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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-06-11 Tricia Geiser (2) Charlene Way From:Chris Johnson Sent:Thursday, June 11, 2020 1:14 PM To:Charlene Way Subject:FW: E Amity & S HIllsdale Development Plans From: Tricia Geiser <triciageiser@hotmail.com> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2020 1:14 PM To: Chris Johnson <cjohnson@meridiancity.org> Subject: Fwd: E Amity & S HIllsdale Development Plans To Whom it May Concern: I am a resident of the Hillsdale Creek Subdivision located directly behind the proposed development. I was shocked to see that the Developer's Preliminary Plan did not match any plans that were shown to homeowner's while they were purchasing their homes. I understand that the land will be developed, but I believe it needs to be done responsibly. My main concern is adding an additional 355 housing units to an already above capacity school zone. My daughter was a fifth grader last year at Hillsdale and there were 37 students in her class with no aid! Thirty seven!!!! Neighbors are moving onto our street, and their children are being bussed to a school that is 5 miles away when Hillsdale Elementary is less than .25miles from their homes. And the lack of levy funds will challenge the school even more and will delay additional schools being built to help meet the needs of the student's moving into the proposed development. Meridian has 2.8 people per household, meaning 994 people can be expected to move into the proposed development. 28.6% of Meridian's population are children under 18, meaning 285 kids would call the development home. The middle school is already crowded, and the high school already has numerous trailers due to overcrowding. Around 100 of these kids would be attending Hillsdale Elementary, adding 3-4 kids to every classroom. If there were 37 kids in a classroom last year, that would mean 40 or more kids per teacher (not including the 100s of homes that are being built currently). Waiting lists will be so long that people will reconsider purchasing a home in our school district. Yes, selfishly, I am protecting the resale value of my home. No one will want to buy a $400,000+ home when the amenities that are walkable (school & Y) are beyond their capacity to the point that they cannot be used. 1 I work at the Y, and can attest to workout classes already reaching capacity. There is a ticketing system to limit many workout classes already, and many members are turned away from classes each week (prior to Covid). The before and after school child care program will not help these children either (it is currently only offered to children attending Hillsdale and these children will need to be bussed to other schools). In addition, the community was designed to be walkable. My son bikes to school & I am concerned that adding hundreds more cars to an already busy area would jeopardize his ability to bike to school & the Y. Please listen to our community and do not move forward with high density or medium-high density housing. Neighbors are not complaining that the development may include homes that will help with affordability, they are complaining that the land is not being developed responsibly in accordance with the vision that Meridian laid out for us when we bought our homes. Please limit the amount of housing units that will be built on this lot to improve the future for your residents that call Meridian home. Thank you. Tricia Geiser 2 Charlene Way From:Chris Johnson Sent:Thursday, June 11, 2020 1:20 PM To:Charlene Way Subject:FW: E Amity & S HIllsdale Development Plans From: Robert Simison <rsimison@meridiancity.org> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2020 1:18 PM To: Tricia Geiser <triciageiser@hotmail.com> Cc: Chris Johnson <cjohnson@meridiancity.org> Subject: RE: E Amity & S HIllsdale Development Plans Tricia, Thank you for your email. As this issue you describe will likely come before the City Council and I as part of a public hearing, I – as well as Council – are not able to make comments regarding the land use issue outside of that process. I have copied our City Clerk to this email so that your email and this response can be included as part of the record should this item move forward. Respectfully, Mayor Robert Simison City of Meridian 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: Tricia Geiser <triciageiser@hotmail.com> Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2020 1:13 PM To: Robert Simison <rsimison@meridiancity.org> Subject: Fwd: E Amity & S HIllsdale Development Plans Mayor Simison, I am a resident of the Hillsdale Creek Subdivision located directly behind the proposed development. I was shocked to see that the Developer's Preliminary Plan did not match any plans that were shown to homeowner's while they were purchasing their homes. I understand that the land will be developed, but I believe it needs to be done responsibly. My main concern is adding an additional 355 housing units to an already above capacity school zone. My daughter was a fifth grader last year at Hillsdale and there were 37 students in her 1 class with no aid! Thirty seven!!!! Neighbors are moving onto our street, and their children are being bussed to a school that is 5 miles away when Hillsdale Elementary is less than .25miles from their homes. And the lack of levy funds will challenge the school even more and will delay additional schools being built to help meet the needs of the student's moving into the proposed development. Meridian has 2.8 people per household, meaning 994 people can be expected to move into the proposed development. 28.6% of Meridian's population are children under 18, meaning 285 kids would call the development home. The middle school is already crowded, and the high school already has numerous trailers due to overcrowding. Around 100 of these kids would be attending Hillsdale Elementary, adding 3-4 kids to every classroom. If there were 37 kids in a classroom last year, that would mean 40 or more kids per teacher (not including the 100s of homes that are being built currently). Waiting lists will be so long that people will reconsider purchasing a home in our school district. Yes, selfishly, I am protecting the resale value of my home. No one will want to buy a $400,000+ home when the amenities that are walkable (school & Y) are beyond their capacity to the point that they cannot be used. I work at the Y, and can attest to workout classes already reaching capacity. There is a ticketing system to limit many workout classes already, and many members are turned away from classes each week (prior to Covid). The before and after school child care program will not help these children either (it is currently only offered to children attending Hillsdale and these children will need to be bussed to other schools). In addition, the community was designed to be walkable. My son bikes to school & I am concerned that adding hundreds more cars to an already busy area would jeopardize his ability to bike to school & the Y. Please listen to our community and do not move forward with high density or medium-high density housing. Neighbors are not complaining that the development may include homes that will help with affordability, they are complaining that the land is not being developed responsibly in accordance with the vision that Meridian laid out for us when we bought our homes. Please limit the amount of housing units that will be built on this lot to improve the future for your residents that call Meridian home. Thank you. Tricia Geiser 2