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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNicole BrownNicole A Brown 7524 S Locust Grove Rd. Meridian, ID 83642 208-860-1010; bighorngroup@gmail.com Application H-2018-0042 September 12, 2018 Attention Bill Parsons, City Attorney, City Council: Let me start by saying that it is my hope that the counsel will follow the recommendations of their staff by denying this application. I am in total agreement with your staff in that an industrial business has no place in a residential neighborhood. I live directly east, across Locust Grove Rd. from the Timbercreek Recycling location. Hence, I am not in support of an industrial use operation in a residential neighborhood. The property in question is currently zoned R-4 1-3 buildings per acre- residential. It is common knowledge that very few people want to live next door to an industrial site. Especially one that they perceive as a dump, which this one is. I have been asked by nearly everyone visiting my house in the last year and a half what’s going on with all the trash across the street? These perceptions effect property values in a negative fashion, which in turn hurts the neighborhood and the intended use for this area as residential. In other instances, the governing bodies have made sure that Timbercreek’s partners follow the current zoning standards. These include the Ada County Landfill, Meridian Substation, Boise City recycling and processing operation. These operations have the same types of issues and are doing the same and similar processing as Timbercreek with the recycled materials. They are all required to be in an industrial zone as well as take strict steps and measures to mitigate and minimize the effects on any surrounding impacted residents. Other cities when expanding industrial uses into residential areas have had to use a condemnation process. The airport expansion in Boise had to use this process. Whole neighborhoods had to be condemned and removed to expand an industrial zone that was a clear negative impact on the citizens. What Timbercreek is asking for and what you would create by even considering this application is a condition that has all of the same earmarks as that project. Is it your intention to not follow your own Meridian comp plan, and also impact our entire neighborhood including the future developments to come? Is it your intention then to consider a condemnation of our neighborhood? This would be the only way to protect the current residents who will lose the value of their properties by now being unable to sell or development their property due to an industrial processing plant begin next to their once peaceful country homes. The Timbercreek plant has adversely impacted our rights to quiet enjoyment and put into jeopardy future development of our land, creating a very tangible financial impact to property values. Expansion will cause further negative impact to those rights and a resulting loss of land value. With Meridian City’s annexation of the subject property It is now ruled by your standards of R-4 NOT industrial use. The reason for this annexation is that South Meridian is the fastest growing place in Idaho. The city planners, counsel and developers clearly recognize this by expanding services, putting in parks, and approving multiple new subdivisions. All of which encourage the advancement and expansion of this residential area. This area is not intended for industrial uses. And having this site as such would be detrimental to intended use for this area which is R- 4 residential and in direct conflict to the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan was thoughtfully and painstakingly prepared to provide for the future growth of Meridian City in a fashion that preserves the best interests and uses for all the citizens of Meridian, Kuna and Ada County as the future growth takes place. Mayor Tammi mentioned at the July hearing that Meridian city is in total support of farming and keeping agricultural land. If this was the case then why would Meridian City Annex thousands of acres of agricultural land? When Meridian city annexed this property into the city limits they took this land from agricultural to residential R4. The comprehensive plan does not have any agricultural designation. This plan also notes, “the importance of thoughtful and responsible land use planning” which is why there is not any industrial zoning in this area. The current zoning of R4 Low density allows for the development of single-family homes on large lots where services are provided. The gross density of three dwellings per acre or less. Note that “any new improvements should respect view sheds, open space and maintain or improve the overall health