Robin Card - Linder Village 7-241
Charlene Way
From:Sonya Allen
Sent:Monday, July 24, 2017 11:54 AM
To:rcard68@gmail.com
Cc:Barbara Shiffer; C.Jay Coles; Charlene Way; Machelle Hill
Subject:Linder Village H-2017-0088 - Public Testimony
Importance:High
Robin,
Thank you for your comments on this application; they will be entered into the public record as testimony by the City
Clerk.
Thanks,
Sonya Allen | Associate City Planner
City of Meridian | Community Development Department
33 E. Broadway Ave., Ste. 102, Meridian, Idaho 83642
Phone: 208-884-5533|Direct: 208-489-0578|Fax: 208-489-0578
Built for Business, Designed for Living
All e-mail messages sent to or received by City of Meridian e-mail accounts are subject to the Idaho law,
in regards to both release and retention, and may be released upon request, unless exempt from disclosure by law.
From: Robin Card [mailto:rcard68@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2017 10:25 AM
To: Sonya Allen
Subject: RE: Amendment H-2017-0088
Importance: High
Dear Elected Officials and City Appointees;
As the people chosen to mold and grow Meridian into the future, and as those chosen, by Meridian residents (Us), to
serve as our voice and extension of our collective democratic wishes, I would like to take a moment to address a
developer's application to amend the current land use map designation for the large parcel of land at the Southeast
corner of Chinden & Linder.
My wife, children, and I purchased our home, in Paramount, in 2005 and moved here in 2006. The three most
compelling reasons in choosing Paramount over many other options were...
1. With younger children, it was very desirable to have the grade school and high school within the subdivision
boundaries, and the middle school directly across the street.
2. Paramount was planned as a family friendly community with strong family values and principles.
3. The developer, and the City of Meridian, published a plan for continued growth of the undeveloped land which
would accommodate for that vision of community. In other words, there would be no major "big box" presence
anywhere within the square mile that Paramount resides.
2
Recently, this promise and vision has come under fire with a petition to amend the land use from a "mixed use
community" designation to one that would allow for much larger retailers to take up residence. Had this been under
consideration when we chose to purchase, we would not have joined the Paramount community.
Granting an amendment to the land use designation would compromise what this area was designed to represent;
community, family, and safety. A few areas of concern as you consider the developer's application...
1. Traffic would increase to an unsafe and dangerous level. The traffic related to Rocky Mountain High School
represents a significant challenge to those of us who live in Paramount. Attempting to leave the subdivision for
work is extremely time-consuming due to students, parents, teachers, and administrators basically turning the
Cayuse Creek and Linder into a parking lot. If we were to add a major development to the land in question, it would
increase this traffic but not just during morning hours; it would be the entire day. Once construction is complete
and these businesses are open to the public, the traffic would increase even more due to the many people
frequenting the area. With the traffic issues on Chinden already at critical mass, drivers would seek to detour from
Chinden and go through Paramount to get to their destination. We would see traffic speeds that would put our
residents, especially our children, at significant risk.
2. The safety of our children is at great risk with the approval of this amendment. As stated above, the traffic increase
alone is enough to destroy the quality of life we homeowners invested in upon moving to Paramount but there is an
additional danger. When these large retailers move into a residential area they, most often, build out a buffer that
entails transient/temporary house (e.g. apartments). Regardless of how nice these living quarters may be upon
completion, I have never seen an apartment complex maintain its grandeur over time. As the units become more
difficult to rent out, the quality of renter will decrease as the rental amount drops. Additionally, Idaho is one of the
top 5 states for registered and unregistered sex offenders. With the option of temporary, and possibly low income,
housing available so close to 3 of Idaho largest schools I fear temptation would be the impetus for tragedy.
3. The quality of life that we have all invested in would be irrevocably destroyed. If a business with late night or even
24-hour operation would create a noise issue, a traffic issue, and a lighting issue. As someone who's home backs up
to the land in question, the thought of parking lot lights glaring throughout the night makes me cringe.
There are many more concerns that these but my hope is to open your eyes to challenges approving this application
would bring about. As a member of this community I am in full support of developing the land with shops, profession
business offices, café/restaurants, etc... This would complete the vision that was established upon the conception of
Paramount. I would be a continuum of what we, as investors, were told when we purchased and chose to move our
families here. By moving away from this plan, you will have set precedent for other areas of Meridian and I believe we
would see the decline of what our fine town was envisioned to be.
Thank you for taking the time to read this note and thank you for your consideration. If you have further questions,
please do not hesitate to reach out.
Best regards,
Robin Card
N Booth Ave.
Paramount