Carris Smith1
Chris Johnson
From:carris smith <carris53@gmail.com>
Sent:Friday, April 06, 2018 7:39 PM
To:City Clerk
Subject:City Council Meeting re: Costco at Ten Mile and Chinden
Mayor and members of the council:
My name is Carris Smith and my husband Howard and I reside at
6072 N Eynsford Ave, Meridian 83646.
I am writing to express my extreme disappointment in the way the
decision was made last week re: the Costco development at
Chinden and Ten Mile. Of course we wanted the application
denied. But that is not why I'm writing.
We bought our home based on the comprehensive plan and what
was (and still is) the plot plan for the subdivision. We understood
that the comprehensive plan was updated 7 months ago, with still
no mention of Costco. Brighton has misrepresented this land to all
of us. No, we would not have purchased our home here had we
known about Costco.
The traffic study was not accurate. The person speaking on that
even contradicted himself. No one mentioned that the traffic will
never go north on Ten Mile as there are houses there. No one
every mentioned how many additional cars would be coming from
the apartments every day, Costco every day, and the church going
in across the street.
Brighton controls our HOA, and they are the ones applying for
Costco development AND the apartments. The attorney secured by
Bainbridge confirmed this is an obvious conflict of interest to the
Bainbridge homeowners.
2
To change the zoning for Brighton AND Costco adds both a
warehouse AND apartments. It just appears that you as a council
were not representing the citizens of Meridian, but the developers
and business. It seemed that your main concern was the road
improvements you would gain from this development...rather than
the safety and lifestyle of the homeowners.
The people who came and shared were speaking from their hearts
about true concerns they will live with day in and day out. Many
expressed they moved here from out of state to settle in a safe and
family-oriented community. Our decisions were made on the
Brighton advertising and comprehensive plan. We, as neighbors of
this proposed development, have met numerous times, strategized
as to how best to present our concerns, prayed over it, and put
hours into trying to preserve our safe community.
Your slogan yesterday "Do the right" -- seems rather hollow after
the way the decision was made in approving the Costco
development, forgetting that we the people are the ones who make
up the city of Meridian.
And all of those for Costco who don't live nearby -- that's
understandable. How about if we ask you if you would have voted
the same way if it was YOUR own subdivision getting this
warehouse as their view and walking path, bike path for the kids
and lowering value on your personal home? Maybe a few extra
days to chew on what you heard would have given you a bit more
insight.
We will seriously consider the integrity of each council member and
our votes will reflect that in the next election.
It seemed by the questions asked, and the ones not asked, that the
decision had already been made before the pubic showed up to
3
speak that evening. And the people against it were not against
Costco, or growth in Meridian, but the location.
Sincerely,
Carris Smith