HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-08-11 Regular Meeting Item#2.
Meridian City Council August 11, 2020.
A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:04 p.m., Tuesday, August
11, 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,
Shawn Harper, 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: Council, I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting to order. For the record it
is August 11th, 2020, at 6:04 p.m. We will begin tonight's agenda with roll call attendance.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Simison: Next item on the agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance.
(Pledge of Allegiance recited.)
Simison: And for the record Council Woman Perreault has joined us. My understanding
is we didn't have anyone for the community invocation.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Simison: So, we will move right on to the adoption of the agenda.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I move adoption of tonight's agenda as published.
Bernt: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda as published. Is there any
discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay.
The ayes have it.
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MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
PUBLIC FORUM — Future Meeting Topics
Simison: Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone signed up under public forum?
Johnson: Mr. Mayor, only one. Genesis Milam says hi. That is our only sign in.
Simison: Thank you.
Bernt: Genesis, I love you. I miss you.
ACTION ITEMS
1. Public Hearing for Landing South (H-2020-0005) by Jim Jewett,
Located at 660 S. Linder Rd.
A. Request: Rezone of 2.43 acres of land from the R-4 to the R-8
zoning district.
B. Request: Preliminary Plat consisting of 11 building lots and 2
common lots on 2.27 acres of land in the proposed R-8 zoning
district.
Simison: Okay. Then it will -- with that we will move on to our action items. First item up
is a public hearing for Landing South, H-2020-0005. I'm going to open this public hearing
and turn this over to Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: We have a request by the applicant to continue this public hearing. The
applicant did not post a sign, so it cannot be heard. We will just continue this hearing to
-- continue it and hear it on August 25th. That's enough time to re-post the sign and have
it up for the required amount of time for -- for this public hearing. So, I would move that
we continue H-2020-0005 until August 25th.
Perreault: Second.
Borton: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to continue this item until August 25th. Is there
any discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed
nay. The ayes have it.
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MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
2. Public Hearing for Epic Storage Facility (H-2020-0058) by Jarron
Langston, Located at 1345 W. Overland Rd.
A. Request: Rezone of 4.43 acres of land from the R-8 zoning district
(Medium density Residential) to the C-G zoning district (General
Retail and Service Commercial) for the purpose of developing
commercial storage on the site.
B. Request: A Conditional Use Permit for a 29,400 square foot storage
facility and associated outdoor storage on 4.43 acres in the C-G
zoning district.
Simison: Item No. 2 under Action Items is a public hearing for Epic Storage, H-2020-
0058. 1 will open this public hearing with staff comments and turn this over to Joe.
Dodson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Can everybody hear me all right? Okay. Good. My
fiancee says I mumble, so I got to make sure I enunciate now. The request before you
-- before us is for a rezone and conditional use permit for Epic Storage Facility. The
applicant is requesting a rezone to change the existing R-8 zoning to the C-G zoning
district, general commercial. Actually, Chris, can I share my screen? There we go. Better
for you guys. The applicant is also requesting a conditional use permit approval for a
storage facility. The subject site is surrounded by existing City of Meridian zoning and
development to its north, west and south. Directly to the east City Council has recently
approved a new residential subdivision Sagewood West that will have R-8 zoning.
Directly across West Overland Road, an arterial street, is I-L zoning with two RV uses
currently existing, Bish's RV and Camping World of Meridian. Directly to the west along
the northern half of the site is the new Meridian fire station and abutting the site on the
southern half of the west boundary is a multi-family residential development. This parcel
-- this parcel has both the commercial and medium density residential future land use
designations as of the most recent change to the comprehensive map. The addition of
the commercial designation spawned the proposal to rezone this property. The proposed
new land use is a form of RV storage and is a conditional use in the proposed C-G
commercial zoning district. However, the proposed use is not a traditional RV self storage
as our code depicts, just staff must assess proposed uses with those listed in the UDC
use tables for each zone. Precision Storage Concepts, for the actual business proposed
on this site, who operate the business, is a more encompassing commercial business
than traditional self storage by providing a valet drop and go system that requires
customers to only drop off their trailers and RVs. They will not park nor store them
themselves. In other words, the customer will drive their trailer or RV to the facility and
stop it near the north end of the site, roughly here, and, then, employees will check the
customer in and take the trailer or RV from there. The customer would, then, proceed to
the office at the back of the property at the south end here and finish -- finish the
paperwork as needed. When they need their vehicle again they will likely call ahead and
the employees will prepare it for use. To do this Precision Storage Concepts is intended
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to be a full service RV and trailer business that includes a wash before each use, supply
stocking of the vehicle and maintenance checks on standard items, such as batteries,
water, refrigerator and tire pressure. In addition, a majority of the storage and business
will occur within a large single story building that is approximately 29,000 square feet.
There is also intent for ancillary outdoor storage of vehicles and trailers that will be stored
in the asphalt area between the office in the back of the parcel and the main building
along Overland Road as seen on the site plan. Because this property is already zoned
residential, currently zoned R-8, and development to the south and southwest and to the
east is residential, staff was originally concerned with the request for C-G zoning. This
concern lies with the potential for a higher intensity of commercial use next to said
residential if this property is rezoned to C-G, but never develops as proposed. Staff
recommended changing the requested rezone of C-G to be C-C instead and the applicant
agreed to this change during the Commission meeting. If approved the C-C zoning district
is a lower intensity commercial zoning that is still commercial, but will help staff ensure a
more disruptive use is not principally permitted and so easily attainable if this project is
not completed. Self service storage, the use that staff has to place this proposed use
into, is still a conditional use in the C-C zone and will not affect the future operation of this
site. Access to the site is proposed via an existing curb cut from West Overland Road,
an arterial street. ACHD approves of this access point as the proposed use is a
commercial use and vehicle trips to the location is presumed to be minimal when
compared to a residential development. The specific use standards require a secondary
access for storage facilities and the applicant is proposing one at the eastern boundary
that lines up with a common driveway in the adjacent Sagewood West development
recently approved. This applicant and the applicant for Sagewood West have worked
together to align this access. This is an emergency only access. To be clear, this is a
Planning requirement and not a Fire requirement for the emergency access, which is why
they are allowed to be so close. I just wanted to put that on the record for Council. As
part of proposing a commercial zoning and use, a 25 foot -- a 25 foot landscape buffer is
required adjacent to any residential uses. The applicant is showing this buffer on the
submitted landscape plans, but the buffer does not appear to meet the UDC requirement
of having vegetation -- enough vegetation within the required buffer. Staff has
recommended a condition of approval to correct this. The applicant submitted conceptual
renderings and conceptual elevations of the new proposed storage commercial building.
The originally submitted -- submitted plans did not meet all of the standards as required
for commercial development in the architectural standards manual. This application does
not include design review, but staff recommended certain conditions prior to the
Commission meeting to ensure any future building on this site is built to a premier
standard as intended by the ASM. In response to these conditions in the staff report prior
to the P&Z meeting the applicant provided revised elevation renderings that responded
to most of staff's concerns. Staff believe some -- some additional tweaks should take
place, but these can happen at the time of certificate of zoning compliance and design
review application submittal. Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval
of the subject applications. Generally the key issues of discussion were the height of the
fence adjacent to residential uses, the use of the existing facility in the rear of the property
that is to remain and how the proposed use actually functions on site with the intended
valet service model. A condition change to the staff report was recommending a DA
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provision or condition that an eight foot tall fence be constructed along the property lines
that abut residential uses, which is in line with the allowable fence height in the
commercial zoning districts. The only outstanding issue for City Council from the staff
report is Conditions 1.1 and 1 .2 regarding providing staff with revised legal descriptions
and rezone descriptions because of the change in zoning and the small sliver that
Sagewood West is conveying over to them. The applicant did not get those to staff in
time and, therefore, staff recommends that Council modify these conditions to include
some type of rewording that allows them to supply these prior to the rezone ordinance
being approved. Just continue through these elevations for everybody. And I will stand
for questions. Thank you.
Simison: Thank you, Joe. Council, any questions?
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: Joe, do you know what the height of this -- approximate height of the building
is that they -- I mean I know this is just a rendering. It may change in design, but the big
-- do you have an estimate for us or is that a question for the applicant?
Dodson: Council Woman Perreault, I believe it's roughly 30 feet, but the applicant would
be sure to tell you for sure.
Perreault: Thank you.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: Joe, on these renderings, can you just briefly point out the concern you had with
the before and how the after fixed it, because the difference is subtle. It's hard to see it I
guess at first glance.
Dodson: Thank you, Council Member. I -- I understand the question. One of the biggest
things that they changed was adding windows, which definitely helps along Overland
Road. One of the tweaks that I would be recommending when it comes through design
review is adding some more along Overland Road especially. They also added some
required roof parapet variation along the top by popping out that centerpiece here. They
also ensured that the awnings, where ever they do exist, are actually tied into the building
with some architectural supports. I plan on -- if this were to be approved I plan on asking
for some more of these types of things on all facades, since they are going to be all visible
from residential and the public right of way.
Borton: And that would be part of a future design review?
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Dodson: Yes, sir. That's correct. Which they do have to do for any new building in a
commercial zone.
Borton: Okay. Thank you.
Dodson: You are welcome.
Simison: Council, any additional questions for staff at this time? If not, I will turn this over
to the applicant. Is Mr. Walker with us in the room or online? Oh, please come forward
and state your name and address for the record. Be recognized for 15 minutes.
Walker: My name is Glen Walker. 1891 North Wildwood Street, Boise, Idaho. I'm
representing the ownership group for this project, which the project is called Precision --
Precision Storage Concepts. We have submitted this project for a rezone and a
conditional use permit. We were originally requesting to rezone to a C-G zone, but after
reading the staff report we would agree that a rezone to a C-C zone would work and we
would agree to the staff report that a C-C zone is more in line with what they would like
and we would agree with that. The site is located at 1345 West Overland Road, which
has been designated a commercial zone under the future land use map. We feel this
project will fit in nicely with the surrounding uses. The site is surrounded by existing City
of Meridian zoning and development to its north, west and south. To the east of the site
is a new residential subdivision and across Overland Road is an I-L zone with two RV
uses, both of which would fit in nicely with this project, that being Bish's RV and Camping
World, which we feel would fit in nicely and to the west is a new fire station that has been
newly constructed, which is convenient. All the utilities are located at or close to the site.
There is an existing home and accessory building on the site. The home will be removed
upon the development. However, the accessory facility, which will remain, houses an
existing rest -- ADA restrooms and it will become the office for this facility, which when
clients come up they will drop off their vehicle, their RV, and, then, the employees will take
over, grab that, and bring it in -- either into the facility or park it on site and they go and
finish their paperwork inside that little office building. The new facility we are proposing
is a high end storage facility for storing RV trailers, boats, et cetera. This storage facility
is a more encompassing commercial business than a traditional self storage facility.
