's an amazing education option available to everyone. Check out their website: 

https://www.thenovusacademy.org or click the link below.

Some of Avimor was already being served by the City of Eagle water system. As a result, annexation will not have any negative impact on the city’s water supply or residents. 

More importantly, annexation has increased the security of Eagle's water system for 3 important reasons:

1. Eagle will further diversify its sources of water because our wells tap into 2 completely different aquifers than the one serving the larger Treasure Valley. This will reduce Eagle's reliance on a single aquifer.
2. Avimor is already constructing municipal water systems that will bring 2 millions gallons of emergency storage into Eagle (in addition to the X gallon storage Eagle currently has).
3. We are also constructing a water main-line that will, in time, connect the two independent water systems currently serving Eagle residents. Should any unforeseen disruptions come to one system or the other, the new emergency storage along with the connecting main can help ensure all Eagle residents have access to clean drinking water. And since the storage is at a higher elevation, it can run downline even if there were electrical disruptions!

Once these system has been constructed, it will be given to the City of Eagle at no cost to the current residents.

One note about water quality: the water sourced for consumption in the Eagle Foothills meets all the same Federal and State water quality standards as the water sourced in the Treasure Valley. 

Avimor anticipates having more than enough water to accommodate it planned growth. This is due in part to Avimor’s current and continued commitment to water conservation. 

Studies show our innovative features, such as a hot water recirculation pump in every one of our homes, reduce water consumption. Our community uses half as much water as the average community in the Treasure Valley. 

We're also proud of the state-of-the-art wastewater treatment facility we've built. This facility treats wastewater so it can be reused for landscaping - removing the need to draw water from aquifers to provide needed moisture for plant life. 

One important consideration on the topic of emergency services: we are already living up here and annexation didn't alter the existing need for those services. We are funding, and will continue to fund, our share of the costs to provide emergency services to Avimor. Emergency services were already arranged and we are always collaborating with local agencies to empower them in carrying out their vital duties. 

Except for minor administrative changes to accommodate annexation, there aren't changes that are of significant consequence to Eagle residents.

FIRE: The entire Avimor footprint currently falls within the broader boundary of the Eagle Fire District. To reduce the burden on the Eagle Fire Department, Avimor has also developed a Fire Management Plan to mitigate potential fires. Additionally, Avimor was the first community in Idaho to become a Fire Wise Community. This means that each home is built to Fire-Wise Standards, an additional layer of protection to reduce the potential for fire.

EMS: Emergency services for Avimor that fall within Ada and Boise counties will be served by to Ada County Paramedics. The portion of the property that falls within Gem County will be contracted and served by either a private or public provider.

LAW ENFORCEMENT: We will continue to partner with the Ada County Sheriff's Office to ensure our community maintains that precious dream of being a place where kids can ride their bikes down the road to their friends house. However, our needs for law enforcement didn't change just because we were annexed. It was already there and we've been paying the requisite taxes to cover the costs for those services. 

We want to personally thank all our fantastic emergency service agencies and the great people who staff them. Eagle is a safe place to raise a family or retire in. We remain steadfast in our commitment to be one, of the many, pillars that foster a safe community. 

The discussions with emergency service providers, and the resulting agreements made with them, have firmly established that annexation will not adversely affect existing Eagle residents response times. 

We are donating a 2-acre parcel to the local agencies providing emergency services. This parcel will be home to a new facility for Fire, EMS, and local Law Enforcement. Avimor will pay all of its required city fees and taxes to help fund this new facility. 

This is another area we must be very proactive in. We cannot allow population growth to turn Eagle into one of the cities so many are fleeing. Rapid growth across the Treasure Valley has increased congestion and will continue to do so if left unchecked. 

To prevent this, we have collaborated with State, County, and City officials to design infrastructure that will reduce travel time and congestion while increasing safety on the roadways.

One thing many folks are excited about is that we will be removing the stoplight on our portion of Highway 55 by building on and off ramps. We are building 2 Grade Separated Interchanges that will allow folks to cruise down Highway 55 without having to stop. It will also give Avimor residents and businesses a way to get on and off Highway 55 without stopping and waiting. 

Also, we have agreed with the Idaho Transportation Department on an arrangement that will add more lanes to Highway 55 through this corridor.

All in all, Avimor's contributions to Highway 55 will total almost $100 million! No one likes to sit around at stoplights or get stuck behind a semi-truck climbing these hills. 

We will continue to collaborate with the various transportation agencies to ensure this doesn't happen!

Lastly, it's important to note that traffic studies completed in our community consistently prove Avimor generates about half as many trips as the average community in the Treasure Valley. 

We have a coffee shop, a restaurant and brewery, a gym, community center, swimming pools, doctors office, convenience store, Meridian Library annex, event center, dog groomers, the list goes on and on! Long story short, we've designed our Conservation Community in a way that ensures many of our residents needs can be met right in the neighborhood.

As the project moves forward, more businesses will be located here. You'll find we like to be self-sufficient!

Avimor is a master planned community designed to include commercial and retail opportunities to mitigate the amount of traffic coming and going from the development. This concept, called trip capture, has consistently been implemented successfully across the country.

The commercial, retail and recreational properties planned to support the needs of Avimor residents will reduce the need to travel elsewhere. Simply put; most people don't drive across town to shop at a grocery store, they prefer to go to one closer to home.

Many of Avimor businesses have employees who live in the Community, which helps to further reduce trips outside the community. All these amenities and services are designed and proven to increase trip capture – or in other words, reduce the need for people to travel elsewhere for these goods and services. In recent years, multiple studies to measure trip capture have shown that Avimor has less than 50 percent of the trips from its residents than other homes in the County. With the added services in the future, Avimor projects trip capture will improve even more.

Our managing partner, Dan Richter, lives in Avimor and regularly meets with folks to answer questions or concerns. That brings another level of accountability not commonly seen. We are committed to get this right. It's our goal to ensure Eagle remains the best place for families to work, live, and play in. 

To honor that commitment we host an open house for anyone and everyone to come meet the Avimor management team and ask questions every month. You should come up here to see our community with your own eyes. Again, the trails are open to the public. While you're up here, take the chance to walk the trails and look around for yourself.

Our open house is held on the third Wednesday of every month. We alternate the times to ensure everyone who wants to attend has a chance to do so. One month is in the morning from 7-8:30. The next month is in the late afternoon from 4:30-6. 

It is hosted at the Avimor Community Center at 5811 W Avimor Dr, Eagle 83714. 

Also, you can email us at info@avimor.com