CC - 2019-07-15 Letter to Council with AddendumsT. Hethe Clark
208.388.3327
hclark@clarkwardle.com
Via electronic mail (bparsons@meridiancity.org)
July 12, 2019
Bill Parsons
Planning Supervisor, Current Planning Group
City of Meridian
33 E. Broadway Ave.
Meridian, Idaho 83642
Re: Three Corners Ranch — Preliminary Plat Application (H-2019-0006)
Comments in Advance of July 16, 2019 Hearing
SB File No. 21895.12
Dear Bill:
As Council will recall, three issues came up during the previous hearing that will be the subject of this
Tuesday's discussion: (1) Dunwoody Court roadway; (2) an update on Karnes lateral plans; and (3)
updated site plans and preliminary plat. This letter is provided as an update to those issues.
Dunwoody Court Residents' Demands
With regard to Dunwoody Court, we have been in touch with both ACHD and the Dunwoody residents.
As noted at hearing, ACHD has not determined that any off-site improvements are warranted given
these circumstances and the low volume of traffic even at build -out (approximately 14% of a local
street's capacity). We appreciated Council's suggestions of other creative possibilities beyond standard
curb, gutter, and sidewalk, which raises significant practical, economic, and legal concerns. A copy of
the correspondence with ACHD is attached. As you will note, in response to our questions, ACHD has
indicated that they no longer support raised curb due to issues maintaining the portion behind the curb.
ACHD will allow striping (which it appears should be in this location) and no -parking signage.
This conversation with ACHD was undertaken in anticipation of the meeting with the Dunwoody
residents. Given ACHD's position, the Applicant was (and remains) prepared to offer the following:
(1) No parking signs on both sides of Dunwoody Court;
(2) Striping to meet ACHD requirements;
(3) Three street lights on Dunwoody Court; and
(4) Removal of overgrown vegetation encroaching into Dunwoody Court right-of-way.
T. Hethe Clark Geoffrey M. Wardle Matthew 1. McCee Joshua 1. Leonard T 208.388.1000 251 E Front St. Suite 200
F 208.388.1001 Pa Box 639
clorkwordle.com Boise ID 83701
Bill Parsons
July 15, 2019
This information was presented to the Dunwoody residents at a meeting on July 10, 2019. The
Dunwoody residents rejected ACHD's position and, even before our meeting occurred, their HOA voted
to demand curb, gutter, and sidewalk on both sides (constituting a full rebuild of Dunwoody Court) from
this Applicant—and that a response to their demand be provided by Monday, July 15, 2019. The
Dunwoody representative stated "the residents of Dunwoody would not offer time, talents, materials
or finances" for the improvements.
The proposed development—one forewarned in the Dunwoody residents' CCRs—is small, with only a
small portion of 44 homes expected to use Dunwoody Court. Even at full build -out, only a fraction of
this road's capacity will be used. If there is a safety concern (a point ACHD and this applicant dispute),
that situation exists now.
The suggestions that Dunwoody residents should have no obligation to contribute to the circumstance
about which they complain reveals much about their position. The Dunwoody residents' demands
would require a complete re -design of the roadway because there are existing drainage swales with
landscaping within the right-of-way. Those swales are used by home owners, including some who flood
irrigate their lots. That landscaping and those swales would have to be removed and the roadway
entirely re -engineered in order to accommodate curb, gutter, sidewalk, and a new drainage system, all
at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
That cost is not warranted by the circumstances, nor are the economics reasonable.
The Applicant has gone to great lengths to reduce the number of connections and the density of homes
for this infill project. Any developer held hostage to these concerns would be forced to maximize
density and open each of the area roadway connections. Perhaps the Dunwoody residents are willing to
buy a reprieve and live with the risk of a much higher density project later by an applicant who is not so
concerned with the neighbors' opinions. All of the other neighborhood associations see and
understand that this plan represents a significant compromise with the good of the larger area in
mind. The Dunwoody residents clearly do not.
Karnes Lateral Discussions
As is typical of all residential developments that benefit from pressurized irrigation, discussions with the
irrigation entity (in this case, Karnes lateral) are ongoing in preparation of final approvals after
preliminary plat. Plans have been reviewed with the Karnes board based on revisions. But to be clear,
final construction plans must be approved by the Karnes board before we can do anything with their
laterals, equipment, or within their easements.
We have continued the conversations that have been ongoing for more than six months. Since the last
meeting, we have answered all of the updated questions raised by the Karnes board (see Addendum B).
It would be appropriate for this City Council to respect the authority of the Karnes board and, as is
typical, condition this application on their final approval of all plans. As we believe staff will confirm, this
is typically reviewed and confirmed at final plat approval.
Updated Site Plans and Preliminary Plat
Updated site plans and a preliminary plat are attached as Addendum C.
