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Home My WebLink AboutPZ - Email to Tamara Thompson by Warren Cays - 12.21 Machelle Hill From:Warren Cays <warrenc@reagan.com> Sent:Friday, December 02, 2016 2:05 PM To:'Tamara Thompson' Cc:'Ken Mutell'; 'Kathleen Gallagher'; bwong@achdidaho.org; kgoldthorpe@achdidaho.org; 'Mindy Wallace'; Caleb Hood; Joshua Beach; Machelle Hill; 'David Koga'; Clittle@achdidaho.org; 'Kearns David'; 'Gardner Richard'; nrsmi@yahoo.com; 'Cays Warren'; 'Warren Cays' Subject:RE: Firenze Plaza - Monday December 5th meeting Ms. Thompson, We will be meeting in the cafeteria of Sienna Elementary school. They do not have audio/video equipment set up in this room so you will need to bring your equipment to set up for your Power Point presentation. I would suggest that you arrive at 5:30 to allow time to set up your equipment prior to 6:00 p.m. Please let me know if you are bringing your equipment and will be there at 5:30 so that I can meet you there. Our concerns regarding the proposed Firenze Development are: We do not want any commercial development at the NW corner of Amity and Eagle. The Comprehensive Future Land Use Plan calls for Medium Density Residential at the NE corner of the intersection and Low-Density Residential at the other three corners. The residents of Tuscany relied on that plan when building or buying their homes, as did Brighton Homes, evidently, since their contracted salesmen told us that homes similar to ours would be built there. Commercial development at this location will negatively impact the character of our neighborhoods and the value of our homes. Worse yet, the proposed Firenze Development plans to make four existing roads in Tuscany corridors to handle the traffic to and from the commercial/mixed use development. Two of those roads were identified as going through into the property at the NW corner of the Amity/Eagle intersection; two of them, Mount Etna and Taormina, are not identified as such. Again, residents of Tuscany relied on that information when moving here. There are quality of life and safety issues with bringing roads from Firenze Plaza into the Tuscany residential development. Those roads would be putting our children at risk. We have already heard that a high school is planned for the NE corner of the intersection in the near future, and Hillsdale Elementary school, on the SE corner of the intersection opened it’s doors in August. Factor in Mary McPherson Elementary a mile west of the Amity/Eagle intersection and the school bus and parent/student traffic has already doubled and will triple when the high school is built. A YMCA is currently being built on the SE corner, along with the Century Farm subdivision, containing 675 lots. The increase in traffic on Eagle and Amity, and their intersection, will already be beyond the capacity of the roads without adding in commercial development at the intersection. Unless the plan is to make South Eagle Road as dysfunctional as North Eagle, with planned gridlock, the community would be better served by keeping the Low and Medium-Density Residential zoning shown in the Future Land Use Plan and moving any commercial development to the commercial corridor of Meridian Road north and south of Amity. The proposed Firenze Plaza identifies a supermarket along with a convenience store/gas station, a fast food outlet with drive-thru, a bank with drive-thru and other retail outlets. It also includes requested zoning changes which would allow high-density residential such as apartments and mixed-use development. Our understanding is that The Land Group is only going to control the commercial development and plans to sell the parcels designated residential to other developers. What controls will be in place as a condition of sale to prevent apartments, town homes and anything but single family homes being built there? Even if a wall was built around Firenze and no roads from it were open into 2 Tuscany, apartments and multi-level town homes would exacerbate traffic and decrease home values in Tuscany, and none of that was supposed to be in this location! Regarding the proposed commercial development in Firenze, what controls are being put in place to ensure a uniform appearance of the properties and a lush level of landscaping in keeping with the properties already built or under construction in the area? The fact that the proposed supermarket is going to be an Albertson’s has to be the worst-kept secret in the Treasure Valley. What constraints are