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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-01-28 Regular Meridian City Council January 28, 2020. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 28, 2020, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Joe Borton, Luke Cavener, Treg Bernt, Jessica Perreault, Brad Hoaglun and Liz Strader. Also present: Chris Johnson, Adrienne Weatherly, Bill Nary, Sonya Allen, Clint Dolsby, Jamie Leslie, Joe Bongiorno and Dean Willis. Item 1: Roll-call Attendance: Liz Strader _X_ Joe Borton _X_ Brad Hoaglun _X_Treg Bernt X Jessica Perreault _X Luke Cavener _X_ Mayor Robert E. Simison Simison: I will go ahead and call this meeting to order. For the record it is Tuesday, January 28th, 2020, at 6:00 p.m. We will begin this meeting with roll call attendance. Item 2: Pledge of Allegiance Simison: Okay. Item No. 2 is the Pledge of Allegiance. (Pledge of Allegiance recited.) Item 3: Community Invocation with Steve Moore of Ten Mile Christian Church Simison: Okay. Item No. 3 is our community invocation, but I do not see Pastor Moore in attendance. Item 4: Adoption of Agenda Simison: So, we will go ahead and move on to Item No. 4. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I move that we adopt the agenda as presented. Hoaglun: Second. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 96 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 2 of 20 Simison: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda. Is there any discussion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. All -- nays? No nays. The ayes have it. The motion is adopted. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. Item 5: Announcements Simison: Are there any announcements? Item 6: Future Meeting Topics - Public Forum (Up to 30 Minutes Maximum) Simison: Okay. Hearing none, we will move on to Item No. 6, public forum. Did anyone sign up under public forum? Weatherly: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. No additional people have signed up under the public forum, with the exception of a gentleman here for Item 7-A. Item 7: Community Items/Presentations A. Investor-Owned Rental Subdivisions Citizen Presentation Simison: Then with that we will move to Item 7-A, Community Items/presentations, investor owned rental subdivisions. If you wouldn't mind coming forward and state your name and address for the record, please. Hunt: Hello. My name is Steven Hunt. I live at 5031 West Ravenscroft Street, Meridian, Idaho. 83646. And I would like to thank the City Council in advance here for taking a few minutes and looking at the situation about investor owned rental subdivisions. I'm here tonight speaking on behalf of Turnberry Crossing, Autumn Faire and Ashford Green Subdivisions. All of these subdivisions are -- have HOAs. They are all filed with the county and they all went through a procedure that almost all subdivisions in -- in Meridian have gone through and that procedure involves the filing of CC&Rs with Ada County Recorder's Office. The one that you see on your screen right now is the one that was filed for Turnberry Crossing Subdivision back in 1998. The subdivisions that are now coming into being, which are investor owned, sometimes do not and probably will not have a homeowner's association. So, if they don't have to file anything with the county stating what they expect their tenants or what they expect -- or how they expect to maintain their properties, how can all of the surrounding subdivisions feel comfortable knowing that there is going to be 70 homes in Burlingame Subdivision, they are all going to be rentals and, basically, there are no procedures, other than the standard city code. So, I did a little research on the advice of Bill over here and he said, you know, they had to follow all the city codes. Here is what happens when a renter moves in. And I can speak from experience, because we have an America Homes For Rent house in Turnberry Crossing Subdivision where the renters move in, America Homes For Rent does not give them a copy of the CC&Rs, which they are required to do, which we have Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 97 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 3 of 20 asked them to do and they move in and they find out they can't park their boat out in front of their house and so they are very upset and they have just signed a year's lease. It makes for a very, very, very difficult situation and nine times out of ten the tenant will abandon the house ASAP or they will figure out a way to get their boat in the garage or whatever it is. Their trailer. Whatever. So, you can see where the difficulty comes in. was really enthused when I went and looked at the city code and found that most of the general problems that you have with renters that move into a subdivision that has HOAs or even one that doesn't, they can always claim ignorance and say no one ever told me this. They never told me there was a homeowner's association. They never told me you had CC&Rs and, frankly, they don't know anything about city codes either. So, when they get into trouble the first thing they do is claim ignorance and, then, you have to go get a hold of whoever the investor is of the subdivision. He may or may not live in Idaho, as is the case here with Burlingame, they live in California. So, who do you contact? Who do you contact when there is a problem like that? It could be a problem that is noticed by someone driving through the subdivision that happened to live in the subdivision next door. It could be another renter right in the same subdivision. How does the City Council know that America Homes For Rent has supplied these people that are moving into the subdivision the -- how can I say this? The information they need. Our goal here is to maintain property values and calm surrounding homeowners and homeowner associations concerns about 70 homes in Burlingame rental subdivisions. So, I have come tonight with a few suggestions and they aren't real tough. If you look at the Meridian Police Department code enforcement areas, 728 is the area where Burlingame Subdivision resides. The three subdivisions that I pointed out to you are surrounding in 729 and 719. So, they completely surround the subdivision. They were all required to file the document that I showed you with the Ada county. My question to Council is is America Homes For Rent filing anything with the county stating that they have some kind of understanding or they are going to have some kind of guidelines for these people that live in their -- all these rental homes? I don't know. And neither does anybody else. So, if they don't have to file anything and all they are going to do is follow the city code, which is really -- it covers just about everything. All of the items that I pointed out -- and I'm looking for my -- my page here. Oh, here we go. If you look on the page in front of you now and you go down to the -- the