J Kahnoski1
C.Jay Coles
From:jmkahnoski@q.com
Sent:Tuesday, July 24, 2018 5:11 PM
To:City Clerk
Subject:Proposed Costco Warehouse Store
Ladies and Gentlemen of Meridian City Government:
So, Costco’s developer has submitted their proposed building elevations and, no surprise, the proposed structure
looks like a big box store/warehouse, just like every other Costco Warehouse. Surely, the City of Meridian can
demand something better.
The proposed structure is ugly, like all big box stores. In an area of Meridian zoned for commercial/industrial
structures, it would be at the top of the class. In an area of the city that was zoned for neighborhood
commercial, it is totally unacceptable. My wife and I implore you to reject this proposed structure out of hand
and insist the developer design something with architectural character that is compatible with the surrounding
neighborhoods.
We also ask you to consider what Meridian is becoming. The City Council’s approval of the Costco proposal
was a tremendous mistake because it opens the door to W. Chinden Blvd. becoming an east-west version of
Eagle Road. We can forgive the city for the poor planning that resulted in the horrendous traffic and ugly strip
malls that is Eagle Road. We cannot forgive you if you make the exact same planning and design mistakes now
on Chinden. One ugly boulevard per city is more than enough.
If this structure is not rejected, indeed, if the entire project is not rejected (one hopes the lawsuit against the city
prevails), Meridian will be well on its way to becoming a a textbook case of poor planning, urban sprawl, strip
malls and big box stores. Whatever nice, even upscale, neighborhoods are developed will be under siege from
the ugly commercial properties and traffic that overwhelms the road network. Those neighborhoods will suffer,
and eventually decline, impacting property values and quality of life in Meridian. Who will want to live here
then? Who will consider Meridian a good place to raise a family then?
One hopes you ladies and gentlemen see this. The city’s planning department certainly does. The city’s
comprehensive plan tried to prevent what is starting to happen. If the City Council and the Planning
Commission aren’t going to abide by the comprehensive plan, then the city is lost - mundane commercial design
(one cannot call it “architecture), suffocating traffic and simply “no there there.” Whatever hopes the city has
of developing a character and quality of life will be gone.
Please reconsider this project. Please don’t let Meridian become a 21st century example of bad city
planning. Instead, please set your standards higher. Please manage the development and growth so that people
will see Meridian as a place of charm and quality. Please reject this structure, this project, and return to the
standards set in the comprehensive plan.
Thank you,
Jonathan Kahnoski