HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ - Public Testimony by Warren Cays - 12.71
Machelle Hill
From:Warren Cays <warrenc@reagan.com>
Sent:Wednesday, December 07, 2016 5:42 PM
To:mayortammy; citycouncil; Machelle Hill; Caleb Hood; Joshua Beach;
bwong@achdidaho.org; kgoldthorpe@achdidaho.org; 'Mindy Wallace';
Clittle@achdidaho.org; 'Tamara Thompson'; hbeech@meridianpress.com;
newsroom@idahostatesman.com; christine.wilcox@albertsons.com; 'Warren Cays'; 'Cays
Warren'; 'Kenneth Mutell'; 'Kathleen Gallagher'
Subject:Required Changes in Albertsons and City of Meridian Slogans caused by Proposed
Firenze Plaza Development
I am writing this email to express some of my feelings and frustrations I’ve had in trying to understand and then
communicate with all the parties involved with this proposed development, Firenze Plaza, that is being forced on our
Tuscany subdivision.
First, trying to communicate with any elected official and being told that they cannot discuss a proposed project because
a public application has been filed and is now public record and therefore any discussions or meetings have to be of
public record with proper notifications etc. is not in my mind any way to be successful in trying to work out
disagreements and arrive at mutually agreeable solutions. We are told to write our letters and comments and they will
be included in the package that goes before the commissions and City Council, but we will not respond to your questions
until the public hearing and you get 3 minutes to tell all. What chance do we, as dutifully taxpaying and voting citizens
of Meridian, have against a major local corporate entity like Albertsons?
Second, we have discovered many troubling items reviewing a Traffic Study contracted for and paid for by the
developer, Albertsons. We had to file a public records request just to get the report because it was not openly shared
with Tuscany residents, only the developer Albertsons, their agents The Land Group and ACHD had seen the report. In
reading through the Traffic Study we noted that in several areas in the study the property location is not even correctly
identified, that does not give you great comfort that you can rely on the accuracy of the rest of the data in the
study. We also noted that the original study did not address the impact of obvious increases in traffic that Tuscany
residential streets would experience if the proposed streets would be allowed to enter our subdivision. Especially
making Mount Etna Dr. a commercial connector to relieve traffic on Eagle Road. After making this an issue at our
neighborhood meeting with ACHD an amended study was provided which shows, per the engineers estimate, that the
increased traffic on Mount Etna Dr. would only amount to an additional 25 ADT’s (Average Daily Trips). Obviously, no
one at Kittleson and Associates, Inc., the engineers that prepared the study for the developer Albertsons, used any
common sense, or real life estimates in determining that connecting a subdivision’s existing residential street, with
1,170 homes and four adjacent subdivisions with another 300 plus homes, to a commercial development would only
increase ADT’s by 25. But make no mistake, this is the report that is provided to ACHD for their staff to review and
which the staff will use in their recommendation to approve or reject the proposed project street designs. Eagle Road
and Amity Road are not built to accommodate the increased traffic that will necessarily result if this commercial project
is allowed to be built. The Traffic study says that. That is why the Traffic Study diverts traffic into our Tuscany
subdivision. Those two arterial roads might be more functional in the future after ACHD widens and improves them but
that is years down the road. In the ACHD 5 year plan the required improvements are at least four or five years out. Any
proposed development should be put on hold, or just not approved, until after these improvements can be made. In
addition the intersection roundabout at Eagle and Amity was not built to accommodate a commercial center. There has
never been a roundabout built where there is a commercial center for obvious reasons. They do not work well with that
kind of development or the increased traffic both in volume and delivery trucks etc. We have been told by two other
engineering firms that in preparing a Traffic Study for a large developer it is sometimes common for the study to favor
the developer. After all it is the developer that is paying for the study. We do not suggest this is the case with this study
but it does give you pause.
2
Third, there has been very little mention of what a commercial mixed use development, including a large grocery store,
gas station, fast food etc., as well as higher density zoning for residential will do to our home values. Let me share some
numbers with you. Of all the homes in Tuscany only about 25% are directly affected if the proposed streets are allowed
to be connected to Tuscany. This 25% represents about 300 homes on the following streets, Mount Etna, Taormina,
Stromboli, Santo Stefano, DaVinci, Marsala, Burgo, Tybalt, Montague and Deerhill. I didn’t count them but I’m being
ultra conservative. If the average home value is only $300,000, again being ultra conservative, that’s total property
value of $90,000,000 dollars. ($300,000 X 300 = $90,000,000). If our home values were negatively impacted by as little
as 2% that would be $1,800,000 in lost equity. If the impact was 5% it would be $4,500,000 in lost equity. This is lost
equity out of everyone’s pockets. The developer, Albertsons, or their engineer agents, The Land Group will not even
discuss that aspect of this proposed project. They are only interested in their profits and their stockholders and
investors. That certainly does not seem to jive with Albertsons slogan of “Dedicated to bettering the lives of people
in our neighborhoods.” They obvious do not believe their own slogan and only use it for marketing
propaganda.
Fourth, with the above being said, you cannot put any amount of value on the lives and safety of our children . This
proposed project as designed, and the increased traffic that will result if this project is approved by ACHD and by the City
of Meridian City Council, and City of Meridian Planning and Zoning will put all of our children at risk, period. This also
does not show others that the City of Meridian is the #1 City to live in when it comes to family friendly residential
neighborhoods. Another misleading slogan.
If this project is approved people must be held accountable. We respectfully request that ACHD not approve this
project and the City of Meridian City Council not approve this project .
We the residents of Tuscany have expressed our concerns over and over and will continue to do so.
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to vent just some of my frustrations. It gives me no comfort to know that many,
many other residents of Tuscany feel the same way, and we are all losing sleep over the negative impact this proposed
commercial development will have on our lives and our childrens’ lives.
Respectfully yours,
Warren Cays
2595 E. Mount Etna Dr.
Meridian, ID 83642
warrenc@reagan.com
208-887-6911
602-619-5151