six or seven items -- first of all, are fences allowed in front yards. When -- when a person moves into our subdivision they know that there is no fences allowed in the front yard and you can't tie your dog up out there. You can't do anything; right? Except you are expected to keep it -- and we have guidelines. So, where are the guidelines? Okay. The guidelines are the regular city code that says you can't have any weeds over eight inches high. You have got to maintain your grass, et cetera, et cetera. What would the -- what would it hurt to have a meeting with a developer or owner and ask them to give every tenant a copy of the city code and to let the tenants know when they move in here is the city code, here is what you are expected to do and here is what you can and cannot do in these houses and if you look you will find that even subdivisions that don't have an HOA they still file a document with Ada county and it says in there we are going to maintain our homes to this standard. There is no fences in the front yard or whatever those guidelines are. These people that are moving in here need to have some guidelines. They need to have them and they need to have them in writing. Not only do I feel that way, the surrounding subdivisions -- and I'm here tonight Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 98 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 4 of 20 representing -- they feel that way, too. So, just envision this if you would. You sit down and have a meeting with them and you ask them we would like you to give all of your new tenants copies of these particular codes -- and I have itemized them here. Chapter 2 -- 4-2-1 through 4-2-5, along with parking. Parking is another thing that we have found with rentals in our subdivision. For some reason people just think they can park any which way they want to park on the street. Even if it's in a subdivision their city code still applies. Am I correct? So, you can't park facing the wrong direction on a two way street. You can't do that. So, what do you do? Somebody has to file a complaint; right? Then code enforcement gets involved and it goes right down the whole path. Why not get with this developer or this owner of this property and say we want a local phone number -- not just for anybody -- for your tenants to be able to call if they have a question, if something's broken, who is going to fix it. We have run into this time and time again. Not only with American Homes For Rent, but with other rentals in our subdivisions. Out of the three subdivisions that I told you about, one of them has over 50 rentals. They have multiple property management companies, multiple owners, everything. Getting a hold of a person out of state and getting something fixed in those homes can be a very lengthy process. So, this could all be avoided right now, especially in this subdivision that's surrounded by homeowner associations, and there is a lot of people, you know, they are basically wringing their hands. So, if the City Council is willing to do that or at least consider it, all kinds of things can happen. We did something as simple as this. We had a lot of creative people on our homeowners association. It says welcome to the subdivision. It tells you when the trash is collected and it tells you basic things that are going on in the subdivision. When these renters move into our homes in our subdivision they have no idea what's going on and it's not just because we have a homeowner's association, they just don't know. So, why not work something out with this guy, because they are -- they have several other subdivisions going on in Meridian and in Star and in Caldwell. Why don't we in Meridian set an example -- lead by example here. Work out an agreement with this owner and developer, have him sit down with the tenants, give them some guidelines to go by and you are going to save a lot of grief down the road. A lot of grief. And I just can't -- I can't express enough the situations that we have dealt with. As simple as our subdivision -- which we only have five rentals and two of them are American Homes For Rent and we have had multiple issues with multiple owners of these rental homes. So, my question to you guys is are you open to doing something like this or has -- what can we do? Simison: Thank you for your presentation. Council, do you have any questions or comments at this time? Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: I do have a comment and I invite legal counsel to correct me if I'm -- if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that any development that comes before us, whether it's going to be -- it's going to be used for rentals or for -- for owner occupancy, if there are common areas in that development they are required to create a homeowner's Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 99 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 5 of 20 association to maintain those common areas and, therefore, they typically create CC&Rs and CC&Rs are the -- the legal documents that are regulating the things that you are bringing before us, with the exception of -- of what we oversee in city code. So, any of the American Homes For Rent communities that are coming before us that are existing solely for the purpose of renting all of the homes in that community are going to be required to -- if they have common areas that they are maintaining, they are going to at least be at minimum required to file CC&Rs to address the maintenance of those. So, is that -- is my understanding correct? Nary: You're correct. Perreault: Okay. So, I would like to let you know that. Hunt: And that gets us part way there. That gets us part way there. So, what can we do -- or is it possible -- and maybe you guys can brainstorm something. Here are the other things that don't fall under city code. Garbage cans in front of houses. It doesn't say anything anywhere about the city, except if you have a garbage can full of garbage, right, sitting out there for days -- but are we going to have a subdivision that is surrounded by other subdivisions where everyone's required to put their garbage can away within 48 hours after this -- after trash is picked up or they get a letter and they get fined by the HOA, are we going to have a subdivision of 70 homes where they can just leave their garbage cans out all the time? So, that would be something that the owner -- if you live -- we could talk to the owner about. All he has to do is say when they move in you -- you must pick up your garbage cans. It says like right here. It says you can put your cans out the night before, but, please, put them away on Friday after they have been emptied. And you have got to ask -- you can ask them nicely. If they don't do it, then, the owner or the phone number -- the phone number -- the homeowner's association surrounding the subdivision, our phone number is filed with Ada county. We should have a local phone number where if there is problems in that subdivision we can call that phone number and say, hey, this is what's going on in your subdivision, you need to do something about it. That's what people do to us and call us on a regular basis if there is something wrong. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Thank you. I think it would help me if you could try to explain a little more where you are coming from. Is your concern mainly individual rental properties with this company that might fall under your HOA or is your concern the investor owned rental subdivisions? And the reason I'm asking -- if you will give me a second. The reason I'm asking that is it occurs to me that if an investor had a whole neighborhood that they were trying to maintain -- at least some of the development folks I have met with have said that they have very strong standards, because they are trying to protect their investment; right? Hunt: Right. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 100 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 6 of 20 Strader: They are trying to say, hey, you can only fly the American flag. You got to -- they have a program to have one, et cetera. And so I'm trying to understand if your concern is sort of like enforcement of your HOA regulations with individual rentals through a big company or is your concern more these large investor owned subdivisions? Hunt: My concern is the large investor owned subdivision and, frankly, because it's right next door to us. It's right next door to our subdivision. If that subdivision goes to pot for whatever reason, then, what happens our property values and the property values across Black Cat in Ashford Greens? They are just as concerned as we are. And so I agree with what you are saying, but what I would like to see or -- and you don't know it until they want to build the first house, because according to what I have been told by Planning, what happens is before the permit is given to build the very first house in the subdivision, there has to be certain documents filed with Ada --Ada county. Those documents are the ones you are referring to and the ones you are referring to regarding the common areas. So, once those documents are filed, then, they will give the permit to build the first house. But that first house renter doesn't know that he's expected to, you know, have some kind of guidelines -- or at least get a copy of the city code that tells him what he has to do per the city code. Somebody needs to give that renter that information. In our case we go to people's houses and we hand them a letter like the one you see in front of you now and we say -- and they go -- 99 percent of the time they say I never even knew there was an HOA here. This is -- Burlingame doesn't have an HOA, but they do have documents and they are -- they are required to follow the city code. If that's the case, let's get them to give all their tenants a copy of the city code saying this is what you can and can't do and the added -- the added ones that they want to have in there. I know if I was the investor, you know, I would want to have standards. I wouldn't have to have an HOA, I would say you are going to live in this subdivision, here is the rules. That's it. And you are a renter. You don't even own the house. I own the house. So, that's what I would do and I totally agree with you. But we can help -- we can help avoid what I can guarantee you will be a huge headache, because if people think they can get away with it they will. We know that. They won't take care of it if they are not informed. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Or was that -- Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Mr. Hunt, your -- your suggestion about providing city code to homeowners is -- is intriguing. Is that something that you would suggest that city staff are doing or that's a role that would fall onto the homeowners association? Hunt: The people that are maintaining the common areas in this subdivision, those people that have their name on that line I would believe it would be in their best interest to do that. But they probably will not do it unless they get suggested -- it's suggested by the city or by Planning or by somebody that says you should do this, because you may have these kind of problems and the eyes and ears -- in a homeowner's association everybody's the eyes and ears of the subdivision. We watch out -- we watch out for Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 101 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 7 of 20 everybody and, believe me, we will be watching this subdivision. We will be watching it. We can help this guy out. But we can't help him if his -- if his tenants are not informed. Cavener: Follow up, Mr. Mayor? Simison: Yes, Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Appreciate your -- your insight and as I mentioned, it's an intriguing idea. I will share with you at least for your own benefit my philosophy and that is I prefer the lightest hand of government and I think a lot of people in our community do, too. As someone who has grown up in Meridian in a homeowner's association driven neighborhood and one without -- Hunt: Yeah. Cavener: -- I can tell you that the home that we sold in our non -- HOA was worth a lot more than the one that didn't have one. That's -- I have also worked in a professional capacity with homeowners associations where residents collectively decide to dissolve. Hunt: Right. Cavener: And I support that as well and I think that part of homeownership you are guaranteed certain rights and to me supporting that little hand of government as possible I think kind of -- but if an HOA wants to increase their -- their value, their level, their requirements, great, they are able to do so. I do get somewhat concerned when we start asking, then, the city to -- to follow along, if there is not a life safety benefit to our citizens. So, to me it's trying to identify what the value comes to our community as a whole in terms of -- of life safety by implementing some of the suggestions, as opposed to allowing the free market to say this is what makes our neighborhood great. You are expected to have your trash can gone by a certain time. You are expected to adhere to architectural standards and colors, because that's what encompasses the value of our -- our community, so -- Hunt: And, please, don't mistake me. I'm not saying that they should have a homeowner's association at all. All I'm saying is they need to inform the tenants when they move in, based on my personal experience and the experience of these other homeowners associations -- it doesn't matter if a -- if a subdivision has a homeowner's association or not, if the guy that owns the house lives in California and the house -- and the pipes break in the house and the place is not rented, then, you got a big fat mess on your hands. Cavener: Yeah. Hunt: And he's got to get on an airplane and fly here. Cavener: Right. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 102 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 8 of 20 Hunt: If the Ada county -- or the city doesn't have some kind of a local number -- emergency number to deal with situations like that in a subdivision or the surrounding homeowners -- the surrounding homeowners are to the point where they will help. They will help. They will call in. They see something going on, they will call and say, hey, you got something going wrong over there. What's the matter with that? That's what people do. That's what neighbors are for, with or without a homeowner's association. Nary: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Mr. Nary. Nary: Maybe to help Mr. Hunt understand. So, every single address that has city services -- so, water-sewer -- Hunt: Right. Nary: -- has a registered person to that address with a phone number. Hunt: Right. Nary: So, we do have that information. We do know who -- who owns it. Hunt: Right. Nary: We don't always know who lives in it. Hunt: Correct. Nary: But many times most of the owners prefer that the occupant pay the bill, so that is probably the higher percentage of what happens in rentals. So, we have a number of the -- of the owner and we also have the number of the occupant, because the bill is going to them. Hunt: Right. Nary: So, we do know if the pipes break and it's -- and it's winter, we do know that and we do know how to contact people and we have. Hunt: Good. Nary: So, I guess I -- I don't know if you know that, but we do have that already in place. So, that information is there. The trash can -- not to get too -- to digress. We do require trash cans be moved off the sidewalk -- Hunt: Right. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 103 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 9 of 20 Nary: -- after they are picked up. We don't require that you put them in the backyard. You know, that's an individual property choice. But -- so, some of these things -- I mean we already have that information, we already do that. But to try to inform every occupant and every house of city regulation would -- after -- we wouldn't be doing that for rentals, we would be doing that for every single residence in the city. That -- I mean that's unrealistic, because we don't know who is renting. Hunt: I would -- I would be willing -- I would be willing to -- I don't want to say bet you, but whatever. I would be willing to risk a meeting with the owner just to ask him if he would do that or give him the website. When the tenant moves in here is the website. These are the codes that apply to this subdivision. You are responsible for following these codes. There is--something as simple as that would just totally, totally resolve so many situations that can arise. Nary: Mr. Mayor? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Nary: Sorry. I was just going to say maybe one of the things we can do, Mayor and Council, is -- so when hookup for service is requested for a change from one property occupant to another property occupant, it all goes through our utility billing services. Hunt: Sure. Nary: So, whether or not additional information can be provided to that stage -- whether its website information, direction to certain things -- I don't know what specific information is provided, but certainly if the desire is just to look at that stage of just getting people information on -- the information you're talking about, what things they need to know, where to direct them, to our website and others, certainly that's a process that -- we can have that conversation with utility billing. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader, Strader: Thank you. Just thinking out loud, right, but, you know, I mean certainly if -- if City Council noticed -- and it was brought for us a lot of data regarding issues and we saw a common theme here, that might make this different, but I'm -- from where I'm sitting I'm having a hard time, because I feel like every person in their life is going to go through a period where they are renting. I don't know if it's fair to assume that renters are going to be causing a lot of issues and what I'm curious about is whether communication can help solve your issue. I'm curious if it's possible to put Mr. Hunt in communication with the owners of the Burlingame Subdivision, maybe you guys could sit down have a coffee, get on the same page about their plan to operate this subdivision and you could share the page of code that Mr. Nary has provided and encourage them that that's a resource and ask them if they would be open to do it. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 104 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 10 of 20 Hunt: I would be more than happy to do that. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: Thank you. First I would like to say I agree with Council Member Cavener that I wouldn't -- I wouldn't suggest that we -- unless there really is a public safety concern -- that this be something that the staff handles, perhaps with the exception of Mr. Nary's proposal. However, I would say being in the real estate industry, if I might make some -- a couple of suggestions to you to where you might make a dent in some of these issues. As you probably know the state of Idaho does not regulate licensing for property managers, so there is not a consistent requirement for those property managers to provide any particular kind of service. Each property management company has a different service style. They provide -- Hunt: Yes. Perreault: -- different -- okay. So, this is -- this is part of our challenge here, because there is inconsistency with what the property management companies are doing in relationship to the homeowner and the tenant. However, the -- the -- the -- the HOA typically takes the perspective -- and the city as well with code enforcement -- that the owner is responsible for everything the tenant does in that property. So, the HOA would say, well, we gave the owner the information and the owner is supposed to give that information -- okay. So, this is -- this is where we currently are; correct? Hunt: Right. Perreault: If I might suggest -- if you would do -- if you have the time and the interest to go on a bit of a campaign. The title companies carry a lot of information --a lot of accurate information about homeowners associations, who the appropriate person is to contact, who the HOAs are for certain homes and neighborhoods. They have -- they are a wealth of information about that. Perhaps you put together a suggestion that you can send out to multiple homeowners associations to say in addition to the -- to providing the CC&Rs to the owners when they come on board, those -- those HOAs know that the tenant is now living there, because they have got to go trade out the pool key and they have got to go -- you know, the tenant has to -- has to have some contact