HomeMy WebLinkAboutKathleen BrittThe Meridian City Clerk
33 E Broadway Suite 104
Meridian, Idaho 83642
1� JUL 1 ` 2018 LLL
CITY OF Cit1� cornu
CITY CLERKS OFFICE
I wish to go on record as being opposed to Application H-2018-0042 by Michael Murgoitio for an
Amendment to the Development Agreement for expansion of his existing waste management business
located at the NW Corner of Locust Grove and Columbia for 2 reasons:
1) It is an incompatible land use and is not in line with the City's comprehensive plan, and
2) The City has failed to adhere to legal processes for not only the Proposed Amendment,
but for the original Annexation by failing to give notice, and by exhibiting unfair bias and
conflict of interest.
INAPPROPRIATE LAND
The proposal is an incompatible land use: It is not compatible with the City's current
codes, the future land use map, or the goals, objectives and action items in the City's Comprehensive
Plan. Mr. Murgoitio's plans are for heavy industrial use in a residentially zoned land area.
Health Risks. There are numerous health risks to humans, pets, and livestock. Specifically,
explosive gasses, toxic fumes and dust, leachate, fires, and diseases carried by flies, mosquitoes and
rats.
Quality of Life. Odor, noise, increased flies, mosquitoes, and rats, reduced property values,
concerns over potential explosion, contamination, fire, and increased traffic all reduce quality of life for
people living in the area.
Residential proximity to composting facility. A composting facility should not be near
a residential area. A minimum buffer is 250 meters (275 yards) — 5 miles. If you look at current odor
complaints and lawsuits at composting facilities, these occur because this buffer is breached. In the
Annexation Facts and Findings and conclusions of Law for the Annexation, the City seems to give some
recognition to this buffer by requiring that no new residences shall be built within 1000 feet of this
facility, unless recycling activities cease, but disregards the current residents living within this area.
Operations and Employee Failures. Failures can and do happen. There are not currently any
provisions through any governing agency for ongoing monitoring or recovery of surrounding residential
areas in case of across contamination, or of a site, operations, or employee failure. The DEQ confirms
they do not do surrounding site monitoring in the case of a failure, exposure, loss, or injury. Mr.
Murgoitio has already had one DEQ violation for processing, before he even gets zoned for industrial
use. He has already had one self-reported fire. So, despite plans, failures happen.
Odor. Despite whatever odor management plan is put into play by the DEQ, odor continues to
be a major issue across this country for cities who have allowed these facilities near residences.
Commercial insurance policies have a pollution exclusion covering odor and this puts the City in a direct
line of fire for dealing with complaints and litigation if the amendment is approved. And there are many
Cities now dealing with lawsuits of that exact nature.
High risk of fire and Need for Significant Fire Protection including year-round water supply.
There are many requirements under the Uniform Fire Code and the NFPA governing
requirements for these types of facilities. The reason is that this activity is rated as hazardous with a
high risk of fire. Yet, the Meridian Fire Department's comment on the original Annexation was "no
comment" and there is not anything in place now for this planned expansion. How is the City going to
meet requirements with no City water, fire hydrants, or access roads on the property? Do they have
needed equipment and manpower to fight this type of fire? There are 2 fires at composting facilities
close to us right now. One near Hailey, ID and one near Stanfield, OR. Has Mr. Murgoitio reported the
fire he had? In the case of the 2 fires currently burning at facilities near us, residents with respiratory
concerns are advised "to take precautions". My husband has respiratory and other immunodeficiency
issues. What does that even mean? Is the City or Mr. Murgoitio going to pay for us to go live in a hotel
during a fire? What about protecting our livestock? Failure to address fire protection is a departure
from the City's Comprehensive Plan and amounts to a "free pass" to Mr. Murgoitio. And it puts and has
put area residents at risk.