and production of agricultural land and resources”. An industrial processing plant is not an allowed use. I realize that it was the city’s intent to allow and maintain existing uses when annexing land into the city. It was also their intent that these DA’s would be a temporary short interim use while utilities are extended and development occurs. It was never intended to be used as a way to expand the industrial use in a residential area. Unfortunately for the surrounding neighborhood the original Development Agreement (DA) created for this property when it was annexed into the city, used very broad open-ended descriptions allowing the use on the property to grow and change over the last three years with no supervision from the city to enforce the current agreement. His current DA allowed for an agricultural use and allowed him to increase his growth by only 40%; he is currently running at 200-300% of that original DA and Meridian City has done nothing to monitor, enforce or maintain the use that was agreed to previously on this site. This leaves all of us held hostage at the mercy of Timbercreek recycling. This has allowed the use to grow from an agricultural use to a full-blown industrial processing plant. The current DA does not allow the City or the surrounding residents for that matter to make sure that the owners follow the agreement or provide a way to enforce the DA. Not only that but according to Meridian City Code: Dev. Code Sec. 11-5B-3.F.3 Development Agreements can ONLY be amended before the agreement has been signed by both parties. Hence, on this alone the application should be denied. Please note the pictures showing the out of control growth in just 2 years Exhibits A-D. Exhibit A Current Timbercreek Recycling processing plant. July 2018. Exhibit B One of several Portable grinders 2018 Exhibit C July 2018 Ex: D-Picture of spring 2016 per Markey Deroest, Land Records for Ada County. I have attached photos clearly showing his growth from an agricultural use to an industrial processing facility. Please note that I took these pictures from my property. This is what we see and put up with every day. My view, my rights to quiet enjoyment as well as my property value have been severely compromised. Just a bit of history help you understand my view point. Mike shared his plans to take trips to other states to view other recycling facilities; learn their procedures and practices with the idea of growing his business. In these conversations he said he wanted to grow his business to be the largest in the state but to do this he would need to move his location soon due to his growth. Then the development of the site by his family who own the site. He would grow his business by getting state, county, and city contracts as well as private contracts to get the materials to process and then again to sell the processed material to those same agencies, wholesalers, and even retail. He wanted to start bagging his products as well as bulk sales. Products would include compost, and dyed bark & wood chips being produced in multiple sizes. He even talked about other options like asphalt recycling or crushing rock for landscaping. But in all of these conversations he assured me that he would clearly outgrow this site and would need to move before things took place so not to worry about it bothering us. As he was smaller he said that he was looking for a site where he wouldn’t have to move again but could still service the valley’s needs. He expressed that once he spent the money to create the needed improvements to the site he wanted it would be financially impossible for him to move due to the hundreds of thousands of dollars it would take to develop this type of site elsewhere. He said it wouldn’t make any sense to do that on this site since he would need to move soon due to the development. Never during any of these conversations did he talk to me about farming, new farming practices, bedding for cows, this is all new information that came up only after I told him that I could not support any expansion on this site. He also heard this same response from most of the surrounding neighbors. None of us want a huge industrial processing plant in our residential neighborhood. He has since commented that he uses the bark in his feed lot for bedding for the cows, and yes he stores some of his processed product by that site now. But I drive past this site 4-8 times per day. And at no time have I seen him add bedding for those cows. He’s also said that he’s using it for amending the soil. He also stated that he uses a no till farming practice; in the surrounding fields I have yet to witness any of these practices at all. At our several neighborhood meetings Mike assured us that he could grind all