2
Bill Parsons
July 15, 2019
Please note that the site plan includes the third gate (to the north) that was the subject of discussion at
hearing. As you are aware, the Applicant does not believe that gate is warranted for a number of
reasons. First, there is no block -length issue based on the P&Z and ACHD recommendation that W.
Stafford Drive not be connected. As a result, there is no explicit code requirement based on block
length. More importantly, the usage of this north gate will be minimal. As drafted, this condition does
not require construction of the gate until Shandee access to Chinden is closed off. This could be ten
years in the future, given our discussions with ITD. Furthermore, our traffic engineer has reviewed the
situation and his opinion is that only five percent (5%) of site traffic will use this gate once access onto
Chinden from Shandee Drive is restricted. There is no warrant for this requirement and it should be
removed.
In addition, the site plan and preliminary plat show the gate at E. Dunwoody Court as being moved
further to the east. We propose that the final location should be determined at final plat.
Thank you for your attention to these matters and we look forward to further discussion at hearing on
July 16, 2019.
Sincerely,
T. Hethe Clark
THC:bb
Addendum A: Correspondence from ACHD
Addendum B: Correspondence with Karnes Lateral
Addendum C: Updated Site Plan and Preliminary Plat
3
Jim Conger
From: Christy Little <Clittle@achdidaho.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2019 12:24 PM
To: Jim Conger
Subject: RE: Dunwoody and curbing
Jim,
As I mentioned on the phone, ACHD is re-evaluating the use of extruded curb and candle -sticks on arterial roadways to
delineate pedestrian areas. ACHD is unable to maintain the area behind the extruded curb to keep it swept and clear of
debris. To my knowledge, ACHD has not installed extruded curb on local streets. Current ACHD policy, as shown below
for the rural street, allows striping to be used due to low speeds and low volumes.
This is the same street section that was approved for Dunwoody (we didn't have the ribbon curb requirement then). As
approved originally, this street should be signed for NO PARKING on both sides, to allow the stripe on both sides for the
4 -feet of pavement. Where did the striping go? My guess is that after the first chip seal it got missed, as there is
generally limited to no striping on local streets. In the original staff report, staff recommendations/comments on the
request to allow the rural street section were based on the large lots and big setbacks, and adequate on-site parking,
eliminating the demand for on -street parking.
ACHD's daytime aerial images dating back to 2003 do not show any cars parked on the street with the exception of what
appears to be a landscaping maintenance vehicle. The current Google earth aerial imagery shows one vehicle that also
looks to be landscaping.
There are swales on both sides of the road, as required for drainage and the right-of-way extends only to the back of the
Swale. The roadway cannot be widened.
There is not adequate pavement width to have parking on one side of the street, two travel lanes, and the 4 -foot
(minimum) striped path. ACHD will allow the road to be striped with two travel lanes and one 8 -foot wide path; or two
travel lanes with two 4 -foot wide paths; and NO PARKING signs should be installed throughout, on both sides of the
roadway.
Christy
Standard Rural Greater than 1 acre,
but less than 5 acres
0 -feet with
a ml nimum
8 -foot
drainage
swale
52 -feet (to
` encompass
I entire Swale)
2 -foot No
concrete Sidewalk
ribbon
4 -feet of
the
pavement
on each
sine is
striped for
non -
motorized
travel
I When do you need a final plan approval?
According to Marcel ASAP is the hope they would like to have everything ready to start work as soon as the irrigation is
turned off.
2 Why did the last City Council meeting get pushed out?
To resolve irrigation issues.
3 Will our ditch rider have access to do maint?
Yes, working with the HOA the ditch rider will get a code or key just mail, garbage would.
4 What type of fencing will be used for this neighborhood? And will it be put on top of any irrigation pipes?
There will be virtually no new fencing added, this neighborhood will be open air type and not add new fence unless
needed. Also it will be a similar product as Three Corners has. They plan to not go over any pipes.
5 How is this new neighborhood getting their water?
There will be a pump house installed and either located at the south end of Shandee or just North of the Dunwoody
entrance to the neighborhood. Conger group are still looking at this.
6 Will the new pipe that runs along Bristol Height be straight?
Yes
7 What if weather hits and stops construction?
Per the license agreement, construction will start after water is off and Conger group will have until 2-3 weeks before
the water turns back on in Oct to have pipes in and ready for water to flow.
8. IS the location of the head gate by Dunwoody for Miller and Tibbets going to be where it is currently?
Yes, it will stay in the general same location. The markers there now are set on an offset, so the surveyor did not have to
put them in or right by the ditch. Also both Miller and Tibbets will have access to the water by a 12" pipe plumed in for
Tibbets and a 2 inch pipe or hole for Miller to plum to.
9. Will there be easements for all pipes?
Yes there will be a 15' easement for maint access to the pipes and gates.
THRE
SCALE: 1 " = 80'
S
SCALE: 1 " = 80'