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# minPZC20260128.pdf
- path: minPZC20260128.pdf
- type: PDF (scanned; 2 pages of minutes + 7 pages of attached presentation slides, 2 slides per page)
- pages/slides/sheets: 9
- extraction method: text layer (pages 1-2, verified against 150 dpi page renders) / visual transcription (pages 3-9; the embedded OCR text layer on these pages is incomplete and garbled, so each page was rendered at 150 dpi and transcribed from the image)
- unreadable pages: none (page 4, lower slide: left-column text partially obscured by an overlaid map screenshot; noted in place)

## Page 1

PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION [City of Moscow, Idaho logo]

Dennis Wilson
Commission Chair
P&Z@ci.moscow.id.us

Regular Meeting
~Minutes~

Mike Ray
Staff Liaison
208.883.7008

https://www.ci.moscow.id.us/457/Planning-Zoning-Commission

Wednesday January 28, 2026 | 7:00 PM | Council Chambers, 206 E. Third Street

Wilson called the meeting to order at 6:59 PM

MEMBERS PRESENT: Dennis Wilson, Chair; Rich Beebe, Scott Gropp, Joel Hamilton, Nels Reese, Sue Scott, Victoria Seever
MEMBERS ABSENT: Cole Mize
OTHERS: Evan Holmes
STAFF: Jennifer Fleischman, Mike Ray

REGULAR AGENDA

1. Approval of Minutes from January 14, 2026 (ACTION ITEM)

Seever moved for approval of the minutes as written, seconded by Beebe. Roll Call Vote; Ayes: Beebe, Reese, Scott, Seever, Wilson (5). Nays: None. Abstentions: Gropp, Hamilton (2). Motion carried.

2. Public Comment

*Time limit 15 minutes. Members of the Public may speak to the Commission regarding matters NOT on the Agenda nor currently pending before the Planning and Zoning Commission. Please state your name and resident city for the record and limit your remarks to three (3) minutes.*

None offered.

3. Challenges of Creating an ADU: Zoning & Finance - Nils Peterson

*The Executive Director of the Hills and Rivers Housing Trust (formerly known as Moscow Affordable Housing Trust) will provide a presentation.*

Nils Peterson, Executive Director of Hills and Rivers Housing Trust, provided a presentation regarding Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU's) as described above (see attached). There was a brief conversation about the differences between Idaho Housing & Finance Association (IHFA) and local housing authorities. The Commissioners continued to talk about the merits of different ways to encourage more density and in-fill without crowding neighborhoods and decreasing residential value. There was an extensive discussion about varied uses and means of ADUs.

4. Fiscal Year 2027 Commission Budget (ACTION ITEM)

*The City is currently preparing the 2027 fiscal year budget, and the Commission will need to submit their request by the end of February.*

There was a short conversation about past budgets and how funds have been spent over the years.

Hamilton moved for approval of the FY2027 budget request as written, seconded by Seever. Roll Call Vote; Ayes: Unanimous (7). Nays: None. Abstentions: None. Motion carried.

Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes | January 28, 2026 | Page 1 of 2

## Page 2

5. Potential Duplex Code Amendments (ACTION ITEM)

*Over the past few years, the Community Development Department has received construction plans for duplex dwellings which have continued to evolve into multiple individual dwelling units intended to be rented as separate dwelling units and function as multiple family dwelling units. These two-family dwellings appear to be intentionally designed to avoid life safety, ADA accessibility, and off-street parking that would otherwise be required for multiple family dwelling units to protect the safety and welfare of the occupants of multi-family dwellings and mitigate the impacts of the use on the surrounding neighborhood. Staff recognizes that there is a need for additional housing within the City, but the need to protect the safety of the residents of these two-family dwellings and mitigate the impact upon adjacent properties requires greater regulation. Therefore, staff proposes some code amendments for the Commission's consideration that will clarify existing definitions and apply some multi-family requirements to more than one single- or two-family dwelling upon a single lot.*

Ray presented a draft code amendment ordinance regarding duplexes as described above. The Commission had some concerns regarding the proposed language and had a conversation about changing the wording carefully to minimize unintentional impacts. Staff plans to review past approved development plans to deduce whether the proposed changes would have prevented the developments if submitted after a code amendment. The Moscow Fire Department reviews all development requests for comments and has responded to several calls at recently constructed duplexes regarding life safety issues.

