HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-15 Wayne Martin1
From:Wayne Martin (BluefishWorx) <wayne@bluefishworx.com>
Sent:Tuesday, October 15, 2019 10:31 AM
To:Joe Borton
Cc:Anne Little Roberts; mayortammy; Bill Parsons; Brian McClure; Brian McClure; Meridian
City Clerk
Subject:FLUM
Importance:High
As residents of Rock Ranch Estates, a rural neighborhood in Southwest Meridian, we would like to express our
concerns with the proposed Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map. We strongly oppose the new
FLUM and Comprehensive Plan for several reasons, including the absence of a rural designation, disregard for
current land uses, zoning errors, and lack of preservation of open space.
Retain Rural Designation
4.05.03 Preserve prime farmland within the Area of City Impact to maintain rural character and provide
opportunities for local produce and continued farming operations.
As shown in the #MyMeridian vision survey, the residents of Meridian share a resounding plea to respect
Meridian’s history and preserve open space and farmland. The fact that the rural designation has been
removed from the FLUM goes completely against many of the objectives of the Comprehensive Plan which
states the importance of promoting and protecting Meridian’s agricultural roots and rural lifestyle.
Therefore, we strongly encourage a Rural or Very Low Density designation be immediately reintroduced into
the FLUM to preserve and protect our rural heritage and current agricultural uses before they are taken over by
development applications and erased forever.
Correctly Designate Southwest Meridian as Rural
3.06.01A Maintain the Future Land Use Map to reflect existing facilities.
The proposed FLUM also sorely misidentifies the rural area of Southwest Meridian and our neighborhood off of
Amity and Linder as medium density and completely disregards our current land uses and small agricultural
practices. These 5-10 acre estate properties are composed of new, custom built homes that will be around for
many, many years to come. Therefore, we feel our area should be redesignated to reflect the existing uses and
stay rural.
Open Space Requirements
4.05.01F Preserve, protect, and provide open space for recreation, conservation, and aesthetics.
We request that the new comp plan support the stakeholders plea for more open space. The current
requirement of 10% open space for new developments is not nearly enough. In order to really help Meridian
preserve our rural heritage, that number should be immediately doubled to a minimum of 20% and be required
by ALL new developments.
Distinct Neighborhood Identities
3.03.01C Consider developing new subarea plans as appropriate for areas with unique characteristics,
public/private partnerships in place, and that are compatible with Comprehensive Plan policies in order to
provide additional guidance on future land uses, design, infrastructure, and amenities.
2
Along with the participants of the community outreach survey, we strongly support the importance of
preserving “neighborhood character and sustainability.” Our area of Southwest Meridian has a distinct rural
identity composed of families who love having space to garden, raise livestock, ride horses, grow crops, and
have distance from our neighbors. We would like to keep this area rural and support the creation of a
neighborhood district in Southwest Meridian to provide design and future land use guidelines to be required for
all new developments in order to preserve our existing rural identity.
Transition Requirements
4.05.03A Encourage, as appropriate, the continued use of land for farming near Area of City Impact
boundaries to effectively transition from rural uses to urban.
We would like to see more language and policies that require adequate transitions between differing adjacent
zoning designations, both between commercial/residential and varied residential densities. Adequate
landscaped buffers and large setbacks should be required to protect existing neighborhood identities from
encroaching developments and more dense neighborhoods.
Priority Action Items
We feel the ideas and values proposed in the Comprehensive Plan have the right intent, but the processes for
implementing those values are sorely lacking. The following are areas we believe need to take priority to
preserve #MyMeridian:
1. Keep the rural designation to protect farmland, lot diversity, and open space (4.05.03)
2. Correct zoning designations to respect current uses (3.06.01A)
3. Preserve and protect open space by increasing the minimum requirement to 20% (4.05.01F)
4. Preserve neighborhood identities by creating distinct neighborhood districts (3.03.01C)
5. Include transition requirements between differing adjacent zoning designations by requiring large
landscaped buffers and proper setbacks respectful of current uses (4.05.03A)
We appreciate your time and thoughtful consideration to our proposed changes to the new Comprehensive
Plan and FLUM and look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Residents of Rock Ranch Estates
Thank you -Üdvözlettel-Saludos -Atenciosamente-Obrigada -Gracias- অিভনঁদন -Regards
Wayne Marti Wayne Marti Wayne Marti Wayne Martinn nn
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