Bannock County, ID Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Density Bonus Law (2026)

In unincorporated Bannock County, the density bonus applies only to subdivisions designed under the county's open space design standards in Chapter 16.28 of the Bannock County Municipal Code. Section 16.28.010(C) caps ordinary open space subdivisions at fifty percent of the gross parcel area divided into individual lots, with the remaining half reserved as permanent open space that connects to public land, riparian corridors, wetlands or adjoining open space. Developers who commit additional acreage beyond that fifty percent baseline can apply for the density bonus: for each parcel equal to the zone's minimum lot size that is dedicated to permanent open space, the Planning and Development Council may approve one extra dwelling, up to a ceiling of ten percent more units than the base density allows.

The code works the math through its own example: a 100-acre tract with 80 developable acres at one dwelling per 2.5 acres yields 25 lots on 40 acres; committing 10 more acres to permanent open space unlocks four bonus lots for a total of 29 building sites on 30 acres. Allowable density itself is never required to decrease, and the open space created under the bonus must be permanently deed-restricted against development, including fencing, usable only for common-owned recreation (capped at ten percent of the open space) or transfer to a public agency such as the Forest Service or Idaho Fish and Game.

Neighborhood commercial uses inside a bonus-eligible subdivision are allowed only if they serve no more than a two-mile radius, shown by a market study the developer funds.