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Proposal for the Old Board Ranch Annexation
Protecting Sensitive Land Along the Big Wood River
Expanding the Hailey Greenway &
planning for community housing
Over the years, the Land Trust has patiently pieced together the Hailey Greenway one parcel at a time, so that now it extends for over a mile along the Big Wood River. One of these parcels that had been a big priority over the years was a 15-acre parcel of land on the east side of the river between Bullion Street and the Bow Bridge (formerly known as “the old Board Ranch” or the “Caplow property”).
After we acquired the Draper Preserve, this parcel was the last remaining privately held parcel that stood between Draper Preserve and Bullion Street. For years, there had been an informal path that ran along the river through this parcel, but it was well known that the landowner could cut off that access at any point, or if he developed the parcel it was likely that it would be large riverfront lots and that the public access would be cut off.
We’d tried to work with the landowner multiple times to come to a deal where we could buy the parcel for conservation, however the price was never within reach because the owner felt the best use of the parcel was for residential development.
Then, in 2021, a long-time Valley philanthropist approached the landowner and asked if he’d consider selling the property at less than full value in order to achieve a meaningful community benefit: provide community workforce housing on the part of the parcel that had been filled and disturbed, while conserving the majority of the parcel and permanently protecting access to the Hailey Greenway. Inspired by this vision, the landowner agreed to sell the property below full value. The donor approached the Land Trust and offered to make a gift in the amount of the reduced purchase price so that the Land Trust could acquire the property with those intentions.
Why community workforce housing on this site?
Smartly growing housing options includes placing new development as close as possible to utility infrastructure, city services, and pedestrian access to downtown cores. The disturbed portion of this site is more ideal for housing than parcels further out canyons, etc., because it is directly adjacent to city services like water and sewer infrastructure, and closer to bus routes, schools, grocery stores, and other businesses.
What did we hear from the community during early outreach?
In 2022, we held a number of listening sessions and individual meetings with neighbors. The input we received has been summarized here:
Protect the wetlands and tailrace slough
A preference for single-family homes, not apartment buildings
The pocket neighborhood concept, with smaller units, was preferable
Homeownership model would be ideal
Preserve access for the China Gardens neighborhood to the river
Work force housing, not low-income housing (preference for “the missing middle”)
Avoid connecting the road through Walnut Street- Both the Fire Department and the City of Hailey staff determined that a through street is required for the public health, safety, and welfare when the property is developed.
WRLT’s Annexation Application and Large Block Preliminary Plat Applications
WRLT has submitted a Letter of Intent to Annex the parcel into the City of Hailey (see Project Documents below). The Letter of Intent is scheduled to be heard on April 13, 2026 (due to a lack of quorum on the Hailey City Council, the previously scheduled hearing on March 9, 2026 has been cancelled).
After that hearing, WRLT will prepare and eventually submit an Annexation Application and Large Block Plat Preliminary Plat Application. The goal of the Large Block Preliminary Plat is to separate the area to be retained by WRLT and protected from the area to be made available for workforce housing development. Once the lot is annexed and split, WRLT will gift the area intended for workforce housing to LEAP Housing, a nonprofit organization. Going forward, LEAP will apply for entitlements to develop the community workforce housing in accordance with the guidelines outlined earlier.
The Annexation process will involve multiple Planning & Zoning Commission hearings as well as multiple City Council hearings, with opportunity for public comment. City staff have estimated the Annexation process may last 6-8 months. Agendas for P&Z and City Council meetings can be found at https://haileycityhall.org/public-meetings/.
We also want to extend the invitation to schedule time to talk with us individually and ahead of these public meetings if you’d like to ask questions or would like to provide input ahead of those hearings.
Upcoming Public Processes
Upon approval of the Annexation and Large Block Preliminary Plat, WRLT will convey the developable
portion to LEAP Housing, and they will move forward with applications related to the workforce housing component. These will likely include applications for a Planned Unit Development, Preliminary Plat (for the townhouse or cottage sublots), Design Review, and Final Plat. All of these applications will be heard
publicly before Hailey’s Planning & Zoning Commission and City Council. As a reminder, LEAP Housing has agreed to the guidelines mentioned above. So, the workforce housing plans that you will see with future applications will reflect the guidelines responding to the intent of the original gift and community feedback.
Get in touch
If you have questions and comments about the project, we encourage you to reach out to us at the Wood River Land Trust to schedule a time to talk or get on a list for project updates. To do so, please email us at info@woodriverlandtrust.org.
Project Documents
Project documents are grouped by their relevance to scheduled public hearings at the City of Hailey and will be posted once they are submitted to the city for review. We will do our best to provide links to relevant city agenda packets. That said, the City is the entity providing official public notice on site at Old Board Ranch/Tax Lot 7900 and by mail to property owners within 300 ft of the site's boundary.
As always, please feel free to reach out to us at info@woodriverlandtrust.org or (208) 788-3947 to ask questions, request information, and/or start a conversation.
Monday, April 13, 2026 - Hailey City Council
Public hearing of the Wood River Land Trust's Letter of Intent to Annex and Annexation Review Agreement:
We will post the proposed "Annexation Review Agreement," covering compensation for city staff review of the forthcoming Annexation Application, once we have a final draft.
Cancellation: March 9, 2026 - Hailey City Council
Due to a lack of quorum on the Hailey City Council for the March 9, 2026 public hearing of the Letter of Intent to Annex and Annexation Review Agreement, it has been cancelled and rescheduled for April 13, 2026.
Conservation Protections
The Land Trust considered the proposal very carefully. We knew this is how conservation is often done - a landowner protects the majority of a large property by concentrating development in one area, preferably as close as possible to municipal services. We felt if we could put sufficient protections in place, this could be a positive outcome for our community. We agreed to accept the donation with the restrictions about the community housing in place, so long as:
All wetlands would be protected to the maximum extent possible
No homes would be built in the floodplain
The public access from Bullion Street would be maintained
A 100 foot buffer along the river would be maintained
The development would be concentrated on the old sawmill site where the property had been disturbed for years, and the mature forested areas would become part of Draper Preserve.
A wetlands delineation was conducted, identifying wetlands along the tailrace slough that runs between the developable area and the homes to the east. In the absence of final updated FEMA maps, there were also extensive on-the-ground surveys conducted to run the updated FEMA floodplain model for the site to determine a building envelope that would remain outside of the 100-year floodplain, even with the updated model. Initially, it was estimated that approximately 8 acres of the 15-acre parcel would be retained by WRLT. In light of these additional studies, now over 9 acres of the 15-acre parcel will be retained for inclusion in Hailey Greenway.
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