Precision Storage Concepts was established with a valet system that comes with a drop
and go system. Awash before each use and includes maintenance checks on standard
items, such as battery, water, refrigerator and tire pressures. Precision Storage Concepts
of Meridian will blend in perfectly with the convenience of the city and its beautiful
surroundings. People move here to play with their toys and will love the valet system and
care Precision Storage Concepts will offer to their customers and will help the City of
Meridian to continue to achieve beauty, clean neighborhoods by keeping your RVs, boats,
and trailers off the streets and out of the housing developments and also in accordance
with a lot of the HOAs and CC&Rs. Precision Storage Concepts is intended to be a full
service RV trailer and boat business for the community and we feel -- the ownership feels
that the location of this facility is ideal for the proposed use due to its proximity to Bish's
RV and Camping World. With regards to our CUP application, the project is subjected to
a conditional use permit approval. The facility -- the facility will be used as a commercial
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use for storage and light maintenance only. No manufacturing will be done at this facility.
This facility will be separated by more than 45 feet on all sides and will be fire sprinkled
as well. The site will be surrounded by green vinyl fence, which they have said would be
an eight foot fence along the residential and we agree to that. The hours of operation for
the facility will be proximately 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., which falls under the allowed time
for the city. We are providing the 25 foot landscape buffer between the residential zone,
as well as a 25 foot street buffer, which should meet the landscaping requirements from
the city. We are also showing a secondary means of access for emergency which lines
up with a development to our east and you can see that on the site plan and also on the
landscape plan. We line that up with the development to our east. We are proposing
seven parking stalls with two ADA stalls. As mentioned, this facility is a valet type system.
We feel that the seven parking stalls is in compliance with city code for the amount of
parking spaces needed. The staff report talks about providing a sidewalk from Overland
Road to the rear of the building as well. The owners will agree to that to provide some
sort of path, either by concrete or walkway or a striped area on the asphalt that would
lead to the back area of the building and that would be that rear building on the property.
We will be submitting the design as mentioned by Joe. We will be submitting a design
review and a certificate of zoning compliance that has yet to be done, but we will be doing
that because -- because of the code requirement, which at the time we will be working
with the city -- city officials with regards to the design of the building itself. We do hope
these two applications, the CPU and the rezone, will be acceptable and we feel that this
project is a great fit for the City of Meridian and will add quality, great architecture, and
distinctiveness to the area and that's really all I have.
Simison: Thank you. Council, any questions to the applicant?
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Just a quick question for Mr. Walker. There is somewhat -- there is going to be
some outside storage of some of the trailers. Is that to be on the west side of the property?
Walker: It's mainly to the south. The drive -- we -- what we did was we provided a drive
around the building would be more of a fire truck drive around the building.
Hoaglun: Right. And, then, that lower part is that where --
Walker: Yeah.
Hoaglun: -- it would be outside?
Walker: Yeah.
Hoaglun: Okay.
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Simison: Council, any additional questions for the applicant? Thank you very much.
Walker: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Simison: This is a public hearing. Mr. Clerk, do we have anybody signed up to testify on
this item?
Johnson: Mr. Mayor, for this item nobody signed up in advance.
Simison: Okay. No one has signed up. If there is anybody in the audience who like to
provide testimony on this item, if you would like to come forward to the podium now and
do so or if you are online on Zoom, please, use the raise hand feature at the bottom of
your -- of the app and we can bring you in to provide testimony. I don't think we have
anybody on the phone, if I'm not mistaken. Oh, we do have someone -- one person on
the phone and if you are on the phone it is star --
Johnson: I believe it's star six.
Simison: Star six to raise your hand if you would like to provide testimony. I am not
seeing anybody that's raising their hand or coming forward to provide testimony. Would
the applicant like to make any --
Johnson: Mr. Mayor, my apologies. It is star nine.
Simison: Okay. Star nine. Would the applicant like to come forward? Any final comments
or -- okay. Council, I will turn this over to you.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: I can't see the applicant, but a question that -- just to confirm that staff's
outstanding issues, that Conditions 1.1 and 1.2 requiring those to be done and provided
prior to rezone ordinance approval, was there any concern in meeting that language as
well?
Simison: I have an affirmative head nod from the applicant that that is not a problem.
Borton: Okay. Thank you.
Simison: Do I have a motion to close the public hearing?
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
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Borton: I move we close the public hearing on Item 2, H-2020-0058.
Cavener: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. Is there any
discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay.
The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: To launch discussion, I thought this was an interesting application and business
model and a pretty good location and unique addition to the -- to the city. I think P&Z did
a good job of vetting it well. I'm glad that there is design review to take an additional step.
The C-C rezone makes sense. And the applicant's agreement with meeting the
Conditions 1.1 and 1.2 prior to the rezone ordinance approval all make it a project that I
think is a definite net win for the City of Meridian. So, I'm one that's supportive of the
application.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Councilman Borton said it perfectly.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: I will take a stab at a motion if I may. Item 2 on the agenda, H-2020-0058. I
move that we approve that application as presented in the staff report dated August 11 ,
2020, and to include the applicant -- applicant's commitment to meet Conditions 1.1 and
1.2 of the staff report prior to any rezone ordinance approval.
Hoaglun: Second the motion.
Cavener: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not,
Clerk will call the roll.
Roll call: Bernt, yea; Borton, yea; Cavener, yea; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea; Perreault,
yea.
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Simison: All ayes. Motion passes and the item is agreed to. Thank you very much.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
3. Public Hearing for Poiema Subdivision (H-2020-0035) by Dave Evans
Construction, Located at 3727 E. Lake Hazel Rd.
A. Request: Annexation of 14.87 acres of land with an R-15 zoning
district.
B. Request: A Preliminary Plat consisting of 44 buildable lots and 4
common lots on 14.87 acres of land in the R-15 zoning district.
Simison: Item 3 under Action Items is a public hearing for Poiema Subdivision, H-2020-
0035. I'm going to open this public hearing with staff comments and hand this over to
Joe.
Dodson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. All right. On to the next one. As stated, the next item
before us is Poiema Subdivision. The request is for annexation of 14.87 acres of land,
with a request for R-15 zoning and a preliminary plat consisting of 48 building lots and six
common lots, of which one is a common drive serving four lots. The proposed annexation
area lies at the edge of the city's area of impact on the south side of East Lake Hazel
Road, approximately half a mile east of Eagle Road. There is existing city zoning directly
across Lake Hazel to the north, which is Bicentennial Farm Subdivision, but no other
existing Meridian zoning is adjacent to the site at this time. There is also a golf course
directly to the east of this property, but is within the city of Boise area of impact. Despite
minimal -- despite minimal existing zoning directly to the west and southwest of this site,
the city is currently processing multiple projects in this area as seen in the plan
development map on the right. The proposed land use of attached single family
residential and townhome units is consistent with the future land use map designation of
medium high density residential and are both principally permitted uses in the requested
R-15 zoning district. Medium high density residential requires a density of eight to 12
units per acre. The applicant has proposed a project with 7.5 dwelling units per acre with
their updated plat. The Comprehensive Plan allows for rounding of densities. Because
of the proposed product type and the difficult shape of the property to begin with, staff
does support rounding this proposed density is 7.5 to the required eight dwelling units per
acre per the provisions in the Comprehensive Plan. In addition to the proposed residential
use on this site, the applicant is reserving a building lot for a future church. A church -- a
church is a conditional use within the proposed R-15 zoning district. The residential
portion of the site consists of approximately seven and a half acres and includes the right
of way and the future church lot is approximately seven acres. This application does not
include the conditional use permit for the church lot. That use will be analyzed with the
future conditional use permit application. The applicant submitted sample elevations of
the attached single family homes and the proposed townhome units. The submitted
elevations for the attached single family show all single story attached structures with two
car garages and similar finishing materials of stucco, masonry, and wood. In addition, the
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elevations show both shed roof and traditional pitched roof designs. The applicant has
not stated that all of these will be single story structures. The conceptual townhome
elevations show a different color palette, which is appreciated, and the offer -- and offers
similar finished materials as the attached units. In addition, these elevations show high
amounts of -- high amounts of modulation and roof height variation, which breaks up the
facade of the building. The submitted conceptual elevations appear to meet design
requirements, but attached and townhomes single family residential units do require
design review approval prior to building permit submittal. This requirement gives staff the
opportunity to review the buildings and ensure compliance with the ASM. In addition, the
proposed north-south local street is straight and relatively long. So, staff is recommending
that future homes are built across varying setbacks on this road to provide variation along
the street and help ensure there is not one monotonous wall plain of homes along the
street. All proposed lots shown on the submitted preliminary plat appear to meet all UDC
dimensional standards and this includes property sizes, street frontages, and the road
widths. Access to this development is proposed via a new local street into this
development from East Lake Hazel Road. This access is the farthest east it could be built
and still technically does not meet ACHD district policies. However, the closest adjacent
access on the north side of Lake Hazel is too far west and, therefore, would not line up
with this -- with the west part of this property in order to have accesses at the same place
along Lake Hazel. ACHD understands this and, therefore, approved of the proposed
access to Lake Hazel and appreciated that they moved it as far east as possible. The
applicant is also proposing a stub street to the west for future local street connectivity,
shown as Street B here, and that is required to have a temporary turnaround constructed
at its terminus until it is extended in the future. The proposed street sections are 33 feet
wide and can accommodate parking on both sides of the street where no driveways exist
and are proposed with five foot attached sidewalks. Because the stub street to the west
will likely lead to nowhere at the time of this development, the applicant is required to
provide an emergency only access to Lake Hazel or the development will be limited to no
more than 30 homes. The applicant is showing on their master plan a 20 foot wide --
wide emergency only access from the western stub street that runs along the western
property boundary and connects to East Lake -- East Lake Hazel. ACHD and Meridian
Fire have granted their approval of this emergency access. That is roughly what this is
depicting here. Staff is recommending that the emergency access is built prior to the
applicant receiving any building permit approval. A 35 foot wide street buffer is required
adjacent to East Lake Hazel Road, because it is both an arterial and noted as an entryway
corridor in the master street map. The revised landscape plan depicts compliance with
this requirement. Per UDC standards arterial roadways are required to have detached
sidewalks. Staff is recommending a condition of approval to construct a detached
sidewalk and all required street frontage improvements with the residential phase of this
development and not with the church site development. A minimum of ten percent
qualified open space meeting the standards listed in UDC 11-3G is required. The
proposed future church site will not be required to meet open space standards. Therefore,
the required qualified open space for this development is based upon the only -- based
only upon the portion of the property where the residential use is proposed. According to
the applicant, the residential area is approximately six acres. Based on this size, the
applicant should supply at least .6 acres of qualified open space or approximately 20,000
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-- 26,000 square feet. The applicant is proposing approximately one acre of qualified
open space. The largest common open space lot is centrally located and is approximately
15,000 square feet and sits between the proposed residences and the future church site.
