Snow load
The St. Anthony District snow load is 50 PSF
Published · every figure below was checked against its primary source on the date shown.
The county names it in one sentence
Fremont County splits into snow-load districts, and each one carries its own design figure. St. Anthony's is the lowest of them.
“Section 3. Ground Snow Load: The ground snow load shall be … 50 PSF for the St. Anthony District.”
— Fremont County Ordinance No. 2005-02, Section 3 (county-published PDF, retrieved 14 August 2026)
The ordinance is a scanned document rather than a modern PDF, which is part of why the figure circulates so poorly — most tools that try to read it come back with nothing, and what gets repeated online is usually somebody's recollection. The text above was extracted from the county's own published file on 14 August 2026.
Here the county is the cautious one
Idaho structural engineers do not design from a county ordinance alone. The reference they reach for is “Ground Snow Loads for Idaho — 2015”, published by the University of Idaho, which models towns individually against elevation and station records rather than drawing broad districts.
| Source | What it is | Figure for St. Anthony |
|---|---|---|
| Fremont County Ordinance 2005-02 §3 | The adopted regulation — a code minimum | 50 PSF |
| “Ground Snow Loads for Idaho — 2015” | The engineering reference, modelled per town | 37 psf at 4,963 ft |
That relationship is worth sitting with, because it runs the opposite way to what people expect. The county's adopted figure is thirteen pounds per square foot above what the state study recommends for this town. The regulation is the more conservative of the two.
The practical consequence is a comfortable one: design to the county's 50 PSF and you have satisfied both. There is no gap to argue about, no engineer's judgement call to referee, and no version of this where the code minimum leaves you under-built relative to the published research.
What the two numbers mean, in one line each
- 50 PSF — the county's adopted figure. A regulation. It is the minimum your design has to satisfy in this district, and a plan reviewer checks against it.
- 37 psf — the state study's recommendation. An engineering reference, modelled for this town at its own elevation. It informs design; it does not override a code minimum.
- The gap runs the safe way. Where the code sits above the study, satisfying the code satisfies both, and there is no judgement call left for anyone to get wrong.
The rule you may fall below, and why to ask about it
The county's own pre-construction checklist carries a sentence that matters a great deal if your lot is in this district. It says that structures built “within a 70lb/ft² roof snow load” are required to be designed by a structural engineer or an architect licensed in Idaho.
The sentence is not perfectly drafted. It does not say “70 or more.” But the county's own districts run at 50 and upward with no district set at exactly 70, so the only reading that makes the sentence do any work is a threshold. On that reading, the St. Anthony District's 50 PSF sits below it — and a mandatory engineer or architect stamp is a real line item to be spared.
This site is not going to tell you that you are exempt. It is going to tell you the sentence exists, that it is ambiguous, and that the question is worth one phone call to Fremont County Building Department, Fremont County Courthouse, 151 W 1st North, St. Anthony, ID 83445 — (208) 624-7200 before you budget for a stamp you may not need — or skip one you do.
One caution, because it catches people: there is a separate rule with no snow-load condition attached at all. Free-standing post and beam structures require engineered stamped plans regardless. If what you are building is a post-frame shop or a barndominium, the 50 PSF figure does not get you out of anything.
What 50 PSF does and does not decide
| It decides | It does not decide |
|---|---|
| Truss and rafter sizing, and the spans you can achieve | Foundation depth, which the county fixes countywide |
| How much roof structure a long clear span costs | Whether your ground will take a septic system |
| Whether drift-prone valleys need extra design attention | Well depth, which nobody knows until it is drilled |
| Possibly whether an engineer or architect must design the structure | Whether free-standing post and beam needs stamped plans — it does, regardless |
What to actually do with the number
- Confirm which snow-load district the parcel is in, from the building department rather than from the address.
- Ask your designer which figure the plans are drawn to, and get it in writing on the plan set.
- If the answer is 50 PSF, ask specifically whether the 70 threshold means you need a stamp — and get that answer from the county, not from a contractor's memory.
- If the structure is post and beam, assume you need stamped plans and budget for them.
Related reading on this site
- St. Anthony issues its own building permits — which desk reviews the plans your snow load appears on
- Building a barndominium in St. Anthony — where a low district figure still does not exempt a post-frame build
- What it costs to build a custom home in St. Anthony — where roof structure sits among the costs that actually move a bid
Common questions
What is the ground snow load in St. Anthony, Idaho?
Fremont County Ordinance No. 2005-02, Section 3 sets 50 PSF for the St. Anthony District. That is the design figure the county applies to structures in that district, and it is the lowest of the districts the ordinance names.
Is 50 PSF the number my engineer will use?
It is the county's code minimum, which is a floor and not a ceiling. An engineer may design above it for a particular roof geometry, a drift condition, or a client who wants margin. Ask which number appears on your plans and why.
The state's study gives a lower number than the county. Which is right?
Both are real and they answer different questions. The University of Idaho's 2015 reference, which Idaho structural engineers use, models towns individually and returns 37 psf for St. Anthony at 4,963 feet. The county's 50 PSF is the adopted regulation. Here the county is the more conservative of the two, so designing to the county figure satisfies both.
Does a lower snow load make my house cheaper?
It can reduce framing and truss cost compared with a higher-load district, because the roof structure carries less design load. It does not reduce anything else, and it never reduces the cost of a bad site. Snow load is one line in a bid, not the bid.
Does 50 PSF mean I do not need an engineer?
Possibly, and this is worth asking carefully. The county's checklist says structures built “within a 70lb/ft² roof snow load” must be designed by an Idaho-licensed structural engineer or architect. The natural reading is a threshold at 70, and 50 sits below it. The sentence does not say “or more,” so confirm it with the building department rather than assuming.
Does the district boundary follow the city limits?
No, and do not assume it does. The ordinance names the districts and their loads but defines no boundaries in its text; the authoritative boundary is a zone map the county publishes as an image with no searchable text. Ask the building department which district a specific parcel sits in.
Does the snow load change what my roof can look like?
It changes what the structure under it has to be. Long spans, low pitches, valleys that collect drift and heavy roofing materials all interact with the design load. Bring the roof idea to the engineer early rather than after the plans are drawn.
Does the city use the same 50 PSF figure inside the city limits?
The ordinance sets district figures for the county. Inside the St. Anthony city limits the city issues the permit and reviews the plans, so ask the city office directly which design snow load it enforces rather than assuming the county district figure carries across the boundary unchanged.
Ask about a build in St. Anthony
Describe the parcel and roughly what you have in mind. What comes back is an honest read on which firms here take that kind of work, plus the one thing most people have not established yet: whether the city or the county will be reviewing your plans. Free, and nothing automated ever follows.
- Say where the ground is and what you intend to put on it.
- You are pointed toward the firms in this town with that work behind them.
- From there it is between you and them. No commission, no introduction fee, and nobody standing between you and your own contract.
One contact method is plenty — whichever you prefer. A human being writes back.