Bill Description: Senate Bill 1166 would prohibit homeless shelters within 300 feet of residential property in any city with a population greater than 100,000.
Rating: -2
Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. Conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?
Senate Bill 1166 would create Section 67-6540, Idaho Code, which would say, "In any city with a population greater than one hundred thousand (100,000) according to the most recent United States decennial census, no homeless shelter shall be established, constructed, or operated within three hundred (300) feet of the property line of any residentially zoned property as designated by the applicable municipal or county zoning ordinance or of any property with existing exclusive detached residential use."
It would further clarify that this distance "shall be measured from the nearest property line of the proposed homeless shelter to the nearest property line of any residentially zoned property."
The law would apply only to new homeless shelters, not to existing ones.
The bill would create an exception to this prohibition if at least two-thirds of property owners within 300 feet of the proposed homeless shelter site sign affidavits approving its construction.
Senate Bill 1166 would limit the property rights of a property owner who wishes to construct a homeless shelter.
(-1)
Does it violate the principle of equal protection under the law? Examples include laws that discriminate or differentiate based on age, gender, or religion or which apply laws, regulations, rules, or penalties differently based on such characteristics. Conversely, does it restore or protect the principle of equal protection under the law?
Senate Bill 1166 is primarily designed to address a proposal to build $14-million Interfaith Sanctuary homeless shelter on State Street in Boise. A conflict over the proposal has been ongoing for several years, with the Veterans Park Neighborhood Association actively opposing it.
In January 2025, the Idaho Supreme Court sided with the association and blocked the project. It is unclear what will happen now or if there is any path forward for Interfaith Sanctuary at the disputed location.
There are many construction projects, commercial facilities, and other developments that might be viewed unfavorably by neighboring property owners, but which do not face similar prohibitions. This bill targets homeless shelters in response to a particular conflict, not to defend a consistently applied principle.
Additionally troubling is that Idaho has more than 200 cities and towns, but Senate Bill 1166 would only apply to three of them — Boise, Meridian, and Nampa — because they are the only cities with populations greater than 100,000.
If the prohibition proposed by the bill were justified in these cities, it would be equally justified in Caldwell, Idaho Falls, or Coeur d'Alene, even if those cities fall under the bill's population threshold.
Once again, we see that the bill is not consistently defending residential property owners from contentious developments. It instead attempts to intervene in one specific ongoing legal dispute.
(-1)
