HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-07-07 Julie Langlois
Charlene Way
From:Julie Langlois <julie@rustler.farm>
Sent:Monday, July 06, 2020 8:02 PM
To:Julie Langlois; Robert Simison; Liz Strader; Joe Borton; Brad Hoaglun; Treg Bernt;
Jessica Perreault; Luke Cavener
Cc:City Clerk
Subject:App H-2020-0012 Cedarbrook Subdivision Written Testimony.
Good evening Mayor and City Council members,
After working for a year on this project, a 3 minute testimony is insufficient time to address this development
application, thus here is my written testimony which I hope you will read.
Let me begin with the positive. Toll Brothers coming in at the low end of the Medium Density designation is a
reasonable fit for our area. The southwest Meridian district that we would like to see includes densities on the lower
side, generous open spaces and a rural ambiance. If developers utilize the higher end of the Medium Density
designation from the FLUM in southwest Meridian it will in time destroy the uniqueness of the area and we will have, as
our new Comprehensive Plan warns against, “…a maze of monotonous expansion..”
This application should be continued because it was not completed in a timely manner. These decisions will affect our
City, our neighborhoods, our property values, our rural way of life and Meridian’s livability for the forseeable future. It is
an insult to Meridian stakeholders to allow them 4 days (over a Holiday weekend) to read, research and discuss changes
made to the development application. Not only was the application being added to within days of the hearing, but Toll
Brothers made an offer to 6 of the 8 bordering neighbors to increase lot sizes in an email on July 1st at 4:19 p.m.
Some of my neighbors tried to negotiate with Toll Brothers after that email was sent because they feared the City
Council would not follow through with their promises of acknowledging, recognizing and protecting our rural properties
and agricultural practices as stated on December 17th, 2019. I disagreed with them on this point and now it’s finally
time to have a discussion about what is proper transition from a fringe subdivision to established rural and estate
properties. As Councilman Borton stated regarding the goal of promoting appropriate transition:
“...the council is going to have a heightened scrutiny on those types of projects."
Unless something definitive is decided, we will be back again within 12 months to ask the same questions regarding the
north half of our subdivision and again and again as the City fills in around established homes in southwest
Meridian. Let us tonight, set a precedent for developers and property owners so that we can have greater protections
for our investments. As Mayor Tammy stated on December 17th:
“…those estate lots become very important, too, as we continue to bring those family wage jobs and not all
executives should have to live in Eagle and right now you see a lot of people that are making those choices,
because they do have greater protections of their investment and they know what’s going to go in next to them.”
Toll Brothers, as you may have read in the application file, was not inclusive with the surrounding neighborhood and
only wished to work with 5 residents of the impacted adjacent properties and this they wanted to do separately. They
would not answer questions in emails regarding transitional properties unless they were speaking to those directly
adjacent to Cedarbrook. This attempt to divide us as a neighborhood and concerned residents was not appreciated and
appeared to be an effort to limit discussion. We were not and never were, as they have tried to portray us, volatile and
aggressive.
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At the P&Z hearing, Toll Brothers mentioned that they were satisfied with the 1/3 acre transitional lots (and there are a
few 1/2 acre oddly shaped lots) as the subdivision will be transitional from Medium Density to Low Density. But that is
not truly the case. Cedarbrook will transition to established rural and estate properties. The FLUM is literally a future
map, not what currently exist or is likely to exist in the next generation. At present, we have two homes on the border
of Cedarbrook which are currently under construction. We are asking for one-acre adjacent properties along all borders
with a minimum of 200 feet width and one storey homes. This includes the southern border which parallels Amity.
It is my hope you are familiar with the unique topography and homes that you will discussing tomorrow night. Our
subdivision runs flat about 1600 feet from Victory
and then gently slopes to a shallow valley
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and rises again as it continues south to Amity. For transition, this creates some challenges as we have both homes with
higher elevations and
homes on the same elevation as the Cedarbrook subdivision.
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Initially we asked for 1/2 to one-acre adjacent properties, but after P&Z and a rereading of the minutes from the
December 17th 2019 City Council hearing, we revised our request to the one-acre lots. At the December 17th hearing
we had just lost the Rural designation and were looking for some protection of our rural properties. As councilman
Cavender stated,
“That gives some weight and some acknowledgement to our citizens who want to maintain — at least
acknowledgement about the rural part of our town where they didn’t move to Meridian, Meridian has been
moving to them…"
On June 30th, Toll Brothers stood by their 1/3 acre transitional lots saying that they had been told by staff that it was a
“model for transition” in the area.
During the hearings on the new Comp Plan, our City Council heard stakeholders loud and clear; our existing open space
and amenities UDC is inadequate. Indeed, the City has hired a consultant and formed a committee to address that
significant deficit in our UDC. We in southwest Meridian are still hoping that the City will change the UDC to increase
the open space requirements for annex properties. We would also ask that the UDC define and separate Qualified Open
Space and Usable Open Space so that Stakeholder can better understand the developments that are being built in their
neighborhoods.
We want to maintain our small town character with large open spaces and rural type architecture. We, as do many of
the Stakeholders who commented in the MyMeridian Vision survey, still hope that parts of Meridian can maintain some
of the historic, cultural and rural openness that has made Meridian so livable. While we have asked Toll Brothers to
include elements giving Cedarbrook a rural feel, we have not seen anything indicating that they have heard us. There
are other subdivisions which have taken this request by the Stakeholders to heart. Century Farm by Brighton is an
excellent example of a developer who made efforts to retain the rural feel and history of Meridian.
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In conclusion:
The City talks about “raising the bar” for annexed properties, what in this subdivision raises the bar?
Does Meridian want to push the fringes of the City in southwest Meridian or is the City focusing its resources on the
southeast?
If the developer pays for a large portion of the infrastructure required for Cedarbrook, will they be eligible for
reimbursement?
Findings:
1. This annexation complies with only part of the Comp Plan. Fringe developments are discouraged and protection of
rural properties is lacking.
2. Why doesn’t the mix of lots include large (one acre) properties if a mix of lot sizes is the City’s goal? What is the
average number of units per acre (gross) for developments built in 2020? If that number is over 3, then the City could
approve larger properties and the average change would be imperceptible.
4. There will be an adverse impact upon roads (as stated by ACHD, Linder/Victory intersection) until that roundabout is
built. Schools, as you know, are overcrowded which is an adverse impact upon the delivery of services.
5. Is this annexation in the best interest of Meridian and its residents at this time?
Thank you,
Julie Langlois
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