It is the intention of the applicant that this open space lot would be used for both the
residential part of this development and for the future church site, even though the church
site will not be required to meet any certain open space requirement. Staff has amended
the conditions in the staff report following the Commission meeting to make this open
space lot a nonbuildable lot in perpetuity and require that the future HOA and church enter
into a use agreement to ensure it is maintained regardless of who was using it. Another
area of qualified open space is located around the cul-de-sac and includes a very nice
water feature and seating area for future residences, which is this water feature here.
The open space exhibit also shows an open space area between the proposed alley and
the street that is less than 5,000 square feet. There are actually two areas that are less
than 5,000 square feet, this area and here. This area does not appear to be qualified
open space per UDC standards and should be removed from the open space
calculations. With this area removed the open space still meets the minimum
requirements. Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the subject
applications with some modifications to the conditions in the staff report. The key issues
of discussion by Commission were removal or modification of staff condition 3.13 and
feasibility of either outcome. The location and size of the large common open space lot
shared between the future church site and this preliminary plat and the issue of who will
maintain this shared open space lot. The other item is whether this plat should be
combined with the future conditional use permit required for the church site and how the
two projects will function together. And the last one wants applicant to look at some sort
of netting to prevent broken windows from the adjacent golf course on the east side of
this plat. The Commission recommended two changes to the staff report. One, modify
condition 1-F to include language that requires the future HOA and the church to enter
into a use agreement to ensure perpetual maintenance of the common open space lot,
the large 15,000 square foot lot as noted before. And their second change was to remove
condition 3.13 from the staff report. The outstanding issue for City Council is that the
applicant does not desire to install netting along the eastern property line that Commission
wanted them to discuss and would like to leave that up to each property owner to
determine whether that is feasible. Council should discuss whether they want to condition
this netting or leave it up to each property owner. And I will stand for questions. Thank
you.
Simison: Thank you, Joe. Council, any questions?
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Borton: Mr. Mayor? Go ahead.
Strader: If -- if the planners can give us some background on -- if you look at the map it
looks like -- almost looks like a little bit of a leapfrog compared to the surrounding
developments that haven't developed yet. Would the city be required to make any
investments in connecting city services and when are those other--when do you estimate
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those other developments would -- would happen and is there any drawback to sort of
leaping over here and doing this one first?
Dodson: Council Woman Strader, Members of the Council, if you look at the planned
development map, everything in gray is built already. Everything in red is planned. So,
services are already here, which is good. So, leapfrogging across Lake Hazel should not
be, you know, any more strain on the system. The developer will be required to build all
of that infrastructure themselves and provide it to themselves for this development.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Question regarding the Ten Mile Creek and pathway system. I remember
reading another document --the developer for the other unit was developing the pathway,
but I want to make sure that is accurate. If my memory serves correct.
Dodson: Councilman Hoaglun, yes, sir, that is correct. The master pathways plan does
not show it on this site, it shows it on the -- I guess you could say west side of the Ten
Mile Creek. This applicant is, therefore, not proposing a pathway on this side. However,
they are proposing an open space area that the townhomes in the center will front on as
required by the staff report as well.
Hoaglun: Okay. Thank you.
Simison: Council, any further questions for staff at this time?
Strader: Mr. Mayor, maybe one more.
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Is the boundary of our -- our plan set with Boise? Like is this clearly an area
that Meridian should develop, as opposed to Boise, given the location of their golf course?
Dodson: Council Woman Strader, according to our maps this -- this is right on our
boundary, yes. I'm not sure if their area of impact overlaps ours in this area. I do not
believe it does. So, this is ours to develop, yes, ma'am.
Simison: Council, any further questions for staff? If not, I will ask the applicant to state
their name and address for the record, be recognized for 15 minutes.
Thompson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Members of the City Council. Good afternoon. I'm
Tamara Thompson, I'm with The Land Group, 462 East Shore Drive in Eagle. I do have
a PowerPoint, if it's -- if I could show that. Does that show for you?
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Borton: Yes.
Thompson: Okay. Excellent. All right. Since the -- since the word was new to me I
thought I would give you a definition. Poiema is Greek origin and it means masterpiece,
poem, or work of art and since the property is currently owned by the Calvary Chapel and
it's also a Biblical term here. The site is 14.87 acres and it's located approximately a third
of a mile east of Eagle and south of Lake Hazel Road. The property consists of one
parcel, which is 3727 East Lake Hazel and it's currently zoned RUT in Ada county. The
Boise Ranch Golf Course is to the immediate east and note that the YMCA and
Bicentennial Farm is to the north. This is just zoomed in just a little bit more. The project
is adjacent to Ten Mile Creek. Ten Mile Creek is not on the property, but it's actually on
the property to the west and a pathway is planned on the west side of Ten Mile Creek.
And here is the future land use map. The property is in the City of Meridian impact area
and the path of annexation -- and this would be by Bicentennial Farm Subdivision, which
is immediately across -- across Lake Hazel to the north and the property has a future land
use map designation of medium high density residential and single family attached and
detached residential units townhouses, condominiums, and multi-family are permitted
within that land use designation. Our preliminary plat consists of 56 total lots, 48 single
family residential building lots, one nonresidential lot for a future church and five open
space lots. One common drive and one alley. And, then, again, the stub street to the
west and there is an application that's been submitted to the city for the properties to the
immediate west. They went to P&Z last week and, then, they were continued until
September. The layout has 33 patio homes that back to the existing golf course. All of
these are accessed via -- I'm sorry. And, then, 15 townhouses within the area of B and
all the 15 townhouses are accessed via an alley and ten of those townhouses front on
Ten Mile Creek as an amenity. The residential area, approximately 12 percent -- 12 to 14
percent open space. I know Joe just mentioned that maybe one of the ones that we were
counting didn't -- wasn't counted -- wasn't -- couldn't count. We still have 12 percent
without that. We have 14 percent with it. There is an open space with a plaza and a
water feature at the end of the cul-de-sac for an amenity. Plus the amenity at -- at the
corner of the church lot. This is the master plan with the church. We had our
neighborhood meeting for the conditional use permit last week and I'm currently putting
that application together and will be submitting that to the city in the next week or two.
The applications before you tonight are annexation and a rezone to R-15 and a
preliminary plat and, then, the conditional use will be submitted separately. But I have
given you the site plan so you can see the full master plan. The proposed annexation R-
15 zoning designation complies with the city's Comprehensive Plan and the preliminary
plat consists -- or is consistent with the R-15 zoning designation. And, again, these is the
conceptual elevations. They will be single family patio homes, which are detached units,
and, then, 15 townhouses, which will consist of three five-plexes and these are all single
family. They are for sale product. And, then, ACHD -- we are in agreement with ACHD's
conditions and I just did a clip here to show you there is many public improvements that
are slated in the capital improvement plan, their five year work plan, within the next two
to three years in this -- in this area. I wanted to just go through with you the netting
discussion. The patio home lots are adjacent to the Boise Ranch golf hole number five.
In my next slide I will show you that hole. There is currently existing large trees on the
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golf course. This first picture on the left, that is on the property. I was standing on the
property looking southeast and you can see how big the trees are already along that --
that area or that property line and, then, the right picture that you see here I was standing
in -- right -- I'm in the borrow area of Lake Hazel Road looking mostly south. South. And
you can see the green here and, then, the property is -- is to the left of the picture and the
-- the large trees that already exist in this area. And, then, here I put it side by side so
you could see the hole. So, on the -- on the right-hand side here I have a little pin showing
where the Poiema -- Poiema Subdivision is and you can see all of the -- of the trees along
the property line that currently exist and how large those trees actually are and, then, I
would like you to note that there is existing homes on other golf holes. If you look at here
number -- number one, number nine, number ten, number 12 and 13. All have existing
homes. Very few of these existing homes have -- have nets or other mitigation, as it's
very strategic on -- on where to place those. Hole number 13 is the hole that is the most
similar to how we are with number five, where the homes are on the left-hand side of the
tee box, so the tee box is in the lower right-hand corner of the picture and the fairway
goes off to the west and I walked the hole and none of the homes on Hole 13 have nets.
There are trees along there as well. Definitely not as dense. But the trees have been
strategically placed already to protect those homes and my client is not in favor of a
condition for netting, because such placement is very strategic and it definitely doesn't
need to be along the entire property. We wouldn't want to block the view of those homes
and there is also a handful of other mitigations that can be used, such as awnings or
landscaping. There is film that you can put on -- on -- on windows. But as such we don't
-- we don't think, number one, that it's an issue due to the existing and, number two, that
it should be up to the homeowner-- excuse me -- homeowner of which mitigation measure
they would like if it is an issue. So, they don't have their view blocked by netting. And,
again, none of those on number 13 have -- have any netting. I did a little research and
most miss hit golf balls -- 70 percent go right and with it being on the left and there is no
trouble on the right, we really just don't think it's -- it's an issue. The annexation and
zoning of this property provides for the orderly development of the city and it's in
accordance with the Meridian Development Code and the rezone of the property as R-15
and the platting of single family homes continues the zoning framework planned for the
Comprehensive Plan and the future land use map. We agree with staff's analysis and
recommended conditions of approval and we respectfully request your approval tonight.
Thank you.
Simison: Thank you, Tamara. Council, any questions?
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: Tamara, great presentation. I apologize for chuckling. I just -- I wish I could say
I haven't hit it left and right playing golf, but -- I could hit a house anywhere probably. So,
if -- if the netting is not required is there any concern that the CC&Rs of the subdivision
could prohibit a future homeowner from desiring to put a netting up and -- how would you
-- if you -- if you suggested that it should -- it could be the individual homeowner's future
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decision, which I understand and can appreciate, how do -- how do we ensure CC&Rs
don't prohibit that future homeowner from doing so? With the big poles oftentimes and
some folks don't like that around --
Thompson: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Borton, we could definitely have a provision in the
CC&Rs that -- that netting or other mitigation measures would be approved and we could
have some criteria there. That's not a bad idea. But it would definitely not be prohibited.
Borton: Okay.
Simison: Council, any other questions for the applicant? Okay. Seeing none, this is a
public hearing. Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone signed up to provide testimony on this
item?
Johnson: Mr. Mayor, there were two folks signed in. The first is Annette Alonso and she
is representing Southern Rim Coalition.
