Jesse McGuire 1.161
C.Jay Coles
From:Morgan Andrus
Sent:Tuesday, January 16, 2018 8:50 AM
To:C.Jay Coles; Charlene Way
Subject:FW: Comments re Linder Village Application (File # H-2017-0088)
From: Jesse McGuire [mailto:kong103@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2018 8:03 PM
To: City Clerk; mayortammy
Cc: Tina McGuire
Subject: Comments re Linder Village Application (File # H-2017-0088)
Hi,
My family and I are residents in the Paramount subdivison. This is now the 3rd time I have had to email the city
on this issue. To be blunt, this is exhausting.
So many people bought homes in Paramount based on the city's comprehensive plan that put the Linder Village
property targeted as Mixed Use Commercial. We have now dealt with multiple postponements, Planning and
Zoning recommending a denial due to tens if not a hundred plus issues with the site plan, and the City Council
unfathomably giving the developer more time.
What are we as citizens supposed to do here? Not one person I have talked to is against the field being
developed, nearly everyone welcomes it. But we all expect it to be developed within the city's comprehensive
plan that we all relied o n when making a huge investment in moving to this part of Meridian. The developer and
Winco show no desire to work with anyone or be good neighbors in any way. At the Planning and Zoning
meeting they literally said they would not make any of the recommended changes cause if they did that then the
project couldn't happen. And the City Council then votes to let things proceed. Way to reward people for doing
the right thing.
This application should be denied outright and the developers should have to go back and re-think their plan and
find one that works within the community guidelines. They have had their chance to be good members of the
community and have failed at that. They should not be rewarded for doing this.
I can't attend this meeting tomorrow as I have prior family commitments and I can't keep donating nights to
fight something that shouldn't need fighting, especially since the community dissent is already well known.
preservemeridian.com has a good summary of reasons this development shouldn't be allowed:
• The large footprint of stores (three buildings over 25,000sf, in excess of the MU-C designation);
• The location of larger stores in close proximity to residential areas (not seamlessly integrated into the
community);
• The operating hours of stores (24/7 operation which is outside C-C parameters) and unrestricted nighttime
deliveries to loading docks;
2
• The variance for the light on Bergman, which only benefits the businesses on this corner, but slows traffic
and increases congestion on Chinden for the commuters who use it as a vital east-west corridor every day;
• The copious amount of parking spaces demanded by these larger businesses, and the distances between
even the smaller buildings, makes almost the entire project unfriendly to pedestrians and virtually
unnavigable by those with disabilities.
But why do we keep having to point this out? For a "community business", WinCo sure seems to enjoy getting
their way. They don't seem to care about the community. A 24-hour business within a few hundred yards of
heavy residential is outrageous. The developer is more concerned about fighting a PR fight than working with
citizens to come up with a good plan.
I am sorry it is coming to this. Approving this application would be a slap in the face for Paramount residents
who made some of the biggest investments in their lives to live in this community based on the city's
comprehensive plan. I won't be attending any more meetings about this development, I don't underst and why we
keep having to show up to express our dissent, or continue to send in letters. The whole process seems designed
to wear out the citizens and be favorable towards developers.
If the application is approved as is or without significant changes to bring it within MU-C guidelines, my efforts
will be better used getting people into leadership positions that won't back-stab its citizens for tax dollars, or
whatever is driving the city councils fascination with this project.
Here's to hoping for a reasonable outcome tomorrow night.
Jesse McGuire
Bacall Dr