HomeMy WebLinkAboutLaurie Bower - 6.191
Machelle Hill
From:Laurie Bower <plainjump@msn.com>
Sent:Monday, June 19, 2017 12:25 PM
To:Tammy de Weerd; Bill Nary; Keith Bird; Ann LIttle Roberts <; Genesis Milam; Joe Borton;
Luke Cavener; Trevor Palmer; clerk
Subject:The Storage Units at Goddard and McMillan
To the Mayor and Meridian City Council,
Well, another proposal has been presented for storage units at Goddard and McMillan. But this time I've seen
the rendering, and the complex is huge! I didn't realize how many storage units we're talking about.
Here's why I think they're a bad idea:
1. Fifty or more children walk off the bus (from the junior high and high school), ride their bikes, and walk
home from the Willow Creek grade school along where the developer is proposing as the storage
complex's only outlet. While granted, much of the activity around the storage complex will take place
on weekends, that's also when kids are playing and riding their bikes along that street.
2. My previous argument about storage units being magnets for crime still applies. Since the two years
we've lived here, the crime rate has dramatically increased, which ironically coincides with the
completion of the apartment complex next to us.
3. We moved from Boise since we couldn't get out of our subdivision because of increased construction in
the area without an increase in available routes of travel or increased traffic lanes. I don't object to the
units as much as allowing them to enter and exit off Goddard Road. Now, we'll have the same problem
we had before in Boise because almost everybody in Lochsa Falls and Kelly Creek uses Goddard and
then McMillan to get onto the freeway. If you used McMillan or Ten Mile as the entrance and exit
point, I don't think many of us in this area would have a problem with the proposed development.
4. My property taxes went up 15% this year alone because of new construction in our area. On a fixed
income, I find it hard to make ends meet. I filed an appeal, but the assessor refused to change
anything. He told me that we 're paying for the current cost of building materials and high demand,
which makes the price of new construction go up, which, in turn, increases our assessment. As a native
Idahoan, I think that's unfair. We moved out of Boise to get away from high taxes, and now we have
them here. We're probably going to have to move again, although that's not your problem.
Why doesn't Meridian of the state of Idaho have something besides the circuit breaker (which helps the
indigent, not the middle class) for aging residents that freezes or reduces property taxes once someone gets
over 65 and is on Social Security? Twenty-two other states have such contingencies. I now see all this new
construction as a reason for the city and county to squeeze more money out of us.
Sincerely,
2
Dr. Laurie Bower
5057 N. Lolo Pass Way
Meridian, ID 83646