Staff will research the topics proposed by the Commissioners and bring back more information and a modified code amendment to the next meeting.

REPORTS

1. Transportation Commission meeting report.

The next meeting of the Transportation Commission scheduled for Thursday, February 12th will be cancelled.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS/MEETINGS

*The next Planning & Zoning Commission regular meeting is scheduled for February 11, 2026.*

The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 PM

[Signature in blue ink] Dennis Wilson, Chair | [Handwritten date in blue ink] 2/11/26 | Date

Planning and Zoning Commission Minutes | January 28, 2026 | Page 2 of 2

## Page 3

[VISUAL TRANSCRIPTION]

[Cropped, illegible printed text at top right edge of page. Two presentation slides on this page.]

[Slide 1]

The challenges to creating
Accessory Dwelling Units

Nils Peterson
Executive Director
Hills and Rivers Housing Trust

[Logo: open window with hills and river; text: HILLS & RIVERS HOUSING TRUST, incorporated in 2009]

1

[Slide 2]

Accessory Dwelling Unit Definitions

Three terms to consider
- DADU: Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit
- AADU: Attached Accessory Dwelling Unit (basement apartment, etc)
- ADU: Accessory Dwelling Unit (catch-all, usually means DADU)

2

## Page 4

[VISUAL TRANSCRIPTION]

[Cropped, illegible printed text at top right edge of page. Two presentation slides on this page.]

[Slide 3]

Politics of Local Control vs State Mandate

- Historically, zoning originated under a City's local authority.
- Zoning is subject to local political pressure (NIMBY)
  - Cities have a difficult time making zoning changes to favor more housing (NIMBY perception is that housing density will hurt property values - *Investment vs Human right tension.*)
  - State legislatures step in
    - They are more immune to the local NIMBYs
    - They get tied up in ideology about small gov't vs. local control
    - Blue state legislatures are acting: CA, OR, WA

3

[Slide 4]

Strong Towns Housing Ready survey

[The left-column bullet text on this slide is partially obscured by an overlaid screenshot of a "Moscow Zoning Districts" web map. Visible fragments of the obscured text are transcribed below; obscured portions are marked.]

Strong Towns Housing [obscured]
(https://www.strongtown[obscured, URL cut off]
- Does your city allow pe[obscured] or triplex by right? Mosc[obscured, red text]
- Does your city permit ba[obscured]
- Are starter homes legal [obscured]
- Has your city eliminated [obscured] neighborhoods? Moscow: No [red text]
- Has your city eliminated [obscured]
- Can someone in your cit[obscured] home, or a backyard cot[obscured]

[Map screenshot: header bar "Moscow Zoning Districts" with links "MAPS HOME  CITY WEBSITE"; a color-coded zoning map of Moscow with red annotations placed on it reading "Moscow: Yes", "Moscow: Yes", "Moscow: No", "Moscow: No"; scale bar "0.4mi"; partial coordinate readout "...53 46.726 Degrees"; attribution line "University of Idaho, WA State Parks GIS, Esri, TomTom, Garmin, SafeGraph, GeoT..." (cut off)]

4

## Page 5

[VISUAL TRANSCRIPTION]

[Cropped, illegible printed text at top right edge of page. Two presentation slides on this page.]

[Slide 5]

Zoning restrictions on ADU development

"Unlocking Home" by Alan Durning, a 2013 publication by Sightline Institute of Seattle

*For each city, we attempted to answer questions about seven legal barriers to ADUs:* (page 35)
- *How many ADUs are allowed per lot?* Moscow: 1 [red text]
- *How many additional off-street parking spaces does the city require for each ADU?* Moscow: 1 (9x18 = 162sq ft) [red text]
- *Does the city mandate that the owner of an ADU live on the lot where it is located, either in the*
- *house or in the ADU?* Moscow: Yes [red text]
- *How many people may live in an ADU, in its accompanying house, or in both combined (that is, how*
- *do occupancy limits affect ADUs)?* Moscow: 4 unrelated people in house and owner + 1 in ADU [red text]
- *How big may ADUs be?* Moscow: Max 600 sqft [red text]
- *In how much of the city may owners install ADUs?* Moscow: Any residential zone [red text]
- *Must ADUs match the exterior design of the house they accompany?* Moscow: Not required [red text]

5

[Slide 6]

Mark Hatate
VP, Community Lending Officer

[Logo: WaFd Bank]

6

## Page 6

[VISUAL TRANSCRIPTION]

[Cropped, illegible printed text at top right edge of page. Two presentation slides on this page.]