with the HOA. I also feel like another point at which we can create some -- some improvement would be for -- for -- for you to request to the homeowners associations that they provide the CC&Rs not only to the tenant when the tenant takes occupancy, but also perhaps a copy of the city code. I think -- I think the HOA would probably be more than willing to do that. Hunt: We do that. We do that. Perreault: Yeah. And -- and I know that there are hundreds of property management companies and I know that's a little bit of a needle in the haystack approach, but -- but -- Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 105 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 11 of 20 but to create some consistency would make sense that the -- that the HOA is providing the CC&Rs and the city code information at the same time to that tenant and I realized that that sounds like a very perfect solution. Hunt: Yeah. Perreault: But I -- but I think that's a quick way to get your process going faster than even we would be able to do at the city level, so -- Hunt: As far as it goes in inside Turnberry Crossing, when the tenants -- when we get a new person moves in -- I don't care if they bought the house or rented the house -- somebody from our HOA goes over and gives them this letter or one like it. This is an older letter here and we give them a copy of the CC&Rs and that's when -- if it's a renter and they find out they can't get their boat in the garage, that's when all -- you know, the hailstorm starts. But if you can put me in contact with this developer, I'm sure that he would be more than willing to hand out, you know, the web address if he's asked to do it and I will ask him to do it, because he can solve a whole bunch of issues and keep everything down. We welcome all the new neighbors. It's increasing everybody's property values, but let's make sure it keeps increasing the values. You know. Let's don't let growth stifle growth here. Right? The wrong kind of growth doesn't do anybody any good. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, Mr. Hunt, thank you for coming tonight and talking about an issue that you are concerned about, but I really want to thank you for bringing about a proposed solution. I mean that's -- that's kind of nice. We deal with lots of problems always and to have someone come up and say, hey, I think this might work, that helps, because it gets our creative juices flowing and we can -- we can -- we can look at things and -- and have you moved this -- those items you were talking about, certain areas of the code, because we don't want to give them the whole city code -- Hunt: Yeah. Hoaglun: -- you said there were certain items. Have you gotten those to Legal or code -- or to staff? Hunt: I supplied the letter with what I was going to talk about tonight and that's it, so -- Hoaglun: I think it's worth having internal discussions about this and I think these types of communities -- they are -- they are springing up all over the country -- Hunt: They are. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 106 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 12 of 20 Hoaglun: -- and they are meeting a need and -- and Millennials are less likely to own, as opposed to rent. I mean there is dynamics going on there we don't quite understand, but I think we probably need to discuss further with staff and possibly see if that's a solution that might work and maybe as Mr. Nary suggested maybe we do it at this process, if that's workable. So, it's just something I think we ought to kind of look at internally a little more and see what we can do. And my last question -- just curious for your existing neighborhoods and your newsletter. Do you do anything about mufflers? Do you say how loud they can be and don't do that? Just curious. Hunt: As far as a noise -- noise ordinance, we follow the city code in our particular subdivision and all we have to do is get a complaint and what we do is we tell either the person that complained or if we get multiple complaints, then, the HOA takes it on and they carry the complaint forward with the city and, you know, give the -- give the guy a ticket. The same thing with a barking dog, you know. It gets to a point where if there is that many people complaining, the HOA has to get involved. If it's just one guy complaining about one loud muffler, you know, that person has to go to the city and file a complaint. Hoaglun: Yeah. Mr. Mayor and Mr. Hunt. My subdivision is the same thing. It's a rental and he decides to leave at 5:30 in the morning every morning and it wakes me up in my bedroom, I think that's a little too loud, so -- same issues. Thank you. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Mr. Hunt, one last thing. Thanks for being president of the homeowners association. I don't think there is any more thankless job in politics or government than serving on an HOA board, let alone to be the president. So, I appreciate your service in that aspect and just because it's been a topic this Council has discussed in the past, I wanted to let you know right now if you have got a renter in your neighbor and they are parking their boat in their driveway, that's -- that's a city code issue. You can call code enforcement and they will go out and handle that, whether it was an investor-owned neighborhood or your neighborhood or a non-HOA neighborhood, that act is currently prohibited in the City of Meridian. Hunt: All right. Well, thank you. And I want to make it clear right now, I'm no -- I'm no longer the president of the HOA, but I can get more done not being the president. I can. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: I was curious if it's possible -- I don't know if it is, but if it's possible for the planning staff-- if you think it makes sense to put -- put him in touch with the owner of this -- you know, the Burlingame Subdivision, perhaps they could work it out off line. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 107 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 13 of 20 Simison: That was going to be my request to have Sonya follow up with that information. Hunt: Great. Simison: Is there anything further from Council? Okay. Hunt: All right. Thank you all very much. Item 8: Action Items A. Public Hearing for Village Apartments (H-2019-0144) by GFI - Meridian Investments, LLC, Located at 2600 N. Eagle Rd. 1. Request: A 2-year Time Extension on the conditional use permit CUP-15-019) approval of a 336-unit multi-family development on 16.68 acres of land in the C-G zoning district. Simison: Thank you. Next up is Item 8-A, public hearing for Village Apartments, H-2019- 0144. 