City Utilities. It is not clear why Mr. Murgoitio should be exempted from the City's development
requirement of hooking up to City Utilities. The answer provided is, "well, there isn't City water out
there." The comprehensive plan requires developers to hook up. I would assume if they cannot afford
to extend the utilities, then they should be required to wait until the facilities are close enough to do the
required hook up. The information in the Original Development Agreement and Facts and Findings of
Law, outline the plans to extend services in the next four years, but those extensions will not reach this
property and thus it seems it is just being bypassed. Another departure from the Comprehensive Plan
and another "free pass" for Mr Murgoitio.
Traffic. Mr. Murgoitio's application says everything from there being a "minimal" impact on
traffic, to there being 7 trucks per day, to his being allowed to bring in as much traffic as is required to
fulfill both his current AND future contracts. It is a blank check. His plans include having 6 Republic
Services trucks dropping off 4 loads/day, plus his own 7-17 trucks hauling from Ada County and
throughout his farm land, developers from all areas dropping off construction debris, and whatever
traffic his retail and free composting services will bring in, for which Mr. Murgoitio says he has "all -the -
time requests. Additional future plans include hauling in sewage, commercial grass, and paper and
coardboard. He also plans to encompass composting operations for Boise and surrounding cities. His
property is on 2 main arterials with no side roads to divert traffic. This negatively affects an extended
area. Yet, there is no traffic impact study being required. The proposed Amendment seems to be
cleverly written to avoid having to do a traffic impact study. Another departure from the
Comprehensive Plan and another "free pass" for Mr. Murgoitio.
Flies, Mosquitoes, and Vermin. Rotting garbage and decomposing yard waste, will bring an
increase of flies, mosquitoes, and vermin. These pose significant risk of disease and suffering not only
for people, but for our pets and livestock. It is inevitable. Who will address those concerns and
complaints and how? Another departure from the Comprehensive Plan and another "free Pass" for Mr.
Murgoitio.
Noise. Per Mr. Murgoitio, his planned operations, including grinding will go on all day long, six
days a week. This is unreasonable in a residential area. Another departure from the Comprehensive
Plan and another "free pass" for Mr. Murgoitio.
Surrounding Areas. No one has invited the City of Kuna, or any surrounding agencies to weigh
in on this Amendment, and in fact up until mid-June of this year, the Kuna Fire department wasn't even
aware of the annexation. How can this happen, when impacted properties butt right up against the City
of Kuna area of impact and Ada County? The City's Development agreement indicates recycling must
stop if a certificate of occupancy is given to residences or commercial enterprises within 1000 feet. Ada
County and Kuna are affected by this due to the Columbia Road border, but they have not been invited
to the table. This is another departure from the Comprehensive plan and another "free pass" for Mr.
Murgoitio.
In 2003, the City denied a developer's application to build a residential subdivision near the
sewer treatment plant because the land is zoned industrial and future residents would be exposed to
odor. Why would the City now accept an application to insert an industrial composting facility into the
middle of an already -existing residentially zoned area containing multiple residential subdivisions?
In a newspaper article from 2005, documenting the denied application, several relevant
statements were made:
"The City focuses on making sure development follows the City's comprehensive plan and that
new subdivisions (AKA... development) don't result in poor quality of life for existing
residents", according to Mayor de Weerd.
"Meridian risks being sued when a property owner wants to develop land within city limits in
a way that doesn't match a City's comprehensive plan". (Article Attached)
CITY OF MERIDIAN FAILURE TO NOTICE, BIAS, AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The City has failed to comply with notice requirements and is operating with a clear bias
and conflict of interest with the Murgoitios' and Timber Creek Recycling. Idaho Law is clear that zoning
and land use issues must be transparent through complying with notice and ex -parte laws and through
avoiding bias and conflict of interest.
The City failed to provide required notice to the residents living on the south side of Columbia
Road regarding the original Annexation. The was a denial of due process. As a result, residents were
unable to participate in neighborhood meetings or the public hearing itself. Furthermore, they were not
able to participate in additional meetings, specifically the Solid Waste Advisory Committee on 2/28/18
because they were unaware anything was going on.