the material on his property in 36-48 hours. In his opinion there was hardly any material on site and not nearly enough for what he wanted. On July 14 th Timbercreek started to grind, I’m assuming to reduce the rubbish pile for the hearing date on July 17 th . That first week he even ground on Sunday starting at 6am and going until 5-6pm. This continued for 5 to 6 weeks straight. During this time my home vibrated so severely that I suffered from migraines 3-4 days out of the 6 that he was grinding. I would say that his operation has had quite a negative impact on me, my home, and my ability to live in peace in and around my home. I was forced many days to find solace somewhere else. Since I work from my home, this created quite a problem for me. Of course, this would have a significant impact on my property value. If I can’t be in my home that’s a quarter of a mile from the grinder how could I possibly be able to develop lots across the street from this industrial plant? For the record Mr. Murgoitio was aware of how the grinder affected me. I called him directly when it had woken me up at 5 am at one point and again when he came to discuss his expansion plans with me in my home. It did not stop him from doing what he wanted to do to run his recycling processing center. Even after grinding for all that time Timbercreek recycling did not process all of the material on site. While the ground piles look somewhat better than the rubbish pile it is still a concern due to the large size and multiple piles. Timbercreek continues to receive more rubbish every day all day adding to what will be processed in the future. The other constant is the continuing of the composting, dust and dozens of semis, garbage trucks, landscapers with trailers and dump trucks coming and going from the site constantly. This is not an agricultural use. Timercreek Recycling is a fully operational industrial site located in a residential neighborhood. It has already created a negative impact to the neighborhood by having a dump here. This affects our property values by bringing them down. No one wants to live by a dump. Per the Meridian Comprehensive Plan, Timbercreek Recycling would be considered a processing plant. In other words, heavy industrial which is not in your plan for this area. Mr. Murgoitio is very well aware of this zoning since he was annexed into the city and agreed to let his property be R-4 low density residential. He has admitted openly that he will need to shut down his feed lot within 1 to 2 years as Brighton Corp. develops their farm. I verified this by meeting with John Wardle, with Brighton Corp, who let me know that they are currently working on a 600-home development that will encompass all of the farm ground on the northwest corner of Lake Hazel and Locust Grove. Extending all utilizes with Meridian City to that corner in no more than 1-3 years. This moves Meridian Residential Development to less than a mile from our property and that of the subject industrial use. We value our land, the quality of life that our home provides and the reassurance that we have the option to develop as needed for our retirement. We have lived here 26 years and plan to live here another 20 if possible. So, it is my hope and desire that the counsel follow the recommendations of the Meridian City Planners and my formal request by denying this application. Sincerely, Nicole Brown C.Jay Coles From:Bill Parsons Sent:Wednesday, November 7, 2018 4:06 PM To:City Clerk Cc:Sonya Allen Subject:FW: Violation of hours of operation Attachments:PropertyMonopoly11072018.pdf; 20181031_105715.jpg; 20181031_111623.jpg City Clerks, Please include the public testimony below as part for the Timber Creek Recycling project. Thanks, Bill Parsons, AICP | Planning Supervisor City of Meridian | Community Development Dept. 33 E. Broadway Ave., Ste. 102, Meridian, Idaho 83642 Phone: 208-884-5533 | Fax: 208-489-0571 Built for Business, Designed for Living All e-mail messages sent to or received by City of Meridian e-mail accounts are subject to the Idaho law, in regards to both release and retention, and may be released upon request, unless exempt from disclosure by law. From: Nicole Brown & Lindsey Brown-Heinrich \[mailto:bighorngroup@gmail.com\] Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2018 12:00 PM To: Sonya Allen; Bill Parsons Subject: Re: Violation of hours of operation Dear Sonya, I haven't had time to write a formal letter so the following will have to suffice. Please add this to the public record. Dear Meridian City Counsel Members, Staff & Mayor; I am pleased to see you trying to make more of an effort to have Timbercreek follow your regulations in regard to the industrial codes. Firstly, vegetation will take more than the stated 10 years to grow to partial or full growth and so will do little to nothing to mitigate the view , dust and noise. By the code Its the wall witch takes care of this problem and the vegetation is to enhance the look of the wall. He needs to install the barrier wall with the vegetation. The sunset clause is way to long at 10 years; with on coming growth it should be no more than 3 years. He needs to install a commercial grade Back flow for his well as he is using the same aquifer as the surrounding neighbors we must be protected against this type of contamination to our water source. 