Alonso: Hi, Mayor. Hello, Council Members. Thank you so much for having me. Of
course, I'm Annette Alonso at 2204 East Hyperdrive in Meridian and I'm representing the
Southern Rim Coalition. I just can't help but feel that this development was kind of just
squeezed into a small triangle. We look at -- we look at the open space and we are
always really big into open space and how it feels and this open space just kind of looks
like it's just squeezed in the back of the development. They put a cul-de-sac at the end
there and, in reality, it doesn't really looks like it won't be used by anybody, other than the
townhouses that are back there. It will be more screened from the rest of it due to those
townhouses and, I don't know, for me I would rather see that cul-de-sac be connected to
the -- to Pura Vida which is going to be next door. I know there already is a connection
coming across, but when I lay the two developments together Pura Vida doesn't have
anything in it that's going to connect that road. So, that one connector road that's going
across there is not going to connect to anything ever. So, you are going to have one
entrance in and out of this development and -- and if you just look at the development of
where the housing units are themselves, it's actually pretty high density if you take out
the church. There is a lot of houses in a little bit of small space and a tiny little piece of
something that was kind of squeezed in there, in our opinion. And that's just kind of how
we feel about that open space. We would love to see that open space somewhere more
centralized in some way, so that everybody could enjoy it and I know we might say that
they might be using the church property, but we don't know how that's going to work. I
mean kids definitely aren't going to run around in the church parking lot I'm not thinking
and, of course, the golf course isn't considered an amenity, because you can't go walk on
the golf course. So, I just -- to the Southern Rim Coalition that open space just seems
like it was stuck in there at the end of that cul-de-sac and there just doesn't feel like there
is any connectivity, this is just a triangle and something to squeeze high density in. Of
course, there aren't any walkways in the development. Like I said, the stub out street isn't
going to connect to anything I don't believe in Ten Mile Creek. I would love to see that
cul-de-sac also being crossed there and connected. The common driveways -- we know
that those are always a problem when you have more than, you know, three homes on it.
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I know that city code allows six at this point. We are thinking of changing that. But those
always end up to be a problem and I just can't see where any of the parking is going to
be for the five -- five units -- five sets of three townhouses, where are they going to park?
It's a wider street there, the main street coming in, but I just think parking is going to be a
problem as well. And, of course, the main thing we always talk about are the schools. I
did a little map and -- of all the developments that are coming -- that are already on the
City Council's worksheet or that have already been approved. We have Sky Mesa
Highlands, the Turf Farm, Century Farm, Eastridge, Lavender Heights, Pura Vida, Sky
Mesa, McKay Farms, Pinnacle and with what's coming that's 1 ,716 new homes, that
means that's 1 ,373 children. Again, where are we putting 1 ,300 children? We know there
is a problem already. So, those are our main concerns, the open space, the connecting
of the road and the schools. That's all I have. Thank you.
Simison: Thank you. Council, any questions? All right. Mr. Clerk.
Johnson: Mr. Mayor, next is Kit Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald: Can you hear me okay?
Simison: We can. If you would state your name and address for the record.
Fitzgerald: All right. My name is Kit Fitzgerald. My address is 7051 North Sunset Maple
Way in Meridian. 83646. First of all, thank you for having me. I have been a part of this
conversation from --from a very early stage and first want to thank the city staff for talking
with us well before we ever-- we got going about what would make the most sense to the
development based on the density requirements. This development is a unique piece of
land, which is planning to have a beautiful church with a huge amphitheater set up, so
tons of green space that even though it's not technically part of the residential space, it's
going to be very appealing to the eye and I just -- I just want to make sure that everyone
that is working in a -- in a high density environment, you know, with -- with land that does
abut something like a golf course and then -- and then two roads, it's tricky to try to figure
out how to put in a -- you know, a physically appealing product where you get the density
right and still maintain the ability for easy access, nice, you know, turns in the street and
that's what the cul-de-sac point is for and we reworked this with the developer many many
many times to try to really figure out how to make this the most beautiful neighborhood
as possible and -- and I do just want to say that the conversations that we have had from
a number of -- even the members, of course, of the church who are super excited to see
what is going to be happening out there. They just love the idea of what's being done.
And, you know, that -- it's amazing already the number of people who have asked to be
put on an interest list or a waiting list for this product, because it's so unique to the south
part of Meridian, because high density really hasn't happened all that much over there yet
and so it fills the need for those that are trying to get in at a reasonable price point and
yet still have a high amenity neighborhood close to the -- to something like their church
or their services that are very important to them. So, I just obviously want to speak in
favor of the project and thank-- most importantly I just want to thank the city staff, because
they were fantastic helping us at a very early stage when we had a completely different
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plan in mind and found out that -- that we needed to totally take a look at it and
everybody's worked really hard to try to really make so it will be super appealing to the
south part of Meridian. That's it.
Simison: All right. Thank you very much. Council, any questions? This is a public
hearing. If there is anybody else in the audience or online who would like to provide
testimony on this item I would encourage you to use the raise your hand feature at the
bottom of the app -- to the Zoom app or if you are on the phone you can hit star nine to
raise your hand and the clerk will bring you in to testify. Seeing nobody in the audience
or online wishing to testify, I will ask the applicant to come back forward for any last
comments.
Thompson: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Members of Council. I will attempt to answer some
of the questions that were brought up. If I could share again -- the open space that we
have isn't just at the end of the cul-de-sac. There is -- there is a park that is part of the
subdivision for the neighbors' use. It is very centralized. It is about a third of an acre and
we are planning on having a tot lot and, then, a ball field, something where they can --
you can throw a ball or -- or kick a ball. A little soccer field. The -- the one thing that we
wanted to make sure is that it is -- it is part of the subdivision. It will -- there will be a lease
agreement, so that the church can use it and -- and on Sundays it -- it would be shared.
But it's definitely part of the subdivision and for all the residents and, again, it is
centralized. We do have a very unique shape. Triangles are not the most efficient for --
for laying out a square or rectangle lots and the -- the brokers of the real estate units have
proximity to the golf course and having walked back to those, are -- are very desirable
and so that's one of the -- the main parts of laying this out is having those -- those patio
homes that back to there -- to the golf course and that is something that has caught a lot
of interest so far and, then, the parking -- both sides of the street for the off-street -- offsite
have parking on them. There is also --the single family homes will have their own garages
and the pad outside of the garage. So, basically, all the single family homes have four
parking spaces for each of them with a two car garage and two cars outside and the
townhouses are exactly the same. They have two car garages and, then, they have their
parking pad as well and, then, there will be all access from the -- from the alleyway. So,
we have adequate parking. That should not be a problem. And, then, connectivity. Let
me see if I can change -- so, while I was waiting I went onto the city's website and pulled
up the adjacent -- let me see if I can switch here. It's not letting me switch to a different
screen. I looked up the -- are you guys seeing my screen or are you on the city screen?
Johnson: Tamara, we are seeing the city screen. We can stop that share and you can
start your share. You had nod, so Joe brought up his -- the reference. But we will stop
this and allow you to share your --
Thompson: I thought I was --
Johnson: It never started, so Joe took over. So, you can do that now.
Thompson: Okay. Thank you. What I'm going to pull up is the city's website. On the
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Clerk's website where you can see the applications that have been submitted. So, Pura
Vida, Ridge Ranch, is the property on the left side of Ten Mile Creek and I hope -- is that
showing for you now? Are you all seeing that? So, anyway, they have contacted us and
we have coordinated this connecting point. So, their -- their plan and what they have
submitted to the city has been coordinated with our design and that connection point and
the -- the stub road we are submitting to -- or the stub road to the west, they are aligned
with that. So, those -- those two have been coordinated. And let's see. Something else
we have mentioned about density and, again, we comply with the comp plan designation,
both four and eight and we are 7.5. But it does allow the rounding, so we are at the very
low end of the Comprehensive Plan. And I think I have addressed everything. With that
I will, again, ask for your approval and I will stand for questions if you have any other
questions.
Simison: Thank you, Tamara. Council, any additional comments or questions?
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: Tamara, I'm curious -- well, I have a couple of questions. The -- you talked
about the parking for the townhomes. What is the length of their driveways there? Do
you have a standard 20 foot driveway or is that a shortened drive into the alley? And,
then, my second question is it seems to me that there might not be a lot of parking -- a lot
of guest parking options for the townhomes and so I suppose they could park on the
streets or are they able to park in the section of the Church parking lot and is there any
pedestrian access between the townhomes and the church parking lot?
Thomsen: We -- Mr. Mayor, Council Woman, the -- the Townhouses do have a regular
driveway link. So, they will have that 20 foot length and the -- which is on their parcel.
So, what you are seeing there is the parcel and the -- well, you are not seeing my screen
anymore. Let me switch that for you. And, then, the -- so, it does have the 20 foot and,
then, you asked about guest -- guest parking. There is street parking on both sides of the
street and, then, the church parking might change that, you know, when it's not in service
on Sunday that sharing those parking areas are -- would be fine, but they would -- they
would allow that cross-parking as well. And, then, you asked about connectivity. These
are public streets, other than the alleyway between the townhouses and so there is --
there is sidewalk all -- all along the -- on both sides of the road.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: You know, one thing we are very concerned about and aware of in this area of
Meridian is school overcrowding and I guess I would ask the applicant to maybe give us
a feel for the target buyer here and if they have had discussions with the school district
and just give an overview of how this project would sort of layer onto that topic.
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Thompson: Absolutely. Mr. Mayor, Council Woman. The -- the target buyer for the patio
homes typically are your over 55. This is not -- you know, more empty nesters. This is
not going to be restricted. Anybody could buy them. But for this type of product and the
interest that we have had so far, these are empty nesters and not people with children in
the home. They are smaller -- a smallest product and, then, the same thing with
townhouses. Those typically are your younger first home buyer and not -- not someone
with a -- with active older school aged children. But, again, none of these are -- these are
just so anyone could purchase them. As far as the school district goes, they have plans
for the development of this area of town and they do have schools planned in the area
and that the other thing that they will be doing is with new development they redraw their
line to what schools the different areas will fall into.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Yeah. I -- unfortunately, now I think we all know far too much about this. It
doesn't appear that the school has a great funding source for their capital projects and
their passing of bonds has not worked out lately, so I -- I have real concerns about their
ability to build future schools, especially in a timely manner. You know, is there any reason
-- did you contemplate doing this development age restricted? Is that something that you
guys looked into?
Thompson: Mr. Mayor, Council Woman, we -- we have not talked about doing an age
restricted. That was discussed with me. That would be more on the sale end of things
and they have not discussed that with me.