The City has exhibited bias and conflict of interest. In July of 2013, Mr. Murgoitio was invited to
make a presentation to the City Council regarding his composting pilot. The City liked it and encouraged
him to continue. (but not before giving a nod to the "good of boy" system by questioning Mike how his
football abilities compared to his Dad's). At this point Mike continued his pilot and began his efforts to
get Annexed. Since making a presentation prior to submitting a zoning application worked so well the
first time around, Mike decided to try it again, as it related to his application for an Amendment to the
Development Agreement.
On February 28, 2018, Mike appeared at a Solid Waste Committee Meeting, through his
relationship as a business partner of the City via Republic Services. He was there to make a proposal to
be the city's waste management composting provider. The timing of this presentation is itself
problematic because Mike was not zoned for any of the activities he was proposing. The committee
members were very excited about Mike's proposal. They immediately began discussing costs, contracts,
and how soon Mike could get through zoning. Mike re -assured them he was already working with Caleb
Hill on the zoning and that it wouldn't take long. They instructed the City Attorney to send out letters
requesting a pro -forma. This shows they absolutely knew he wasn't zoned and were moving ahead
without even bothering to wait for the zoning processes. This was nothing less than a "greasing of the
wheels" to gain influence for Mike's way -outside -the -lines Amendment.
Not only were his business partnership and timing of the presentation evidence of bias and
conflict of interest, but so is his personal financial interest. Mr. Murgoitio's 33 million pounds of
garbage per year, multiplied by the $24.50/ton in charges to the City, would net him over $400,000 just
for processing. He and his family would also save significantly in fertilizer charges for their 2000 acres of
farming operations. He would save in cattle tag costs. This doesn't include what he would make in his
retail compost operations. It doesn't include income from his expansion plans for composting with
sewage, paper, cardboard, and commercial grass. It doesn't include his income from expanding waste
management into Boise and other surrounding areas. This would be very lucrative for Mike and his
family. It really pays off to be a business partner of the City when you need zoning variances.
The residents in the impacted area were not able to attend this waste advisory meeting,
because there was no notice and they were completely unaware anything was going on. Imagine our
shock at learning we were not only NOT on a level playing field for this Amendment Hearing, but that
the process had already been in the works for 4 years! I I
Furthermore, the City's failure to notice during the Annexation was especially detrimental
because in that Annexation, Mike was granted two non -conforming land uses. One for waste
management (composting) and one for his livestock business. As a result, Mike's has threatened the
neighbors with creating a feedlot on this property if we do not support the passage of this waste
management Amendment. His developer friends have made sure to bring it up also.
Our shock only increased after comparing the information Mr. Murgoitio was sharing with the
neighbors compared to the presentation he made to the City. Is this an example of Mr. Murgoitio just
wanting to tell the truth, gain trust, and "be a good neighbor?" When he withholds information, is he
even complying with rules about neighborhood meetings?
In summary, the City's Annexation must be declared null and void and this Amended
Development Agreement cannot be passed. This is a heavy industrial use in a residential area. His
operations need to be in a MU -NR zoned area. This application has multiple departures from the
Comprehensive Plan and has more that doesn't line up with it, than does. This is illegal, by the City's
own comments. To make matters worse, the City has violated notice laws, and demonstrated blatant
bias and conflict of interest.
I only had a few weeks to try to obtain information and not enough time to seek the information
from all the people that have expertise. This is what happens when people are denied due process.
Nevertheless, I can read enough to know that something is very, very wrong here.
Many of the people living in this neighborhood have lived here for a long time. They have their
own dreams and goals and have invested years into their own properties. Mr. Murgoitio should not be
allowed to pursue his goals at the expense of everyone else's, especially when it doesn't line up with the
City's comprehensive plan, and proper laws and processes have not been followed.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Britt
8250 S. Jardine Ln
Meridian, Idaho 83642