1 Please see the attached photos; He has already expanded to have 2 grinders on sight and has been moving them to wherever he wants to be grinding for that day. currently they are located towards the south end of the area to process the tree rubbish. Also, he has not used much of his inventory so his piles are just continuing to increase in number and in size. He's also started to move piles out of the purposed area and adding them to a new area back by the wheel pivot (attached). These must be regulated and enforcement must have the ability to make him comply, please add the verbiage to allow for this enforcement. Noise and dust continue to be an issue as he grinds the product; enforcement , DEQ, and Health& Welfare can do nothing to enforce the Development Agreement as it is written. Specific verbiage must be added to allow them to address and enforce these issues when it is affecting our well being and peaceful enjoyment of our properties. The Murgoitio family does in fact control the land within the development area by either owning it out right or by working with Brighton corp. to develop the surrounding miles(note the attachment); this verbiage must be changed to allow others to develop their properties with out being blocked by a monopoly. This needs to be any property within the 1000 foot radius from the property lines that notifies Meridian City of an occupancy permit must have Timbercreek shut down. Thank you for your time and consideration. Nicole Brown 7524 S Locust Grove Rd. Meridian, ID 83642 On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 5:56 AM Nicole Brown & Lindsey Brown-Heinrich <bighorngroup@gmail.com> wrote: Dear Sonya and Bill, Timbercreek Recycling opened for operating this morning at 5:35 am. This is not allowed by his hours of operation. Yes it woke me up. I am formally complaining. Not entirely sure who else to contact to enforce the Development Agreement, if you could please advise me I would appreciate it. On another note thank you both for all of your help and information while working on this application. It has been greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Nicole Brown On Tue, Jul 10, 2018, 8:09 AM Sonya Allen <sallen@meridiancity.org> wrote: I have no idea  From: Nicole Brown & Lindsey Brown-Heinrich \[mailto:bighorngroup@gmail.com\] Sent: Monday, July 9, 2018 8:09 PM To: Sonya Allen Subject: Re: Multiple Notices 2 Does the sanitation department do public records for the meeting with Mike on doing the recycling for Meridian city? I know that he did a presentation to them to get the contract. Nicole Brown On Mon, Jul 9, 2018, 3:53 PM Sonya Allen <sallen@meridiancity.org> wrote: Hi Nicole, In response to your voicemail, no other changes have been made to the application. Thanks, Sonya From: Nicole Brown & Lindsey Brown-Heinrich \[mailto:bighorngroup@gmail.com\] Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2018 2:00 PM To: Sonya Allen Subject: Re: Multiple Notices Just to verify, did he leave the bio-solids on the application? Nicole On Wed, Jun 20, 2018, 11:51 AM Sonya Allen <sallen@meridiancity.org> wrote: Nicole, I can definitely empathize with you for the upset the incorrect noticing has caused; I’m so sorry that it affected your travel plans. The request for crushing of asphalt & concrete has been removed from the application; that’s the only change. 3 Thanks, Sonya From: Bighorn Group \[mailto:bighorngroup@gmail.com\] Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2018 9:35 AM To: Sonya Allen Cc: Bill Parsons Subject: RE: Multiple Notices Dear Sonya, It was just very upsetting to receive and so without any assurance I was forced to cancel my vacation and return home so that I could be at the hearing if it had been on Tuesday. I was forced to make these travel plans to protect my property and you say that it was a mistake but this whole thing is taking a toll on me in many ways. Please inform me immediately if there are any other changes. And on that note; has Mike Murgoitio made any changes to his application? Thank you for your help with this matter, I do appreciate all that you’ve done. Nicole Brown Nicole Brown and Lindsey