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Protecting Sensitive Land Along the Big Wood River
Proposed Old Board Ranch Annexation
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.
Expanding the Hailey Greenway & planning for community housing
​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:
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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 Update
LEAP Housing Trust will lead the workforce housing component of the project. LEAP and WRLT will be hosting a Community Open House on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, from 4:00 to 6:00pm at the Community Campus, 1050 Fox Acres Road.
The open house will provide an interactive opportunity to learn about the proposed workforce housing development before the annexation application is submitted.
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The development, “Sawmill Cottages,” will redevelop the old sawmill site into 32 deed-restricted homeownership opportunities with a preference for local workforce households. The other 10 acres of habitat along the river will be permanently conserved by WRLT and incorporated into the Hailey Greenway.
The project team has worked diligently to incorporate public input received to-date into the design and will have a description of the deed restrictions and local worker eligibility requirements, as well as a conceptual layout of the neighborhood. All are welcome to attend, especially local workers interested in learning more about the homeownership option.
Upcoming Public Processes
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:
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see pages 221-225 for the Annexation Review Agreement draft proposing that the Applicant (WRLT) to pay for city staff time on an hourly basis, as established by ordinance, to review and comment on the application, to assist and prepare any fiscal impact required for an annexation and to prepare any necessary reports and findings, and enter into a written agreement in this regard.
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At this point in time only the the Letter of Intent to Annex, associated Zoning Exhibit, and Draft Review Agreement have been completed and submitted; an Annexation Application has not yet been submitted.
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.
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 call 208-788-3947.
Get in touch
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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