HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC - Public Testimony by Grant Keely - 2/281
Jacy Jones
From:Tammy de Weerd
Sent:Sunday, February 28, 2016 4:05 PM
To:Jacy Jones; Jaycee Holman
Subject:Fwd: A NO To Apartments On Chinden Blvd.
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: Tammy de Weerd < tdeweerd@meridiancity.org >
Date: February 28, 2016 at 2:11:13 PM MST
To: Grant Keely < grantk@centurylink.net >
Cc: mayortammy < mayortammy@meridiancity.org >, Keith Bird < kbird@meridiancity.org >,
Anne Little Roberts < alittleroberts@meridiancity.org >, Genesis Milam
<gmilam@meridiancity.org >, Joe Borton < jborton@meridiancity.org >, Luke Cavener
<lcavener@meridiancity.org >, Ty Palmer < typalmer@meridiancity.org >, Joshua Beach
<jbeach@meridiancity.org >
Subject: Re: A NO To Apartments On Chinden Blvd.
Dear Mr. Keely,
Your email has been received by the Mayor’s Office. We appreciate you contacting us to let us
know of your concerns for the proposed changes to the development agreement for the
Knighthill project. I will forward your comments to our City Clerk for the record and to be
included in the packet the Mayor and Council members receive for the public hearing. Once an
application is made, the Mayor and Council can only make comments during the public hearing
process.
I have copied Josh Beach, the staff member assigned to this project. He will be able to answer
any questions you may have regarding the Modification of the Development Agreement or the
hearing.
Thank you for your comments and being part of the public process.
My Best,
Mayor Tammy
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 28, 2016, at 11:21 AM, Grant Keely < grantk@centurylink.net > wrote:
Dear Mayor de Weerd and the Meridian City Council,
2
It has come to my attention that there is a proposal on the table to allow
special conditions to be allowed in the designated commercial only zoned land
parcel or parcels off Chinden Blvd. near the Linder intersection, next to the
Challenger School so that multi-family apartments can be built there. As a
homeowner in the Lochsa Falls subdivision, I have very, very grave concerns and
reservations about this. When I purchased this house, that land was zoned for
strictly commercial purposes, as was the vast majority of the land around it. It was
one of the things that attracted us to this neighborhood because it foretold of
having convenient businesses for us to take advantage of nearby in the future,
since there was mostly nothing of a commercial nature out this way when we
purchased our home in 2007. It was something our realtor raised as a plus in
buying in this area. That has proven to be a correct assumption on our part over
the last several years as we have watched Fred Meyer, Walgreens, Walmart,
Gino’s and several other stores and restaurants be built and open up for business,
which we have enjoyed.
However, another thing has happened in this area that wasn’t foretold in the
zoning when we bought our property here, and that’s the proliferation of
apartment complexes around us. There are the Selway Apartments in Kelly Creek
off McMillan. There are apartments off Linder behind Sonic and Walgreens, and
there are other complexes going in already around the vicinity. The word is that
the Selway complex and the apartments off McMillan aren’t even at half capacity,
which raises serious questions as to why yet more apartments would be needed in
this area. There are also many homes in the area on the market, some of them
brand new and having been on the market for some time. It would seem that
available housing in this area is not a problem, so rezoning the land near the
Challenger School for yet more apartments that won’t be fully utilized does not
seem prudent.
Of course, there are other downsides to having more apartment complexes in
the area. As a homeowner, I am of course concerned about the impacted value on
my home and the potential property tax implications. As a parent, I am concerned
about even more stress being put on a school district that is already over capacity
and struggling to accommodate all of the students that they already have, which
would surely wind up driving further bond proposals to try and cover the costs at
some point (after the school district running over budget for awhile and at serious
productivity impact, of course). It would seem that the only person who would
ultimately benefit from a change being made to allow these apartments to be built
there would be the developer. As a resident, tax payer and property owner in this
neighborhood, I take serious issue to that.
I fervently urge all of you to vote “NO” on this proposal to amend the current
MDA to allow the proposed apartments be built on the land off Chinden Blvd.
next to the Challenger School on commercially zoned land. There are far too
many negatives to the proposal that directly impact the long-time residents and
taxpayers of this area.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
3
Grant Keely