Strader: Thank you.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: Tamara, just a question with regards to the row of housing heading south on the
entrance road. How would we describe -- I guess a DA condition or that -- that would set
forth that kind of breaking up the row, so some are a little more forward and some are
back. I'm not sure how to -- capturing that goal.
Dodson: Councilman Borton, I can answer that.
Borton: Okay.
Dodson: Sorry, Tamara. I don't mean to cut you off there, but it is already an existing
provision in my staff report and condition. One way that we would do that is because
these are attached products they have to provide a certificate of zoning compliance and
design review and with that I specifically ask that they put a master plan in with that
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submittal --
Borton: Perfect.
Dodson: -- that will show the different setbacks. So, then, we would be able to tie that to
that concept plan and hold them to it.
Borton: Perfect. Thank you.
Dodson: You are welcome.
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Borton.
Borton: Not -- not necessarily a question, but a comment. I -- I agree with -- with Tamara
with regards to the netting being required. We have seen it in a lot of places not be
required and -- and with the appropriate landscaping it can be successful. I was thinking
of the home sites around Spur Wing number one and two that don't have netting and
there is other examples. So, by not requiring it I think that makes sense in this one.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Question for Joe. I think it was Lot 54 is the one that did not qualify. It wasn't
5,000 square feet as open space. Is that right? It was 49 something and -- and didn't
qualify. Was there any consideration for putting in any -- I mean I don't know if it would
work -- any type of parking there for additional parking if it didn't qualify?
Dodson: Councilman Hoaglun, so it's actually Lot 53 and 54. As seen both of those lots
are under the 5,000 and not at the 50 by 100. So, I believe that was brought up at the
Commission hearing as well. It was not proposed since then about adding. But it should
be noted that all along -- I can't find my pointer. All along here and here will be on-street
parking because there are no driveways, so -- and even on the other side it's adjacent to
the open space. So, that is an additional bunch of parking. If you were to add parking
spaces doing the math you would probably be able to get maybe one or two more than
just having straight parallel parking, but that's up to Council to determine whether or not
you want to add that condition.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor and Joe, that's -- that's a good point. Probably wouldn't -- wouldn't
add a whole lot to do that, so -- thank you.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
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Perreault: That being said, is there -- and this is a question I suppose for Tamara. Is
there a possibility of putting in some -- some walkways from the street to -- to the
townhomes through -- through at least Lot 53 or Lot 54 -- it looks like the street access
through Lot 54 may be -- may be close enough, but Lot 53 -- I just -- I'm trying to figure
out how -- you know, are individuals going to park on the street and, then, walk through
the grass to -- to -- you know, are they supposed to walk from the street to the alley load?
I mean kind of-- take us through how the pedestrians are walking around this area if they
are parking on the street.
Thompson: Mr. Mayor, Council Woman, we would definitely have some -- have some
walkways. So, those would be programmed with the -- with the CDC applications that --
that we can work through with those applications. But definitely there would be some
walkways to get to the front doors, because those front doors are adjacent to the -- to the
Ten Mile Creek and -- and to that street. So, there will be walkways.
Strader: Mr. Mayor, I have a question for Planning staff.
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: From Planning staff's perspective do you agree that this type of product tends
to appeal to older residents? Is there any empirical evidence that backs that up or in your
experience do you find that that's the case, that we could -- maybe with some degree of
confidence feel that there wouldn't be the .8 kids added to the school system per
residential property?
Dodson: Council Woman Strader, Members of the Council, I don't have the empirical
evidence, unfortunately. However, usually any home that is going to be on a lot that's
smaller than 4,000 square feet will generally be a smaller home and as Tamara pointed
out, those do tend to not lend themselves to a family of five or even four. So, I could
deduce that there might not be a number of large families here, but I cannot say that
empirically.
Strader: Mr. Mayor, a quick follow up for the applicant.
Simison: Okay. Council Woman Strader.
Strader: What is the average number of bedrooms per home here?
Thompson: Madam -- or, sorry, Mr. Mayor, Council Woman, I -- I have this information
and it's been a while since I have looked at it. I believe they are both -- are two and three
bedroom. If you want to give me just a second I can look through my files and get -- and
get the floor plans on these if you want.
Strader: Mr. Mayor, I don't want to hold us up. Maybe we can come back to that at the
end if she happens to find it. That would be helpful from my perspective, but I don't want
to hold -- hold up the whole meeting over it.
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Simison: Council, any further questions while we are waiting for that information?
Thompson: Okay. I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor, I did find that information. They are -- some of
the units are two bedrooms and some are three bedroom.
Strader: Thank you.
Simison: Council, any further questions?
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, just to shed a little light for Council Woman Strader. Where --
because it's located on a golf course, you -- you typically have people who are retired
who like -- like to go there and, you know -- and the term old duffer -- I think you have
heard of that. Those are particularly bad golfer. So, a lot of old duffers will live there. So,
I think that will help on the school end, so -- we have some out in the audience, too, I'm
pretty sure.
Strader: Thank you.
Simison: Council, anything else or do I have a motion to close the public hearing?
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Perreault.
Perreault: I move that we close the public hearing for application H-2020-0035.
Hoaglun: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion
on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes
have it.
MOTION CARRIED: ALLAYES.
Hoaglun: Well, Mr. --
Perreault: Mr. --
Hoaglun: Go ahead.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: I'm happy to start off the discussion. There has been a lot of conversation,
especially during our Comprehensive Plan meetings, about open space and especially in
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south Meridian and how that area will develop and I think that this is a great place for
density, because you do have the course on the east side and that allows for those
homeowners to perhaps not need as large of a physical space for their yard, because
they have got the trees, they have got the view and, then, you have got the -- the buffer
of the church location from the -- what looks to be a pretty dense development that's
proposed on the west side. So, Lake Hazel, it's my understanding, that at some point it's
going to become a pretty significant thoroughfare from Boise into -- through Meridian and
potentially out to Nampa. So, at some point that road may have even more significant
traffic than it does now and -- and the city prefers to put those higher density properties
closer to the -- the arterial roads. So, I think that they have done a great job with this. I
-- I think that they have tried to cover everything they can possibly cover. It sounds like
they have had a good experience with the city and getting a lot of their questions
answered. So, I'm -- I'm in favor of -- I don't see anything that greatly concerns me. I
know it's on our very west -- or, excuse me, our very east side. It also surprises me that
this isn't in Boise, but it is what it is. I'm not super concerned about the schooling, because
I do think this is going to appeal to a homebuyer that's likely--doesn't have several school
aged children.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: You know, just to follow Council Woman Perreault there and her -- her line of
thinking, I think they did a good job with a particularly difficult parcel. That triangle is
always -- triangles are always difficult to make things work. Note that church property
there, I think that makes for -- for a good development. I, too, had to kind of think about
this and think about, oh, this is leapfrog development, it's going way out beyond our city
core and out there, but, then, I had to rethink that from the standpoint of -- if you think of
our neighbor to the east, Boise, they have grown to our border and this is, basically, a
continuation of that growth that's heading west. So, I had to reorient myself thinking,
okay, this really isn't -- if I think about from our core, yes, but when it's coming from that
direction and that's what it's going to do to some -- come to some extent as well, then, I
am more -- much more comfortable with having -- having this development go in and as
-- as we know there is several more on the horizon here that we are going to have to --
have to take a look at. The no net requirement, I really do with -- with Ms. Thompson's
assurance that this will be up to the individual homeowners, that it won't be prohibited, it
really depends on the location of the house. Somewhere in that zone where, yep, a bad
shot is going to be in their backyard, that's just the way it is, but many locations they don't
have to worry about it, so I would just let the homeowner make that determination in their
comfort level for that. Maybe they just want to collect golf balls. I don't know. That's their
new hobby. So, we will just see what happens there. So, I'm comfortable with things that
have been laid out here.
Simison: Since we are on the subject of golf, I will say I think I have hit more than one
golf ball into this property, but I will say I'm not an average golfer either.
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Bernt: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Bernt.
Bernt: No concerns. I think that the applicant did as good of a job they could for the
space given to them and I echo previous Council Members' thoughts, so I'm in approval.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: I think I buy into the argument that generally this product will appeal to an
audience approaching retirement age and I'm starting to draw real hard line about the
schools and may -- maybe view other dense product differently if it wasn't abutting the
golf course, but given that and the bedroom size and the fact that it's right on the golf
course, I appreciated Councilman Hoaglun's point. I think I'm okay with it. The density
should go along the arterial. I agree with Council Woman Perreault and the thing that --
that the buyer beware thing, you know. If you are concerned, you know, put in a net or
don't buy it.
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Cavener.
Cavener: I don't have any additional comments. I think the body has done a good job of
capturing a lot of my feelings. I -- I appreciate the example here that's before us. It really
shows what a plan -- what's gone in and along -- along the Boise border. That piece
helped me. I think Council Member Strader's comments about density and the impact on
our schools is one that we will continue to wrestle with, but I think this is a great example
that it's not always a black and white issue and really applies the -- the touch of-- of local
representation to look at the project and -- and verify what that true impact could be for
the district. So, with that, Mr. Mayor, I move that we close the public hearing on H-2020-
0035.
Borton: Second.
Simison: Council, we have already closed the public hearing, so we are --
Cavener: Oh.
Simison: -- here for a motion.
Cavener: You have to -- there was so much commentary that escaped my mind. So, I'm
happy to move that we approve H-2020-0035, include all staff, applicant, and public
testimony.
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Perreault: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion on the motion? If not,
Clerk will 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.
Simison: Motion passes. Council, a quick poll. I think that this next one is going to take
us a little while. Do you want a five minute, ten minute recess, before we get going or get
going and take a recess in -- whenever it seems appropriate? Okay. We are going to go
ahead and call a five minute recess, just time to get -- get yourself fresh before the next
extended time period. So, we will reconvene at 7:35.
(Recess: 7:30 p.m. to 7:39 p.m.)
4. Public Hearing for Apex (H-2020-0066) by Brighton, Murgoitio, et al.,
Generally Located East of S. Meridian Rd. and North of E. Columbia
Rd.
A. Request: Modification to Existing Development Agreements (H-
2015-0019: Brighton Investments, LLC — Inst. #2016-007072-1 SCS
Brighton, LLC — Inst. #2016-007073; Murgoitio Limited Partnership
— Inst. #2016-007074) to replace the agreements with one new
agreement based on the proposed development plan.
B. Request: Annexation of 40.09 acres of land with an R-2 zoning
district.
C. Request: A Rezone of 384.27 acres of land from the R-4 to the R-8
(144.78+119.28=264.06 acres), R-15 (76.93 acres) and C-C (43.28
acres) zoning districts.