[Slide 7]

The "3C's" of Credit

- Credit
- Capacity
- Collateral

[Logo: WaFd Bank]

7

[Slide 8]

Finance an ADU with a
Home Equity Line of Credit

- Credit
- Capacity
  - Is there enough income for the current mortgage plus the HELOC payment?
  - Rent might pay for it eventually, why doesn't it count up front?
- Collateral
  - Is there enough equity in the house (market value-debt)?
  - Collateral might increase when the ADU is finished and rented
- Other Considerations
  - The primary home is at risk in foreclosure
  - Requires equity before construction completed

[Diagram: green lot with a house and trees. House labeled: My House / Value $650K / Equity $250K / HELOC $120. Box labeled: ADU / cost / $120k = / 600ft * / $200/ft. Street labeled: Any Street. Logo: WaFd Bank]

8

## Page 7

[VISUAL TRANSCRIPTION]

[Cropped, illegible printed text at top right edge of page. Two presentation slides on this page.]

[Slide 9]

Finance with a cash-out refinance
of the primary home

- Credit
- Capacity
  - Is there enough income for the new larger mortgage at a new interest rate?
- Collateral
  - Is there enough value in the house to get enough cash out?
- Other Considerations
  - The primary home is at risk in foreclosure
  - 1st mortgage low interest rates discorage refinancing

[Diagram: green lot with a house and trees. House labeled: My House / Value $650K / Equity $250K / Owe $400K / Cash out $120. Box labeled: ADU / cost / $120K. Street labeled: Any Street. Logo: WaFd Bank]

9

[Slide 10]

Finance with a new loan for the ADU on the
same lot

- Credit
- Capacity
  - Is there enough income for the two loans
- Collateral
  - Is there enough value in the house to cover the ADU during construction
- Other considerations
  - Requires one lender to accept 2nd position
  - Requires legal lot line revision to lend against or sell ADU property

[Diagram: green lot with a house and trees. House labeled: My House / Value $650K / Equity $120K. Box labeled: ADU / cost / $120K. Street labeled: Any Street. Logo: WaFd Bank]

10

## Page 8

[VISUAL TRANSCRIPTION]

[Cropped, illegible printed text at top right edge of page. Two presentation slides on this page.]

[Slide 11]

Lot split and new mortgage for the ADU

- Credit
- Capacity
  - Is there enough income for the existing mortgage and the new loan?
    - Might a 3rd party take out the ADU mortgage?
- Collateral
  - Will the first house appraise for enough?
    - Will cash be need on house to maintain LTV?
  - Can the new lot's value be the ADU's down payment?
- Other Consideration
  - First lender must agree to partial lien release
  - In foreclosure, the house is safe, only the ADU is at risk
  - ADU will require all its own utility connections - added cost

[Diagram: green lot split by a red dashed line. House labeled: My House / Value $650K / Equity $120K. Box labeled: ADU / cost / $150K. Right parcel labeled in red: New Lot / value $30K. Street labeled: Any Street. Logo: WaFd Bank]

11

[Slide 12]

Shared Equity Loan

- Credit
- Capacity
  - Owner needs capacity for original house
    - No monthly payments for ADU loan
  - 3rd party is construction lender, uses own capital; no payments by owner
- Collateral
  - ADU is collateral for 3rd party
- Other Consideration
  - 3rd party gets repaid with interest by Sale/ refinance of whole property
  - Possible role for Housing Authority lending

[Diagram: green lot with a house and trees. House labeled: My House / Value $650K / Equity $120K. Box labeled: ADU / cost / $120K. Street labeled: Any Street]

12

## Page 9

[VISUAL TRANSCRIPTION]

[Cropped, illegible printed text at top right edge of page. One presentation slide on this page; lower half of page is blank.]

[Slide 13]

Are there solutions?   YES

- Equity sharing proposals
- Coordinating non - profits ( like Community Land Trusts), public government & private participation
  - An entity (City, Housing Authority, etc.) that acts as a willing venture lender, taking a less-advantaged position long enough to get the ADU built, occupied and generating revenue.

[Logo: WaFd Bank]

13