HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-11-25 DevCo 11.22.2019DEVCOLLC
November 22, 2019
City Council
City of Meridian
Planning and Zoning Department
3 E. Broadway Ave.
Meridian, ID 83642
Re: City of Meridian Comprehensive Plan Update
Dear Council and Staff,
As a member of the Comprehensive Plan Steering committee I was surprised that, "sample
zoning" information on zoning designators has been added and modified in the comprehensive
plan without any discussion or input from the steering committee members as a group. During
the City Council Hearing last week it became clear to me that information, that had never
discussed by the steering committee regarding "sample zoning" had been added to the plan
after we as the steering committee members had been told was the final draft. For the
following reasons I believe that the "sample zoning" designations should be removed from the
plan.
Specific Zoning designations do not belong in the Comprehensive Plan. In Section 3-10 of the
Draft Comprehensive Plan "sample zoning" notations have been added to each density
category that were not reviewed by the steering committee.
The plan is a guide to density, not a designator of zoning districts. State Code 67 — 6508 does
not require zoning designations to be listed in the comprehensive plan. Placing zoning
designations within the Comprehensive plan will limit decision makers authority to apply zoning
designations as they deem appropriate in the future.
Even if it were appropriate to include the zoning designations within the comprehensive plan,
they are incorrectly labeled in the current draft and would be more correctly applied per the
table below:
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DevCo Development LLC
4824 W Fairview Ave, Boise, ID 83706 • Phone (208) 336-5355 • Fax (208) 336-2282
DEVCGLC
Comprehensive Plan Density Designator
Zoning Designation
Low Density Residential (LDR)
R-2, R-4, R-8
Medium Density Residential (MDR)
R-4, R-8, R-15, TN -R
Medium High Density Residential (MHDR)
R-8, R-15, R-40, TN -R
High Density Residential (HDR)
R-15, R-40, TN -R
My second concern is that the Medium -High Density Residential designation has been altered
from 8-15 units per acre to 8-12 units per acre. Again, this change was never discussed by the
steering committee and the language in the comprehensive plan does not provide any
justification to support the change.
As a member of the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee I took my responsibility very
seriously and spent a great amount of time and effort attending meetings and providing
comment to the City Staff and Consultants. I am hopeful that the oversites in the current draft
can be corrected before the City Council votes to approve the final document. Thank you for
your consideration of these issues.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 208-336-5355 or by email at
jconger@congergroup.com.
Sincerely,
/M
Jim onger
DevCo Development LLC
4824 W Fairview Ave, Boise, ID 83706 • Phone (208) 336-5355 - Fax (208) 336-2282
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