1 will open this public hearing with staff comments. Allen: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council. The first application before you tonight is a request for a time extension on a conditional use permit. This site consists of 16.6 acres of land. It's zoned C-G and is located at 2600 North Eagle Road. A conditional use permit for a multi-family development consisting of 336 dwelling units at a density of 29.5 units per acre was approved back in 2015. An administrative time extension was approved in 2017 for an additional two year period of time in which to commence the approved use, which expired in December of last year. The subject request for a time extension was received prior to that date, as required by the UDC. The Comprehensive Plan future land use map designation for this site is mixed use regional. The applicant is requesting Council approval of an additional two year time extension in order to commence the use approved with the conditional use permit. The reason for the request is to finalize the site configuration and building layout to improve circulation and pedestrian and vehicular connectivity as set forth in the Comprehensive Plan and the Unified Development Code. A subsequent modification to the conditional use permit for the reconfiguration is likely. The applicant's narrative states that they plan to commence the use as soon as possible. With all extensions the decision making body may require compliance with the current provisions of the UDC. While no significant amendments to the Comprehensive Plan or the UDC have been adopted that would change the basis under which the conditional use was granted, access is an issue in this area for uses along State Highway 55 and Eagle Road. The UDC 11-3H-4133 requires construction of a street generally paralleling the state highway to provide future connectivity and access to all properties fronting the state highway that lie between the applicant's property and the nearest section line road and/or half mile collector road for future connectivity and access. A temporary access via State Highway 55 and Eagle Road was granted to the property to the south --that's the Great Wall Restaurant-- in 2008 and allowed to continue Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 108 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 14 of 20 until such time as the properties to the south redevelop and a driveway is constructed from the Great Wall property to East River Valley Street. And I will just go back to this map right here. East River Valley Street is down here at the bottom of the screen. The applicant's property is this entire parcel right here and, then, this was the -- the plan that I had up is the concept site plan that they had approved and the building elevations for that development. So, at such time as that backage road is extended to River Valley, the temporary access is required to be removed from Eagle Road and all access is required to be provided via River Valley Street. Direct access via Eagle will be prohibited. No requirement to continue that backage road to the north to the subject property was required at that time. Likewise, the subject property was not previously required to grant a cross-access easement or construct a vehicular crossing over the Finch Lateral at the southern boundary of this site in order for the backage road to continue. With removal of the Great Wall access, a backage road will be crucial in this area for properties both north and south of the Finch Lateral. This is -- this application relates to the application that was before you last week, the Bach Storage application. That was two parcels to the south of this application, just to orient you. Staff discussed this issue with the applicant's representative and the applicant plans to construct a private backage road on the subject property with a vehicular crossing over the Finch Lateral with development of the commercial portion of their site that fronts on State Highway 55 and Eagle Road. They also agreed to grant a cross-access easement to the property to the south, the Great Wall. To memorialize this proposal and ensure an access easement is granted and backage road is constructed in the future in accord with the UDC, staff recommends conditions of approval to that effect or added to the subject time extension with associated timing requirements prior to issuance of the first certificate of occupancy within the commercial portion of the development, as agreed upon by the applicant. Written testimony has been received from Stephanie Leonard, KM Engineering. She is the applicant's representative and is in agreement with the staff report. The staff recommendation is approval and the proposed time extension would be until December 15th, 2021. Staff will stand for any questions. Simison: Thank you. Council, any questions? Okay. If not we will ask the applicant to come forward, please. And if you could state your name and address for the record. Gasser: You bet. Name is Derek Gasser. 74 East 500 South, Suite 200, Bountiful, Utah. So, I am one of the developers with GFI Meridian Investments. Just a -- who we are. We are developers out of Utah. We have been coming to Meridian for a long time. A lot of our family lives here in Meridian. The last five years we have spent a lot more time in Meridian with work. We have multiple projects we are working on in Meridian. The most time intensive has been Chinden and Ten Mile, the Costco project, and an apartment project there as well and ten out parcels. But we -- we are in agreement with the conditions that have been set forth by staff and I can -- I will try and answer any questions you may have. Simison: Thank you. Any questions from Council? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 109 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 15 of 20 Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Derek, thanks for being here. No real questions about the application per se, but just maybe a comment for your own benefit. You know, I have lived in Meridian my whole life. I love this community and I know you don't live here, but we can still be friends. But, obviously, this part of Meridian has been really appealing to you. It's a special part of our -- of our town and so I have a 12 year old son and at Christmas he got some cooking classes and so the cooking classes were at The Village, so I try and avoid that place. My pocketbook appreciates it when I'm not there. But I found myself with a lot of time and so I was driving around the area and I noticed that there is a chunk of land that runs along your apartments. The weeds are just crazy and you look across the street, you got this beautiful neighborhood, you got this beautiful park, you have this beautiful commercial and, then, you have got just this kind of mess of weeds and so my hope is -- it probably just hasn't been brought to your attention and -- because I know you care about our community and investing here, that we get a good commitment from you and your team that you would get that addressed and cleaned up sooner rather than later. Gasser: Sure, Council Member. That -- I'm not aware of the weeds, but we -- we are committed to taking care of that. The land is actively being farmed. Were the weeds along Records or along Eagle? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: The weed that I saw were along -- along Records. Gasser: Okay. Cavener: And, again, I don't think it's something that's intended, just hasn't made somebody's list and take the opportunity put it on your radar, because I know you will take good care of it. Gasser: We will look into that. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I would echo the same comments as Councilman Cavener, but I wanted to say one thing. You guys have been good partners and I wanted to say that there is -- we really appreciate it when developers and partners come in who listen and with my experience dealing with the Gassers you guys have always listened and I wanted to say thank you on the public record. You guys are fantastic and I hope that you will continue to listen and be great stewards of -- of the subject properties and continued with -- with a strong partnership with -- with -- with us here in Meridian. So, thank you. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 110 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 16 of 20 Gasser: Thank you. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Thank you. I was curious if you could tell us what a realistic timeline is for development of the property, if you -- we are not holding you to it; right? You are getting an extension potentially today, but what do you anticipate in terms of the timeline? Gasser: Council Member, so we are actively working on site plans and building configurations. There is a lot of moving pieces with that. So, to give you, you know, best guess, you know, like the staff report mentions, we are hoping to do it as soon as possible, but I don't know that I can provide sort of a best guess, other than we are actively working on it. Does that help a little bit? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Yeah. What -- what I was curious about -- the only public comments that we received were to the effect of there is a specific type of weed that we have here -- goat heads are like really a pain for bike riders, et cetera, and I was just curious if you could give us a sense of your commitment to clean that up and when we might expect to actually get kind of a pedestrian route through your property along with the timeline -- yeah, it would be great to hear that that's coming soon and just curious if you could give us a feel for the timeline and where we might expect that that -- those issues might be resolved. Gasser: Sure. Strader: Because right now there is not a great, you know, pedestrian route through there. Gasser: Council Member, with regards to the weeds, we will look into that immediately. Currently we have a farmer who has been farming the land and also we thought that maintaining the weeds. It sounds like that's maybe not happened as good as it should. So, we will look into that immediately. With regards to the pedestrian walkway across the property, it's difficult to give an answer on that, because it just -- it just depends on when, you know, other things fall into place on that. But we will look at the weeds immediately. Simison: Are there any further questions for the applicant? Okay. Thank you. Gasser: Thank you. Simison: This is a public hearing. So, Madam Clerk, were there any sign-ups? Weatherly: Mr. Mayor, no one's signed in for this item. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 111 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 17 of 20 Simison: Okay. Is there anybody in the audience who would like to testify on this item? If you could come up and state your name and address for the record, please. Bergstrom: Good evening. My name is Steve Bergstrom. My address is 4300 East Valley Park -- East River Street. I live at the -- in Apartment A203, which is the apartment building adjacent to this parcel of land. I don't have any -- any -- I just recently moved in, believe it or not, from California. Sorry. I'm going to be a homeowner. I currently am a homeowner in Caldwell and I will be a homeowner in Eagle probably within a year. So, pay my property taxes properly. My only comment is my wife and I didn't decide where we wanted to live when we first moved and we love Meridian. Probably will stay. And we probably will be homeowners in Meridian. My comment about this project is that if you have traveled on North Records -- we moved in in -- I'm sorry. I'm kind of nervous. We moved in in April of last year and it was kind of quiet. There wasn't a lot of traffic on Eagle -- I mean on North Records. Today it's a raceway, morning, noon and night. I think it's because most people are trying to avoid Eagle when they go to or from the freeway, so they take Records. Now, you know, we only own one car, so we are not contributing dramatically to the traffic, but the people in the apartment complex that we live in have multiple cars and I mean multiple and I would imagine that a 336 unit building is going to make that pretty much impassable, because during the holiday season -- being from California and Southern California I saw incredible traffic to The Village and it was all -- not on Eagle, it was Records. Bumper to bumper all the way down past Ustick, all the way down and, then, to The Village, to the point where I wouldn't leave the property that way, I had to leave on -- on East River -- River Street. So, my comment to you -- and -- because I'm definitely pro development and I want people to have homes and -- and I'm not anti-development or anything like that. My comment is I live directly -- I look -- my apartment looks directly over that -- over that plot of land and it has changed in the last ten months, nine months -- a hundred percent traffic increase, in my opinion. So, what's going to happen when 336 units appear there and I feel sorry not only for the people trying to get in and out, I feel sorry for the homeowners across the street of the complex I live in, because they didn't expect that I'm sure, that that complex was going to be built there and now I feel really bad for them, because now another complex is going to be going in and really, really affecting their ability to get in and out of that neighborhood and that's my only comment. So, thank you. Simison: Thank you. Any questions? Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: I do have one question. I was thinking about that when I was looking at this 336 dwelling units and I cannot remember -- do you recall how many units are in that current -- current facility? Bergstrom: Yes. It's -- I believe it's about -- about almost identical. It's like 320. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 112 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 18 of 20 Hoaglun: Three hundred and something. Bergstrom: Something like that. It's -- it's the Regency apartment complex. Hoaglun: Okay. Bergstrom: I mean I think it's almost -- almost the same number, maybe a little bit more going to be next door, but about the same number of units, so -- Hoaglun: Okay. Thank you. And I couldn't remember and my son when he was first married they moved there and lived there. They really liked it. Bergstrom: Oh, it's a beautiful place to live and Meridian is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. I really, really loving Meridian. Hoaglun: Yeah. Mr. Mayor and Mr. Bergstrom, I don't disagree with that. The only downside of that was when they decided to move -- they were on the fourth floor and that was no fun moving that stuff, but -- Bergstrom: Yeah. We are on the second floor, so that's -- Hoaglun: -- I was for me. Yeah. So, appreciate your comments. Bergstrom: Thank you. Any further questions? Okay. Is there anybody else that would like to testify on this item? Would the applicant like to make any final words? Okay. Council, any discussion on this topic? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: I move we close the public hearing on Item H-2019-0144. Borton: Second. Simison: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 113 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 19 of 20 Cavener: Appreciate the conversation with the applicant, willingness to take care of some of these issues that have been shared. I move that we approve Item 8-A, a time extension, H-2019-0144. Borton: Second. Simison: Okay. I have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on the motion? Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: Do we need to clarify -- the motion is to -- as presented in the staff report, do we need to clarify that staff recommends the conditions of approval to that effect, that that section here that says that -- that they put a timeline prior to the -- the CFO within the commercial portion of the development, that they -- that they complete that backage road, do we need to clarify any of that, or is that-- is it because that's already in the staff report got it covered? I don't -- I don't know whether what Sonya has stated in this is also in the staff report I guess is what I'm asking. Is that -- is my question clear? Simison: I will ask Mr. Nary. Nary: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, Council Member Perreault, it is in the staff report. So, the approval does cover all that. Perreault: Okay. Great. I just wanted to make sure we were -- Simison: Okay. Are there any further questions or conversation regarding the motion? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Maybe just a little discussion and just to give a feel for things. I -- you know, I just think it's important for the applicant to understand that, you know, we are in the process potentially this year of taking a look at our standards for open space and some of the requirements for development, particularly with regard to multi-family development may be increasing or changing. We don't know yet how that's going to go. But we don't want to change the rules you have been operating under and that's why I'm comfortable approving this extension of the time, but just wanted to give you a flavor for that and I hope that you will be sensitive as you are finalizing your development as to the traffic concerns in this area, because we have been hearing over and over about significant parking issues with multi-family developments and it's certainly something that has been brought to our attention in several developments that don't have sufficient open space and that don't have sufficient on-site parking. So, I just wanted to make sure that you are aware of that. Thank you. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 114 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28,2020 Page 20 of 20 Simison: Okay. Thank you. Is there any further discussion? If not, I will ask the clerk to call the roll. Roll call: Bernt, yea; Borton, yea; Cavener, yea; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea; Perreault, yea. Simison: All ayes. Motion passes. MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES. Item 9: Ordinances [Action Item] A. Ordinance No. 20-1872: An Ordinance (H-2019-0111 Waterwalk) For Rezone of A Tract Of Land Situated In The Southeast Quarter Of The Southeast Quarter Of Section 8, Township 3 North, Range 1 East, Boise Meridian, Ada County, Idaho; Establishing And Determining The Land Use Zoning Classification From I-L (Light Industrial) Zoning District To C-G (General Retail And Service Commercial) Zoning District In The Meridian City Code; Providing That Copies Of This Ordinance Shall Be Filed With The Ada County Assessor, The Ada County Recorder, And The Idaho State Tax Commission, As Required By Law; And Providing For A Summary Of The Ordinance; And Providing For A Waiver Of The Reading Rules; And Providing An Effective Date Simison: Next item up is under Ordinances, Item 9-A, Ordinance No. 9 -- or Ordinance No. 20-1872. 1 will ask the clerk to read this ordinance by title. Weatherly: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Ordinance No. 20-1872, an Ordinance H-2019-0111, Waterwalk, for a rezone of a tract of land situated in the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 8, Township 3 North, Range 2 East, Boise meridian,Ada county, Idaho, establishing and determining the land use zoning classification from 1-1, Light Industrial zoning district, to C-G, General Retail and Service Commercial zoning district in the Meridian City Code, providing that copies of this ordinance shall be filed with the Ada County Assessor, the Ada County Recorder, and the Idaho State Tax Commission as required by law and providing for a summary of the ordinance and providing for a waiver of the reading rules and providing an effective date. Simison: Thank you. Would anyone like this ordinance read in its entirety? Seeing none, do I have a motion? Do I have a motion? Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Meridian City Council Meeting Agenda February 4,2020— Page 115 of 298 Meridian City Council January 28 , 2020 Page 21 of 20 Cavener : I move we approve Ordinance No . 20 - 1872 with suspension of rules . Borton : Second . Simison : I have a motion and a second . Is there any discussion on the motion ? If not , ask the clerk to call the roll . Roll call : Bernt , yea ; Borton , yea ; Cavener, yea ; Hoaglun , yea ; Strader, yea ; Perreault , yea . Simison : All ayes . Motion passes . MOTION CARRIED : ALL AYES . Item 10 : Future Meeting Topics Simison : Council , any items under Future Meeting Topics ? If not , do I have any final motion for the evening ? Bernt : Mr. Mayor? Simison : Councilman Bernt . Bernt : I move we adjourn . Hoaglun : Second . Simison : I have a motion and a second to adjourn . Any discussion on the motion ? If not , all those in favor signify by saying aye . All opposed nay. We are adjourned . MOTION CARRIED : ALLAYES . MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6 : 57 P. M . 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