5. Public Hearing for Apex Northwest (H-2020-0056) by Brighton,
Murgoitio, et al., Located at the Northwest Corner of S. Locust Grove
Rd. and E. Lake Hazel Rd.
A. Request: Preliminary Plat consisting of 120 residential buildable
lots, 11 commercial buildable lots and 14 common lots on 41.75
acres of land in the C-C and R-15 zoning districts.
6. Public Hearing for Apex Southeast (H-2020-0057) by Brighton,
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Murgoitio, et al., Located at the Southeast Corner of S. Locust Grove
Rd. and E. Lake Hazel Rd.
A. Request: A Preliminary Plat consisting of 237 residential buildable
lots, 2 commercial buildable lots, 30 common lots and 10 other
(shared driveway) lots on 81.63 acres of land in the C-C and R-8
zoning districts.
Simison: Okay. Council, I will call us back in from recess. The next item on the agenda
are Items 4 -- 4, 5 and 6, which are public hearings for Apex H-2020-0066, public hearing
for Apex Northwest, H-2020-0056, and public hearing for Apex Southeast, H-2020-0057,
and open all these public hearings with staff comment and turn this over Sonya.
Allen: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council. Dean. The next application before
you is a request for a modification to the existing development agreement, rezone, and
two preliminary plat applications. The rezone portion of the site consists of 384.97 acres
of land, generally located east of South Meridian Road and State Highway 69 and a half
mile north of East Columbia Road and a quarter mile south of East Amity Road. This
property was annexed as part of the South Meridian Annexation initiated by the city in
2015. The purpose of the annexation was to obtain easements and construct
infrastructure for extension of city water and sewer service in the southern portion of the
city. A placeholder zoning of R-4 was given to these properties and a development
agreement was required as a provision of annexation that is required to be modified upon
development of the properties. The Comprehensive Plan future land use map
designation for this property is 206 acres is designated medium density residential, 21
acres is designated medium high density residential, and 120 acres as mixed use
community. Afuture school site and city park is designated in the general area northwest
of the Locust Grove-Lake Hazel intersection, north of the MUC designated area. Another
school site is designated on the east side of North Locust Grove Road north of Lake Hazel
Road just north of the subject rezone area. A rezone of 384.97 acres of land from the R-
4 to the R-8 zoning district, which consists of 264.06 acres, to the R-15 district, which
consists of 76.93 acres and the C-C district, which consists of 43.2 acres, is proposed
consistent with the associated medium density residential, medium high density
residential, and mixed use community future land use map designations. Only 123.38
acres of land to be rezoned is proposed to be subdivided with this application. The
remainder will be developed at a later date. A master plan was submitted shown on the
right and it shows how the property is proposed to develop with single family residential
homes and two swimming pools, commercial office uses, a community center,
amphitheater, two school sites, a charter and an elementary school, and future
development areas with a conceptual street layout. A modification to the existing
development agreement is requested to replace the agreements with a new agreement
based on the master plan proposed with this application. In the MUC designated areas
where a concept plan isn't depicted, the development agreement is required to be
modified to include a concept plan prior to development of those areas to ensure future
development is consistent with the general mixed use guidelines and the mixed use
community guidelines specifically in the comp plan. Two separate preliminary plats are
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proposed due to the right of way for Lake Hazel and Locust Grove Road separating the
sites. The preliminary plat for Apex Northwest consists of 120 single family residential
building lots for the development of 88 detached and 32 attached dwelling units. All alley
loaded. Eleven commercial buildable lots and 14 common lots on 41.75 acres of land in
the R-15 and C-C zoning districts. The minimum lot size proposed is 2,863 square feet,
with an average lot size of 3,885 square feet. The gross density proposed is 5.62 units
per acre, with a net density of 11 .21 units acre. The subdivision is proposed to develop
in three phases as shown on the phasing plan. The preliminary plat for Apex Southeast
consists of 237 single family residential buildable lots, front and alley loaded, two
commercial buildable lots, 30 common lots and ten other shared driveway lots on 81.63
acres of land in the C-C and R-8 zoning districts. The minimum lot size proposed is 4,840
square feet, with an average lot size of 7,058 square feet. The gross density proposed is
3.75 units per acre with a net density of 6.17 units per acre. The subdivision is proposed
to develop in five phases as shown on the phasing plan. Overall a total of 357 single
family residential buildable lots, 13 commercial buildable lots, 44 common lots and ten
other lots are proposed between the two subdivisions at a gross overall density of 4.22
units per acre and a net overall density of 7.27 units per acre. There are no existing
structures within the boundaries of the proposed plats. The Northwest Williams Gas
Pipeline crosses the northeast corners of both subdivisions. The development within this
area should comply with the Williams Developers Handbook. No structures should be
located within the easement. And North -- and Apex Northwest, two public street
accesses are proposed via East Lake Hazel Road and two public street accesses are
proposed via South Locust Grove Road, both arterial streets. Collector streets, East
Crescendo Street and South Apex Avenue, are proposed in accord with the master street
map. In Apex Southeast three public street accesses are proposed via Locust Grove
Road and two public street accesses are proposed via Lake Hazel Road. Collector
streets, Tower Street, Vertex Way and Via Roberto Street are proposed in accord with the
master street map. Alleys are proposed for access to homes in Apex Northwest and local
streets, alleys, and common driveways are proposed to -- to access in Apex Southeast.
Cross-access, ingress-egress easements are required to be provided between all
commercial lots. The applicant has proposed to enter into a cooperative development
agreement with ACHD to improve Lake Hazel and Locust Grove Roads abutting the site,
with additional travel lanes, curb, gutter, planter strips and sidewalk with the first phase of
development. Multi-use pathways are required to be provided with development along
the south side of East Lake Hazel Road connecting Locust Grove Road to the pathway
and Discovery Park within the Williams Pipeline easement and as otherwise required by
the Parks Department in accord with the pathways master plan. A minimum of ten percent
qualified open space is required to be provided in each subdivision. Revised open space
exhibits were submitted that exceed the minimum standards. A total of 17.7 percent or
5.58 acres is proposed in Apex Northwest and 17.09 percent or 10.74 acres is proposed
an Apex Southeast. Based on the area of the Apex Northwest plat, a minimum of one
qualified site amenity is required. A gazebo is proposed and the Commission
recommended tables and benches are also provided to qualify as a picnic area amenity.
Based on the area of the Apex Southeast plat, a minimum of three qualified amenities are
required. A swimming pool, children's play equipment, and multi-use pathways are
proposed as amenities in accord with UDC standards. Several conceptual perspective
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building elevations were submitted for the proposed single family homes and the
commercial structures planned to be constructed in this development. Homes are a mix
of one and two story units, attached and detached, with building materials consisting of a
variety of siding styles and stucco, with stone and brick veneer accents. Final design is
required to comply with the design standards in the architectural standards manual.
Single family detached dwellings are exempt from design review standards. Because two
story home elevations that face arterial and collector streets are highly visible, the rear
and/or side of structures on lots that face these streets should incorporate articulation
through various specific means or other integrated architectural elements to break up
monotonous wall plains and roof lines that are visible from these streets. Single story
structures are exempt from this requirement. The Commission recommended approval
of these applications. Jon Wardle testified in favor. No one testified in opposition. The
following people commented. Stacia Morgan and Annette Alonso representing the
Southern Rim Coalition and written testimony was received from Julie Edwards. Key
issues were as follows: Opposition to the proposed rezone from R-4 to R-15 for the land
along Lake Hazel Road between Meridian Road and Locust Grove Road. Not against
higher density around commercial areas. And would like to see the zoning of the future
development areas remain R-4, rather than be rezoned to R-8. Belief that farmland and
open space should be preserved as much as possible. Concern the current school
system does not have the capacity to accommodate all of the students from this
development. Would like a moratorium placed on development that has not already been
approved to allow time for the school district and roads to catch up and to have time to
reevaluate how we want to use our dwindling remaining open spaces and farmland.
Concern pertaining to capacity of various schools and ability to accommodate more
students from this development and desire for the pathways provided to BlackRock
Subdivision for connectivity. Key issues of discussion by the Commission was the
concern pertaining to capacity of various schools and impact of the proposed
development on such. They were supportive of the proposed development, community
amenities, and associated improvements to Locust Grove and Lake Hazel Roads. The
Commission made the following change to the staff recommendation. Revised qualified
open space exhibits, depict qualified area less than ten percent that the amphitheater and
the commercial area be allowed to count toward the requirement through an alternative
compliance request to UDC 11-3A3. Since that time the revised open space exhibit
submitted by the applicant demonstrate that the project exceeds UDC standards, as I
previously mentioned, for qualified open space. There are no outstanding issues for
Council tonight and there has been no written testimony since the Commission hearing.
Staff will stand for any questions.
Simison: Thank you, Sonya. Council, before we go to any questions from staff, just to
note that Councilman Bernt has recused himself from this item. You may have noticed
he did not reappear coming back from our break. He does business with some of
Brighton's main customers and it is his tradition to typically refrain from participating in
applications regarding Brighton. So, with that any questions for Council -- or any
questions from Council for staff?
Bongiorno: Mr. Mayor?
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Simison: Deputy Chief.
Bongiorno: Continuing on with our discussion we had during the work session, Council
Woman Strader had asked questions about projects that reach outside of our five minute
boundary. This project is one of those. So, the northeast corner of both of these projects
-- Sonya, if you can go back -- or whoever is running the computer through -- the full site
plan. Both -- yeah. That one right there is perfect. So, the northeast corner of both of
those projects is where our five minute boundary touches. Everything else outside of that
is not in our five minute boundary. So, just those two single lots is in our five minute
response time. Everything else is outside this response time. So, I want to make sure
that that's clear. And, then, also the other thing that is a concern is the reliability rating of
Station 4, which Chief Niemeyer brought up earlier, from January through June of this
year the reliability rating for Station 4 is hovering around 76 percent -- 76, 77 percent.
And, then, on top of that the next due closest would have been Engine 14, which is also
the same -- it's the exact same reliability rating. So, I just wanted to continue that
discussion with this project to let you know that this project is outside of our five minute
boundary, except those two pieces of property.
Strader: Mr. Mayor, a question about that?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: So, if-- have you looked at how the development phasing plan aligns with your
timeline if you were to build an additional fire station in south Meridian? Does that match
up and what does that look like?
Bongiorno: Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Strader, if -- if this -- if Station 7 were completed,
it's right down the street and it would immensely help this project one hundred percent.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: To put a finer point on it, can you remind me the timeline of when that station
would be complete and describe how the phasing plan of this project would -- would work
with that. And maybe that -- that could be a question for the applicant as well later.
