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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-05 Brian Connelly Charlene Way From:Brian <Brian@msfboise.com> Sent:Tuesday, May 05, 2020 11:50 AM To:City Clerk Subject:Cedarbrook Subdivision Application External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments. Dear Planning and Zoning Staff, As a planning and zoning staff, you have the weighty responsibility (along with city council) of making sure that our city of Meridian and the surrounding area develops in a responsible manner. This responsibility becomes even greater with the pressure of a difficult economy because now you must make tough decisions, that may not be popular, about when to develop as well as where and how. I’d like to share evidence with you regarding the housing bubble, especially for those who were not part of the staff or maybe even in the Treasure Valley during the last recession of 2007-2009. The information I provide comes from a research project directed by Boise State University professors, Todd Shallat, Larry Burke and Bethann Stewart, titled “Down and Out in Ada County: Coping with the Great Recession 2008-2012.” In this article they argue that the housing market in the Treasure Valley lagged behind the recession by about three years. Much of the nation’s housing bubble was ravaged in 2007, but here in the Treasure Valley it didn’t strike until 2010, at which time, “Idaho had the nation’s seventh highest rate of foreclosure” (Shallat, et all, p. 19). I cite this article because I want to caution you to balance our growth with the state of our economy. We do not yet know how the economy will play out here in Idaho, let alone the housing market. One of the largest influx of home buyers has come from California and the state of Washington in recent years, and according to an online Newsweek article, “Pennsylvania, Michigan Among Hardest Hit by Unemployment Amid Coronavirus,” the only state to top Pennsylvania in jobless claims from March 15 to April 18 \[2020\] was California at 3.3 million claims (May 1, 2020). So, we have to be concerned with what the state of our housing market will be in the next year? Will people be moving in from out of state or can people within Idaho afford to move? According to the Toll Brother’s application for the Cedarbrook Subdivision the one square mile to the east of their proposed site there already has 1055 homes approved to be built. That is only one square mile of proposed properties in the Meridian boundary. How many homes will there be total? Is adding another 330 the best decision at this time? Will those homes be sold or will they sit vacant like so many homes from 2010-2012? I remember very well the number of homes in distress in the valley during the recession as well as the vandalism many of those houses sustained. As a business owner in the valley in the construction industry, I completely understand the need to produce jobs and get our economy back on track, and building homes will help. However, I ask you to consider the tough question of “Is this the right time, or will we have too many houses on the market and create another housing crisis in which homes won’t sell, they sit vacant and are a target for crime and vandalism? Respectfully, Brian Connelly Stetson Estates homeowner Shallat, Todd (editor); Burke, Larry (editor); and Stewart, Bethann (editor), "Down and Out in Ada County: Coping with the Great Recession 2008-2012" (2012). Faculty Authored Books. 310. http://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/fac_books/310 1 Soergel, Andrew. Senior Writer, Economics. “Pennsylvania, Michigan Among Hardest Hit by Unemployment Amid Coronavirus”. May 1, 2020. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2020-05-01/pennsylvania-michigan-among-states-hardest-hit-by- unemployment-spikes-amid-coronavirus 2