HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-06-12 Michael Knight
Charlene Way
From:Bill Parsons
Sent:Friday, June 12, 2020 2:18 PM
To:Michael Knight
Cc:jamesphilly@gmail.com; carolynjacksonrealestate@gmail.com; Chris Johnson;
Adrienne Weatherly; Charlene Way
Subject:RE: Concerns for Preliminary Plan of E. Amity Road and S. Hillsdale Ave
Good Afternoon Michael,
Thank you for providing comments on a potential project next to your subdivision. At this time, the City does
not have a formal application for this specific property. I have included the City Clerk’s office on this email
stream so they can share your concerns to the Council before the application is processed by the City. Once an
application is received and processed the Council cannot address your comments until the public hearing.
If/when the application is submitted to the City and you are within 300’ of the project boundary, you will
receive notification from the City of the public hearing date and the property owner will be responsible to place
public hearing signs along all street frontages. Public testimony will be welcomed at that time.
Sincerely,
Bill Parsons, AICP | Planning Supervisor
City of Meridian | Community Development Dept.
33 E. Broadway Ave., Ste. 102, Meridian, Idaho 83642
Phone: 208-884-5533 | Fax: 208-489-0571
Built for Business, Designed for Living
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: Michael Knight <michael.knight84@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2020 9:45 AM
To: planninginquiries <planning@meridiancity.org>
Cc: jamesphilly@gmail.com; carolynjacksonrealestate@gmail.com
Subject: Concerns for Preliminary Plan of E. Amity Road and S. Hillsdale Ave
Dear Meridian City Planning Team and Decision Makers;
I am a resident of Century Farm subdivision, and I was not able to attend the meeting last night for this
proposed land development. for the 204 unit apartment complex with 151 medium-high density
townhomes/single family homes on the property located at the southeast corner of E. Amity Road and S.
Hillsdale Ave
I have recently seen the notices of Challenger Development's preliminary plan for the corner of E. Amity Road
and S. Hillsdale Ave. I am strongly expressing my concerns for putting townhomes and apartments in this area.
Here are my biggest concerns;
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The stress that it is going to place on Hillsdale elementary, which is already at capacity and current
Hillsdale and Century Farm families are waiting on openings.
Traffic safety concerns that accompany higher-density dwellings
The Plan is NOT in line with Meridian's vision depicted on its Future Land Use Map
The Plan is NOT in line with keeping south Meridian a partially-rural community
The Plan lowers property values of neighborhoods like Century Farm and Hillsdale Creek
The plan puts too much stress on the lower Meridian emergency services that are already spread too thin
Further Details of concerns:
Schools:
There are many families in Century Farm that are within walking distance to the school that have to bus their
children outside of the subdivision because of overcrowding. Adding these townhomes and apartments will only
add to that overcrowding and the frustration of children that live by the school not being able to walk to school.
As of right now, there are no plans for building more schools which makes this an even more dire issue.
Especially with the additional health and social distancing and the possible need to limit the class sizes even
more than they already do.
My children currently will not be able to attend Hillsdale due to being at Capacity while living IN Century
Farm. How will this new addition go into the schools wait list? We cannot add neighborhoods/dwellings to
areas already overcrowded for the current schools and community areas.
Meridian Vision and partially Rural-Community:
This goes against Meridian’s future land use of having more open spaces. This goes against Meridian's own
vision for South Meridian and the semi-rural community as well as the #MyMeridianVision.
Lower Home Values:
Large rental properties have negative effects on higher-value neighborhood communities such as Hillsdale and
Century Farm. They lower values for homeowners and hurt these communities. They also then drive down
needed property taxes (that are already too high) that the city needs to keep schools and emergency services
operating at the needed levels, which already are at capacity.
Traffic and Roads:
Another concern is the additional traffic that this development will bring to the area that already sees a lot of
traffic and has seen a huge rise in traffic. Adding an enormous amount people and cars without the road
infrastructure to accommodate them is only going to lead to more road congestion, traffic accidents, and road
rage. Part of the reason that most of us have chosen to live out here is to be a little further away from the heavily
populated areas and traffic and this will just defeat the purpose of moving further out. (#MyMeridianVision)
With that, will intersections at Amity and Eagle and Amity and Cloverdale be widened to accommodate? Will
actual stop lights be put in at Eagle and Amity to prevent further accidents and backups that the roundabouts
cause? Will further stops be put in for communities like Tuscany who already have a hard time turning left
(North) due to the huge increase in traffic that has already been seen on Eagle, between Overland and Amity?
This is a major concern and has already defeated the entire vision of South Meridian's community.
Again, adding even more people to this area will also put an even larger strain on this already crowded area that
is not built for the additional communities and plans.
First responders:
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Adding more people to this area will also put a much larger strain on our first responders as they will have to be
stretched even more thin than they already are. They will also have to continue to fight the 2 lane roads of Eagle
and Amity for access as well as a crowded roundabout at Eagle and Amity to get to emergencies. I see this
constantly and it is a major issue already.
With the above outlined concerns, I hope you will take all of these into consideration and stop the plans for
build these townhomes and apartments in this area.
If the preliminary plan is not revised to address these concerns this could impact all of the above and more.
Challenger Development has an opportunity here to develop something our community can truly be proud of. I
hope that the plan ultimately accepted by the City will address these concerns to better create an evolving,
livable, vibrant, and connected neighborhood that is in line with #MyMeridianVision.
Sincerely,
Michael Knight
"Life without cause is life without effect"
michael.knight84@gmail.com
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