Brown-Heinrich Bighorn Group Team with Silvercreek Realty Group Bighorn Group Property Management (208)860-1010 N. or (208)861-2616 L. bighorngroup@gmail.com From: Sonya Allen <sallen@meridiancity.org> Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2018 2:55 PM To: Bighorn Group <bighorngroup@gmail.com> Cc: Bill Parsons <bparsons@meridiancity.org> Subject: RE: Multiple Notices Nicole, 4 th As we discussed Monday morning (and per the letter you attached from the Clerk), July 17 is the correct meeting date. Again, apologies for the inconvenience and confusion this has caused. Thanks, Sonya From: Bighorn Group \[mailto:bighorngroup@gmail.com\] Sent: Monday, June 18, 2018 11:10 AM To: Sonya Allen Cc: Bill Parsons Subject: RE: Multiple Notices Importance: High Dear Sonya, We have received multiple and conflicting letters and notices from your department in regards to the Timbercreek hearing. Please see the attached. Would you please clarify for us the true and correct information so that we can be sure that our right to attend the correct meeting and have our concerns to this industrial use be heard. Sincerely, Craig and Nicole Brown Nicole Brown and Lindsey Brown-Heinrich Bighorn Group Team with Silvercreek Realty Group Bighorn Group Property Management (208)860-1010 N. or (208)861-2616 L. bighorngroup@gmail.com From: Sonya Allen <sallen@meridiancity.org> Sent: Friday, June 8, 2018 12:38 PM To: C.Jay Coles <cjcoles@meridiancity.org>; Charlene Way <cway@meridiancity.org>; Chris Johnson <cjohnson@meridiancity.org> Cc: Bighorn Group <bighorngroup@gmail.com> Subject: RE: Annexation notice 5 Clerk – Can you please provided the info requested below to Nicole? Thanks! From: Bighorn Group \[mailto:bighorngroup@gmail.com\] Sent: Thursday, June 7, 2018 7:32 PM To: Sonya Allen Subject: RE: Annexation notice Dear Sonya, Could I please request a copy of the original annexation notice for the Murgoitio properties. I appreciate it. Nicole Brown Nicole Brown and Lindsey Brown-Heinrich Bighorn Group Team with Silvercreek Realty Group Bighorn Group Property Management (208)860-1010 N. or (208)861-2616 L. bighorngroup@gmail.com From: Sonya Allen <sallen@meridiancity.org> Sent: Thursday, June 7, 2018 11:02 AM To: Bighorn Group <bighorngroup@gmail.com>; Bill Parsons <bparsons@meridiancity.org> Subject: RE: Application H-2018-0042 Nicole, th Yes, that is correct; the project is being re-noticed due to a noticing error on the City’s part for the July 17 hearing. Because it wasn’t noticed correctly, the City can’t legally hear the application until then. Please share this info with your neighbors. Thanks, 6 Sonya From: Bighorn Group \[mailto:bighorngroup@gmail.com\] Sent: Thursday, June 7, 2018 10:47 AM To: Sonya Allen; Bill Parsons Subject: RE: Application H-2018-0042 Importance: High Dear Sonya & Bill, Another neighbor had an information meeting Tuesday evening and they let Mike Murgoitio from Timber Creek Recycling to speak for a bit. During that time Mike told everyone not to bother coming to the June th 19 meeting because he was asking for an extension from you on time, is this the case and if so when is the new meeting scheduled?? Mike also said that he had adjusted his application, is this the case?? Thank you, Nicole Brown Nicole Brown and Lindsey Brown-Heinrich Bighorn Group Team with Silvercreek Realty Group Bighorn Group Property Management (208)860-1010 N. or (208)861-2616 L. bighorngroup@gmail.com From: Sonya Allen <sallen@meridiancity.org> Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2018 8:31 AM To: Bighorn Group <bighorngroup@gmail.com>; Bill Parsons <bparsons@meridiancity.org> Cc: 'Patty Hagler' <phagler@cradlepoint.com>; paul@winwardlaw.com; robert@brunobuilt.com; deansym@msn.com; 'Jim Cox' <Jim@jccboise.com> Subject: RE: Application H-2018-0042 Hi Nicole, 7 Here’s a link to the application file (Timber Creek Recycling) where you can find everything that’s in the public record. Please let me know if you need anything additional. http://weblink.meridiancity.org/weblink8/browse.aspx?dbid=0 Thanks, Sonya From: Bighorn Group \[mailto:bighorngroup@gmail.com\] Sent: Monday, May 14, 2018 1:00 PM To: Sonya Allen; Bill Parsons Cc: 'Patty Hagler'; paul@winwardlaw.com; robert@brunobuilt.com; deansym@msn.com; 'Jim Cox' Subject: RE: Application H-2018-0042 Importance: High Dear Sonya and/or Bill, I received my notice that there is to be a public hearing for the amendment of the Development Agreement on June 5, 2018. Could you please send me a copy of the application and the amendments to the agreement in order for me to review these documents. Sincerely, Nicole Brown Nicole Brown and Lindsey Brown-Heinrich Bighorn Group Team with Silvercreek Realty Group Bighorn Group Property Management (208)860-1010 N. or (208)861-2616 L. bighorngroup@gmail.com From: Sonya Allen <sallen@meridiancity.org> Sent: Friday, April 6, 2018 5:46 PM To: Bighorn Group <bighorngroup@gmail.com>; Bill Parsons <bparsons@meridiancity.org> Cc: pattyh@cradlepoint.com Subject: RE: additional questions from our meeting 8 Hi Nicole, My apologies for the delay in getting back to you on this, the week got away from us. Please see my responses to your questions below in red. Here is a link to the Development Agreement for that property which hopefully will answer some of your questions: http://weblink.meridiancity.org/WebLink8/PDF/st0epd45yw0m3seyigdrf455/17/South%20Meridian%20H- 2015-0019%20DA%20-%20Murgoitio%20LLC.pdf Until we actually get an application on this, I’m unable to answer some of your questions. Thanks, Sonya From: Bighorn Group \[mailto:bighorngroup@gmail.com\] Sent: Monday, April 2, 2018 10:53 AM To: Bill Parsons; Sonya Allen Cc: pattyh@cradlepoint.com Subject: additional questions from our meeting Dear Bill & Sonya, After going over my notes as well as much of the comprehensive plan I have several questions: 1.Is there any advantage to me annexing into the city limits at this time? As we discussed it is my intention to develop our parcel as soon as utilities will allow such. With the advance of the water and sewer lines happening in the next 2 years for the Park on Lake Hazel and the Brighton development we want to be fully prepared and engaged to move forward at once to subdivide. I don’t think there’s really an advantage to annexing at this time. 2.Any disadvantages? It might raise your property taxes. I’m not sure the City will want to annex the property until such time as services can be provided to the property. 3.What are the approved or allowable uses for an R4 zoning? See http://www.sterlingcodifiers.com/codebook/index.php?book_id=306&chapter_id=20919#s1165275 4.And where or under what heading are those found on line city website? See above link 5.How and when will the Comp Plan reflect the Murgoitio Annexation? It won’t, long term (as opposed to interim use) use of the property should be MDR (medium density residential). 9 6.How can the city approve the current use when it is R4 zoning which is residential? The Council allowed the existing use of the property to continue upon annexation as part of the agreement; now the applicant is planning to request a modification to the agreement. 7.Does statute or code provide city council that authority? Yes, the City can modify an existing agreement. 8.If Yes, where is that addressed in code or statute? See Title 50 & 67 of Idaho Code. 9.What or how are you currently classifying the current use to allow the present wholesale business operation? See Development Agreement 10.Since the use has grown into the current wholesale business is it still an allowed use in this residential zoning? Mike stated at our meeting that he currently is selling to Lowe’s, Home Depot and several other large operators that he would not name. As well as providing for the Cities of Meridian and Boise. The business is allowed to operate as stated in the DA; any other uses will require modification to the agreement. 11.What would this use normally be classified? You both mentioned in our meeting that it was industrial. What are those allowable standards and where can those be found? 12.Are there overlaps that would put this use in an agricultural or commercial use verses industrial and where are those standards? 13.Are you planning on amending the current comp plan to make this area an industrial zone? No This will affect how we move forward with our development plan. 14.To verify, the current or original contract is with Gary and Linda Murgoitio but it’s Mike & Torri Murgoitio that own the business Timber Creek Recycling, so is the Development Agreement transferable somehow? Yes, the DA runs with the land, not the owner (unless stated otherwise in the DA) This is all I have for now but I will follow up once I have heard back from you with further questions. Sincerely, Nicole Brown Nicole Brown and Lindsey Brown-Heinrich Bighorn Group Team with Silvercreek Realty Group Bighorn Group Property Management (208)860-1010 N. or (208)861-2616 L. bighorngroup@gmail.com City of Meridian 33 E. Broadway Ave., Meridian, Idaho 83642 Phone: 208-888-4433 www.meridiancity.org 10 All e-mail messages sent to or received by City of Meridian e-mail accounts are subject to the Idaho law, in regards to both release and retention, and may be released upon request, unless exempt from disclosure by law. -- Right-click here to download pictures. To help protect your privacy, Outlook prevented automatic download of this picture from the Internet. 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