Simison: If we can have the applicant speak to the phasing plan. I think that there is a
scenario where you don't have funding to audit to staff a -- this station until fiscal year '23
at the earliest. So, if that helps from that standpoint, that puts it into that October of '23
time frame.
Strader: Yes. Thank you.
Bongiorno: Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
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Simison: Council, any other questions for staff at this time? Okay. Seeing none, I would
invite the applicant -- I think we are going to be represented by Mr. Wardle this evening.
Jon that is. We will turn this over to the applicant for 15 minutes.
Wardle: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Yes, Mr. Wardle.
Wardle: And I just switched over to --
Johnson: Mr. Wardle, if you are speaking we can't hear you.
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, can you hear me now?
Simison: Yes, we can.
Wardle: Great. Sorry about that. So much for technology on the desktop here. And can
you see my screen?
Simison: Yes.
Wardle: Great. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, thank you for the opportunity to be in front of you
tonight. For the record my name is Jon Wardle. 2929 West Navigator, Meridian, Idaho.
83642. With me here tonight -- and they can be available if we need them to, but David
Turnbull, Lars Hansen, Mike Wardle and Kody Daffer of our team. We are really excited
to have an opportunity to talk with you tonight about our community Pinnacle. Pinnacle
is a mixed use planned neighborhood at the intersections of Lake Hazel and Locust
Grove. It's unique when you have an opportunity to develop all four corners of a major
transportation system, but also have the ability to master plan a larger property within the
City in Meridian. Pinnacle will develop as a single integrated neighborhood and will
become a new town center for south Meridian. The applications before you tonight,
rezoning from the prior annexation, modification of the development agreement, and we
have one single project, but two preliminary plats, Apex Northwest and Apex Southeast,
which are bifurcated by Lake Hazel and Locust Grove. This red outline shows you the
two plats. We are providing you an overall master plan for the entire area, but we are
providing you with two plats here tonight. We have designed Pinnacle to be a mix of land
uses with multiple recreation opportunities and also a mix of home types. When we
started looking at the project and figuring out how best to approach this, not just from a
neighborhood design, but also for community design, we felt that the keys here were living
choices, educational offerings, neighborhood scale services, as well as outdoor and
social experiences. Like I mentioned, we have proposed -- or put in front of you tonight
two preliminary plats for 120 acres, but overall we have about 400 acres here
demonstrated in this master plan. We wanted to really consider not just what was needed
for Pinnacle as a neighborhood, but also the -- the needs of the broader community. Like
I said, we have living education services and recreation. I would like to walk through
those specifically. The first one are mobility choices shown here in both of these
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preliminary plats within Pinnacle. We have alley loaded homes. We have alley loaded
homes which are attached and we will have conventional homes, which we see
throughout Meridian and in some of our other neighborhoods that we have. One of the
key components and an item that is always high discussion is education. We take a
proactive approach -- and our first phone call whenever we are designing new
neighborhoods is to go talk with West Ada School District. We need to -- we want to find
out what their needs are and those needs are all often reflected upon your future land use
map and so we have designated a future elementary school just north of Apex Northwest.
We also are proposing with this application, although we will come in for a future
conditional use permit, a Gem Prep K through eight charter school, which will be located
in Pinnacle Southeast, very close to the corner with Discovery Park. That is anticipated
to be open by fall of 2022 and, like I said, it will be a public charter school, grades K
through eight. We are really excited about that opportunity to be able to bring education
to this part of Meridian sooner than later. One of the things that's also important are
neighborhood services which are of an appropriate size and scale. We are showing here
in the northwest corner of Pinnacle some of these smaller scale commercial -- which also
get a little bit more detailed related to our overall plan here, but these are intended to be
small offices, maybe medical services that relate to both the neighborhood and the
community as a whole. We will have some other services which are going to be quite
unique within our community center. One of the things that's really critical within any
community is providing that third space. We know that people go to work or school. We
know they have a home, but how do they interact with their neighbors and as we have
designed Pinnacle we -- we brought together some pieces here that are really critical to
allow the social outdoor experiences. We have an amphitheater and community center
right in the heart of Pinnacle. There are extensive trails, pathways, and there will also be
community pools and parks. In essence, we are creating a new town center for south
Meridian. I wanted to focus a little bit on the community center here and the amphitheater
area. It is within the commercial designated area within the mixed use future land use
map, but we really see it as a -- as an integrated part of the overall community. Just for
context, the amphitheater here, community center component, is about three and a
quarter acres. If you compare that to something that you are very close to right now, City
Hall, your City Hall and -- your campus is on 2.78 acres. Or another comparison is -- it's
the same as about three NFL football fields. So, that gives you the idea of what we are
creating here at the core of this community. I have some different illustrations here I
wanted to go through that show how this fits in the context of Locust Grove and Lake
Hazel and the overall south Meridian area. This is looking southeast over the
amphitheater towards the community center and you see Lake Hazel and Locust Grove
on both sides of this drawing here. This is if you were at kind of eye level looking
northwest from the community center into the amphitheater and, then, this one -- next
one gives you kind of an overall view of that same, but if you were up about 150 feet
looking down into it. This amphitheater is really designed -- and this is a great picture
here that really shows you the opportunities here. Right between the community center,
which is just off screen to the -- to the bottom there is a private road that has the ability to
be cut off -- cut off for community events, street fairs. We can bring in food trucks. But
this amphitheater component also has the ability to bring a lot of people together, provide
some opportunities for being outside, but maybe not right next to your neighbor, but brings
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some -- not only Pinnacle residents, but also the south Meridian residents into a place
that they can experience outdoor living and socializing with their neighbors. This is
looking at the community center, which fronts the amphitheater, and just another kind of
a shot that pulls away from that as well. This amphitheater is -- is a private idea that we
had. We were trying to come up with a way to create a central area. We know that it is
-- there are other things that could be done on it. I mean it is part of a commercial
designated location, but we felt like this open space would be super beneficial to do to
Pinnacle in south Meridian. Finally, here is another picture, if we were looking northwest
from the roundabout into Lake Hazel and Locust Grove. I want to touch really quickly
here -- this exhibit in front of you -- or this graphic is showing you the extensive trail
system. Of note, all of the sidewalks here will be detached. What's shown here in red
are intended to be ten foot pathways for parallel sidewalks on the collector-- or the arterial
roadways that will show some connectivity northwest to southeast to Discovery Park and
also create some other linkages into existing neighborhoods by crossing the laterals and
drains and things like that. We think that there is a great opportunity for both pathway
systems, wider sidewalks on arterial roadways, to bring people -- give them a sense of
comfort as they are moving through the community in a nonvehicular way and just quickly
here within the -- the project, to begin with, we have a lot of open space. We have pools,
parks, we have connections in Discovery Park through micro paths and so we are really
excited about the opportunity to create places for people to gather throughout Pinnacle.
So, as we -- as we started talking about what this was and really kind of the responsibility
that we have to design not just for Pinnacle, but also designed for the entire south
community -- south Meridian area, because we know there is a lot of interest out here
and this will set the tone. We started looking at what this really could be. The city has
other places throughout -- throughout the community that are designated. You have Old
Town. You have The Village. We have Ten Mile. There is a designation of The Fields,
there is going to be planning area. So, we started looking at that as well and we came
up with a phrase that we feel is appropriate, which would be the SO ME District, which is
the south Meridian area. This isn't just exclusive for Pinnacle, but this is really kind of a
designation tying in Discovery Park, tying in the parks, pathways, which will be created,
but also, you know, really inviting the south Meridian area to be part-- have its own identity
and we think that Pinnacle sets the tone for all of that. One of the key elements as well
that we know that is always of interest is transportation. We didn't really step away from
this. We actually came right towards it. Our solution on the transportation was to enter
into a cooperative development agreement with ACHD. What this really means initially
from the very start of the project -- instead of piecemealing an intersection and
piecemealing the arterial roadways, we are intending to build a five lane Lake Hazel
corridor. We will build a dual lane roundabout and, then, we will also build out Locust
Grove a quarter mile as well. These are really critical. We know that if we can make
improvements from day one at the intersection, the other arterial connections can extend
-- their lives are extended more, but these intersections are critical and by building the
ultimate roundabout from day one, we -- we feel like this gives a lot of transportation
growth in south Meridian. I want to -- just to kind of look at this really quickly. This is
looking at Locust Grove to the north, Lake Hazel to the left -- or to the -- to the west here.
The look of the street sections and what will be built here. This is Locust Grove. So, on
Locust Grove this would be looking due north. On the left-hand side is west. We will be
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building a ten foot sidewalk, which will connect in with the other trail system heading to
the northwest and that will also connect in with the ten foot sidewalks that would be built
on Lake Hazel, which is demonstrated here. Lake Hazel will have dual ten foot sidewalks
east and west and will provide those connections -- safe connection to the city park, but
also safe connection for people to move east and west and north into the future trail
system. Here is our vision for what Lake Hazel will look like. Coming out of the
roundabout there will be a split island. We -- we want to have that landscape. We want
to create a boulevard. The sidewalks on each side will be protected by a detached planter
strip with street trees. Another shot kind of to the north -- northeast, how that will look as
well into the community area. Looking from the roundabout again due west. This is
looking due east towards Discovery Park. So, that kind of handles -- or discusses some
of those transportation uses we are looking at right from the very beginning. As Sonya
mentioned, this is the rezoning, which as it relates to the overall concept master plan.
Really before you tonight, as mentioned, we have two preliminary plats. We have Apex
Northwest, which has a mix of alley loaded homes with attached and detached
commercial lots, the amphitheater, opportunity for neighborhood services and the creation
of that pathway system. Apex Southeast, 237 homes, two commercial lots, one of which
will be the future charter school. We do have a mix of R-8 and C-C zoning here as well
and connections directly into Discovery Park. As mentioned we are asking for a rezone,
modification to current development agreements, although we do have one project there
are two preliminary plats before you and the creation of the SO ME District, a new town
center for south Meridian. So, we do agree with all the conditions of approval. We don't
have any items that we are needing to discuss in front of you tonight. We are asking for
City Council approval of the zoning -- rezones, the preliminary plats and modification
development agreement as unanimously recommended by the Planning and Zoning
Commission. And with that I stand for any questions that you might have and our team
can jump in as well.
Simison: Thank you, Jon. Council, any questions for the applicant?
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: Jon, thank you for that excellent presentation. These are some really beautiful
renderings and it's fantastic to have some great visuals. I have some questions about
the traffic flow through on Lake Hazel. So, as we mentioned in the last application, there
has been discussion and I know there is no official planning that Lake Hazel is going to
become a main corridor through the valley and it seems to me like this area --the intention
would be to slow that traffic down and not have it be moving at high speed. So, help me
understand if you have a concern about that and, you know, how that might affect -- how
that might affect pedestrian activity and vehicle movement through your development. It
seems to me like the intention is to have all four quadrants to be integrated, but, then, to
have a high speed road through the middle of it. I'm curious your thoughts.
