Brighton Response to ACHDBRIGHTON
CORPORATION
December 5, 2018
Mindy Wallace, AICP, Planner III
Ada County Highway District
3775 N. Adams St.
Garden City, ID 83714
SUBJECT. TM Crossing Expansion (MER18-0123 I H-2018-01220 AZ)
Dear Ms. Wallace,
Your staff report dated November 16, 2018 concerning the referenced City of Meridian application
contains Site Specific Condition of Approval B.3 which prohibits gating the Fire Department -required
emergency access within unimproved -and -never -used Verbena Drive right-of-way.
The City's adopted TM Crossing Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision & Order, Page 11,
(Addendum No.1) references "an opportunity for an emergency access point at the east boundary of the
site from...a 25-32 (varies) foot public right-of-way, W. Verbena Drive ... a portion of which has not been
improved. If emergency access is provided in this location, the access road would need to be improved
per Fire Department standards. "
That statement, from the analysis section of the Meridian staff report, was in response to Fire Department
Condition 3.26 (Staff Report, Page 37) citing the Fire Code requirement for "two separate and approved
fire apparatus access roads... " when gross building area in the project exceeds 62,000 square feet. TM
Crossing has exceeded that threshold. Thus, the use of the unimproved Verbena right-of-way for a
secondary, emergency fire access has been required by the City within the area depicted below.
12601 W. Explorer Drive Suite 200 Boise, Idaho 83713
www.brightoncorp.com p. 208-378-4000 f. 208-377-8962
The Condition B.3 prohibition of gating within the right-of-way assumes the street has been improved.
The emergency access portion of the Verbena Drive ROW never been improved. It has been used as
pasture and gated since the subdivision was platted and developed in the 1970's. The gate located on the
east side of the pasture, at the west end of the "unpaved ROW" within the ROW (graphic above), is
shown below in a photograph taken August 14, 2018. It has since been replaced by wider gate in
compliance with "Fire Department standards. "
The use of the heretofore unimproved Verbena right-of-way for a gated fire access is temporary; it will be
vacated when a public street from TM Crossing is extended to Franklin Road as illustrated in the graphic
on the following page.
Proposed Actions
First – We request ACHD's "interim" approval of the gating of the City of Meridian Fire Department -
required fire access within the unimproved Verbena Drive right-of-way as proposed in the TM Crossing
Expansion application.
In support of that request, we are providing Addendum No. 2, a seven -page Google Earth photographic
history of the site, with eleven images taken between May 5, 1992 and July 16, 2018. The constant: That
portion of the Verbena Drive right-of-way has never been improved—and has been gated pasture virtually
every day since the Primrose Subdivision was platted and the one -acre lots were improved.
The sole "improvement" exception is noted in the Addendum No. 2, Page 7, photo image dated 06.11.17
which was taken soon after a City of Meridian water main was installed within the right-of-way
Second – We request that the "interim" facility be granted by license agreement to terminate with the
construction of a roadway from TM Crossing to Franklin Road. At that point, the emergency fire access
can be abandoned and the right-of-way returned to its current unmaintained condition, or be landscaped
by a second license agreement as a 25 -foot City of Meridian landscape buffer which is required between
commercial and residential uses.
2
Please let us know what more we can do to facilitate this City of Meridian requirement.
Resp fully
Michael D. Wardle
Director of Planning
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Density Employment designated areas as well as the proposed Commercial designation.
However, Medium High Density areas are anticipated to have residential (R-8 or R-15) zoning.
Because the applicant proposes a Commercial designation for the entire site, no residential zoning
is proposed. The residential designated area consists of approximately 8.5 acres at the northeast
corner of the site.
Hours of Operation: Business hours of operation in the C -G zoning district are limited from
6:00 am to 11 pm when the property abuts a residential use or district, per UDC 11 -2B -3A.4.
There are existing residences along the east boundary of this site. Staff recommends that hours of
operation of businesses along that boundary be restricted accordingly through the DA.
Sign: A Welcome to Meridian monument sign is designated on this property visible from the I-84
off -ramp to Ten Mile Road. Staff is recommending a DA provision that the developer construct a
sign accordingly and coordinate with staff on the location and design.
PRELIMINARY PLAT (PP): A preliminary plat is proposed that consists of 50 commercial
building lots and 4 common/other lots on 75.5 acres of land for TM Crossing Subdivision. The
preliminary plat is proposed to develop in two phases (see Exhibit A. 4). Although an abundance
of lots are proposed, staff recognizes this is because future users/owners are unknown making the
ultimate size and configuration of lots impossible to know at this time. The proposed plat will
allow for a future reduction in lots or property boundary adjustments as needed.
As noted above in Section VII, the proposed street layout is not entirely consistent with the
transportation system map contained in the TMISAP. Staff recommends that the applicant
revise the preliminary plat in accord with the provisions listed in Exhibit B, 1.1.1., prior to
the City Council hearing.
Dimensional Standards: Staff has reviewed the proposed plat for conformance with the
dimensional standards of the C -G zoning district and found it to be in compliance with those
standards. Future development of the property shall comply with these standards.
Cross-Access/Parking: A note is depicted on the preliminary plat that grants cross-
access/parking to all lots within the subdivision.
Access: Access to this site is proposed via an off-site access to Ten Mile Road north of the site;
no other access is available to the site at this time.
ACHD policy restricts the amount of traffic allowed on a collector roadway with only one public
street access in and out of the site to 3,000 vehicle trips per day. Depending on the number of
vehicle trips per day, only one user or phase may be allowed until secondary access can be
obtained (see ACHD comments in Exhibit B).
Additionally, the Fire Department requires commercial buildings or facilities having a gross
building area of more than 62,000 square feet to be provided with two separate and approved fire
apparatus access roads separated by one half of the maximum overall diagonal dimension of the
property or area to be served, measured in a straight line between accesses as set forth in
International Fire Code Appendix D104.2. An exception is allowed for projects having a gross
building area of up to 124,000 square feet that have a single approved fire apparatus access road and
all buildings are equipped throughout with approved. automatic sprinkler systems (remoteness
required).
There may be an opportunity for an emergency access point at the east boundary of this site from
Primrose Subdivision. Currently, there is a 25-32 (varies) foot public right-of-way, W. Verbena
Drive, existing at the east boundary of this site - a portion of which has not been improved. If
1 emergency access is provided in this location, the access road would need to be improved per Fire
Department standards.
TM Crossing CPAM-12-001; AZ -12-005; PP -12-003 PAGE 1 I
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