in place to ensure that this is a showcase store? There are going to be schools on two corners of the Amity/Eagle intersection. What is being done to control the kinds of retail outlets which will be allowed to come into Firenze Plaza? The convenience store and fast food outlet would be a huge draw for children, as would a coffee store and drive-thru if one of those should come into the plaza. What is being done to keep undesirable tenants such as vape/tobacco stores, payday lenders, pawn shops, bars and the like out of Firenze? We’ve already been told that operating hours of Firenze Plaza would be twenty hours a day, from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. That’s ridiculous for a residential area! What’s being done to mitigate noise and light pollution, gasoline fumes, smells of dumpsters and the vermin drawn by the garbage generated by the commercial properties and apartment/town homes? If our roads are forced through to the development, what will keep delivery trucks from going through Tuscany at all hours if the truck drivers determine that is the most effective route to use? I want to thank you for reaching out to us for a collaborative meeting. Warren Cays warrenc@reagan.com 208-887-6911 602-619-5151 From: Tamara Thompson [ mailto:tamara@thelandgroupinc.com ] Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2016 8:30 AM To: Warren Cays Cc: Ken Mutell; Kathleen Gallagher; bwong@achdidaho.org ; kgoldthorpe@achdidaho.org ; Mindy Wallace; chood@meridiancity.org ; jbeach@meridiancity.org ; Machelle Hill; David Koga; Clittle@achdidaho.org Subject: Re: Firenze Plaza Mr. Cays, We are happy to meet at Sienna School on Monday, December 5 th from 6-7pm . I picked the City of Meridian conference room in the hopes that our City planner could attend, and for the audio/video equipment. Does the room at the school accommodate a PowerPoint projector/screen presentation? No concerns, to date, have been voiced directly to me or The Land Group. We are happy to collaborate with you but find discussion to be more productive when there are a few main representative to coordinate with. In that spirit, would you be available to meet (or even a phone conference) tomorrow? At the very least, please send me a comprehensive list of items that you’d like us to address? Tamara Thompson Sent from my iPhone On Nov 30, 2016, at 8:52 PM, Warren Cays < warrenc@reagan.com > wrote: Ms. Thompson, 3 As you requested in your email to me on November 23rd , I have secured the Sienna Elementary school for 6:00 p.m. on Monday, December 5 th for a neighborhood meeting. I have also issued the notice of this meeting as to time and place to all Tuscany residents that I’m able to reach. What I haven’t received is your confirmation that you will be at this meeting. Please confirm back to me by email whether you will be at the meeting or not. Warren Cays warrenc@reagan.com 208-887-6911 602-619-5151 From: Tamara Thompson [ mailto:tamara@thelandgroupinc.com ] Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 1:50 PM To: Warren Cays Subject: RE: Firenze Plaza Sounds good. I look forward to hearing from you next week. From: Warren Cays [ mailto:warrenc@reagan.com ] Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 1:49 PM To: Tamara Thompson < tamara@thelandgroupinc.com > Cc: 'Ken Mutell' < ken.mutell@icloud.com > Subject: RE: Firenze Plaza Ms. Thompson, I think having a meeting is a good idea. Everyone is gone for the Thanksgiving Holiday so I will not be able to get back to you on date and time until sometime next week. Warren Cays warrenc@reagan.com 208-887-6911 602-619-5151 From: Tamara Thompson [ mailto:tamara@thelandgroupinc.com ] Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 11:33 AM To: warrenc@reagan.com Subject: Firenze Plaza Mr. Cays, We are the applicants of the Firenze Plaza project on the northwest corner of Amity and Eagle Roads. I don’t believe we’ve talked directly but I’ve been copied on correspondence between the Tuscany neighbors and ACHD. 4 What are your thoughts on having a neighborhood meeting with us either Monday or Tuesday, December 5 th or 6 th 530-630pm? Would you be able to secure a venue and invite any interested neighbors? We look forward to working with you through this process. Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving, Tamara director of client services tamara tamara tamara tamara thompson thompson thompson thompson TT TTHE HE HE HE LL LLAND AND AND AND GG GGROUP ROUP ROUP ROUP | thelandgroupinc.com | 208.939.4041