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Perreault, thank you for the question regarding how
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-- really how do roundabouts function. We have had a lot of experience recently with
roundabouts. I brought up this exhibit right here. Really the key is providing a safe place
for pedestrians to be able to cross in -- you know, perpendicular to the flow of traffic and
so that not only do they have a safe place to cross, but they have great visibility of the
traffic coming through. We actually are out here at Ten Mile where we have a dual lane
roundabout and the identical situation. ACHD does design these to be able to carry traffic,
but they are also designed to slow the traffic down and protect the residents or individual
pedestrians that will be walking through here. On either end of this, both at Meridian
Road and at Eagle Road, those will be signalized intersections and so it won't be a
continuous flow in either direction, but we do have this here. I think one of the benefits is
that -- it's the balance between protecting pedestrians, but also being able to move traffic
and get them -- get cars through, but also get pedestrians through. So, given our recent
experience with these and living with these and every day, we do feel comfortable about
the safety of them and the ability to get pedestrians back and forth across those roadways.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Thanks very much, Jon. I appreciated the presentation and the proactive
approach to putting in infrastructure and building the road improvements and trying to
bring a solution on the school front. Could you just confirm the seats that will be at Gem
Prep. Is it a possibility it may extend grade eight and the possible timing of the additional
school site?
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, Council Member Strader, thank you for the question. Gem Prep is
designed to have 550 seats. We have talked to them about whether they would expand
to a high school. They do -- they do offer high school. One of the things that they are --
at this particular charter school is they have looked at -- because they have several
different campuses -- is finding a way that they can bring high school students together,
because they do become smaller classes. We do not believe that they would do a high
school at this location, but we do know that they -- they are considering that perhaps at
another location where they could bring together students from other campuses into a
physical location with more -- more students.
Strader: Mr. Mayor --
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Strader: -- follow up.
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Just so -- I had read the 550 as well, so, you know, it appears that you are really
helping to solve a problem. I mean you are providing more seats than you are taking
initially. But for the -- can you kind of walk us through the total number of residences in
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the entire master plan? Like what are we looking at including future phases and maybe
some discussion later on timing of phases.
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, Councilman -- Council Member Strader, thank you for the question.
I mean in -- in reality we have a lot of property here that will be developed over time and
we know that these communities do -- they do bring families and they are looking for
those educational opportunities. We have here in front of you -- the area that's not
detailed would be about another 240 acres and there will be a variety of homes that will
be built in here. So, there is the potential that there will be more students that will -- I
mean there absolutely will be more students that come here. One of the things that having
Gem Prep at the very beginning, they give us that buffer, but there is also the opportunity
with a ten acre elementary school site for West Ada to provide some of that capacity as
well. So, it will be a balance. As you know we have been proactively looking for solutions
on how to find ways that this infrastructure can happen sooner. We will continue to be
involved in that. So, we are not -- we are not unaware of the concern, but we are doing
what we can to provide those schooling opportunities both in the short term and in the
long term.
Strader: Thank you.
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Cavener.
Cavener: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Jon, appreciate you being here with us tonight working
through those technical challenges that make these meetings so much fun. I wanted to
dovetail off of Council Member Strader's questions about -- about Gem Prep, because I
want to make sure that I'm clear on this. I couldn't recall any piece about it in the staff
report and I know it wasn't covered in P&Z. We have got a Gem Prep Academy already
in south Meridian off of Overland. My assumption is this is a new facility, not an intention
to relocate their campus into a broader university further south in Meridian.
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, Council Member Cavener, that is correct. It is an additional campus.
As you know, Gem Prep was also building a campus in northwest and they have -- they
want another campus here in the southeast. One of the really unique things about Gem
Prep is the coursework that they offer online as well and so we really felt like physical
location, plus the academic that they provide for those that may not be able to come to
the school, it was a key early on with the project here. So, the short answer is it is a new
facility, not a replacement of what they currently have.
Cavener: Great. Thanks for that clarification. Mr. Mayor, a couple other questions if I
may.
Simison: Councilman Cavener.
Cavener: Thank -- thank you, Mr. Mayor. Jon, this project is really -- I mean you know
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this is incredibly unique and I -- you and I have had other conversations in the past about
I really believe south Meridian is special and I think that this development really speaks
to how special Meridian is -- south Meridian in particular. I wanted to touch a little bit on
a couple of the amenities that you spoke about, particularly the amphitheater and the
community center. I know in many of the developments that you guys do they are -- they
are amazing. They -- they have pools and clubhouses that are really designed to -- for
the enrichment of your residents. My question is, you know, with the proximity of the
amphitheater to the major roads and this term community center, is there some intention
that it is for the community as a whole benefit or are these designed to be, you know,
enrichment for your residents only?
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, Council Member Cavener, great question. Thanks for the opportunity
to clarify what our intent is with this. We really see that this amphitheater commons area,
which is on the left-hand side of the screen, is really for the whole community. This is not
-- this is not exclusive. We really see that there -- there is a great benefit to bring a lot of
people, both residents who live here, people who are coming in for a street fair or a
farmer's market, whatever it might be, can be here. The element on the right side, the
community center, this really is kind of a hybrid. We -- we are not intending with this
community center at this location of putting a swimming pool in. We really see this as a
gathering place. We are going to have -- the mail delivery will be in house, so everybody
will come into the community center to get their mail. There could also be package
delivery there. We want to have a fully functioning cafe, which would be open to the
public. Give people an opportunity to come in, you know, grab something to drink, food,
whatever it might be. A business center. We do find that a lot of people want to get out
of their home. Right now they want to have someplace else they can go work. So, this
will be a business center with Wi-Fi enabled as well. But there definitely will be some
neighborhood or Pinnacle specific elements, which would be reserved for residents to
give them -- you know, maybe it's a larger space, but like we have done in other
communities, we have allowed those spaces open for use based on kind of an availability
perspective. So, some of those details, like timing or what all of those internal spaces
are, we are still working through those. But we are --we want this to be open. Councilman
Cavener, we want this to be a place where many people will come and be able --that you
really wouldn't notice who is there and who -- who shouldn't be there.
Cavener: Great. Thank you. Appreciate that.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Just a follow up regarding fire services. So, Jon, you may have heard from our
previous discussion we are trying to get going on another fire station in south Meridian.
It felt like that may not happen until, you know, October of 2023. So, how does that align
with your phasing plan? I think that might be helpful for us to understand.
Wardle: Perfect. Mr. Mayor, Council Member Strader, one of the -- I mean we -- we very
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much are well aware of that conversation. We have not come into this without considering
what that means. As noted by Deputy Bongiorno, the property is with -- it does touch the
five minutes, but there is a large portion -- there is portions of it which do not and we
recognize that. I think this would be a much different conversation if we didn't have fire
service anywhere near. I know that the city shoots for a five minute response time and,
then, the next threshold is seven. We definitely fit within that range. So, from a phasing
perspective, however, let me see if I can zoom this in. We will just go to this exhibit right
here. Our first phase will be in Pinnacle Southeast. So, you see where the future charter
school is, that is -- that touches the fire boundary right now, so the charter school and the
lots just to the south will be our first phase, which will be about 70 -- 70 to 80 homes,
including that pool and clubhouse element down to the south. Our first phase in the north
and the northwest will also be right along Lake Hazel, with direct access to both Lake
Hazel and Locust Grove. So, Council Woman Strader, we know we are on the border.
We know that those phases are --will be really critical to establish the infrastructure. Like
I mentioned before, get the roads built out and really I think that will be a huge
enhancement as well for getting fire out into those areas. If we can get that intersection
built at the very beginning of the project as they are expanding their services and we are
waiting for a fire station in 2023, they won't be contending with a cut up intersection here
either. So, we are trying to be proactive in that approach as well. This area is all zoned.
It's all been annexed into the city. We are modifying the rezoning, but we are trying to
work with your -- with the city, so that they can deploy effectively the impact fees to both
design and build the fire station here.
Strader: Mr. Mayor, follow up for the deputy chief.
Simison: Yes, Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Since we are on that topic. So, this is outside of the five minute fire response
time. What is the fire response time? Are we talking about an additional 30 seconds?
Are we talking about an additional minute? What are -- what are we really looking at? It
feels like it's on the edge and I just want to get some context and I'm assuming there is
mutual aid from another surrounding.
Bongiorno: So, Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Strader, it depends. Like Chief Niemeyer
was saying in our discussion earlier, when you throw time of day and you throw weather
into it, the response time can be different depending on the time of the year. So, again,
the five minutes, as Jon mentioned, is a goal. That is our goal is a five minute -- obviously,
time is of the essence when it comes to fire, police, EMS calls. So, going to the
intersection, going around the roundabout and, then, you know, heading north or south
takes extra time and so -- and, then, we have -- like I mentioned earlier, we have the other
problem where only 76 percent of the time is Station 4 available. So, the next closest
would most likely be Station 6 over -- all the way over to Overland and Meridian. So -- or
it would be Kuna fire if they happen to be out. So, now we are relying on our neighbor to
the south to cover this area if Station 4 is busy. So, I can't give you exact, you know, it
will take a minute and a half to get to the center of that project. It's hard to say, because
it's going to vary by their--you know, their phasing. Are they in the middle of construction?
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Is it wintertime? Too many variables to pin down an exact number.
Strader: Mr. Mayor, just to clarify.
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Yeah. I don't think I'm asking you to promise the Fire Department is going to
reach any -- any one place on any particular day on a sunny day within a certain time,
but, you know, you guys used some data, right, in the map of Meridian to generate the
area that you think most of the time is in a five minute response time and there was a
yellow colored area that I'm assuming six minutes one time. Where do these two sections
fall? Are they in a -- using one baseline that maybe it's a sunny day in November at 5:00
p.m., whatever you are looking at that's consistent, but what does this fall within, please?
Bongiorno: Mr. Mayor and Council Woman Strader, again, kind of what Mark covered.
It's all strictly just using GIS. It's using the main road, the most direct route to these areas
using just strictly speed, and, you know, we -- we have a policy in our department where
we can go ten over the speed limit if it is safe. So, I'm not going to say they calculated
that into it, but, obviously, you know, a short sprint going ten over for one mile is not going
to gain you a whole lot of time, but, you know, again, it's -- it was all driven off GIS and
that's -- that's where we got that data from when we created that --the Mayor's, you know,
five minute response goal map and, then, part of that map also, if you refer back to it,
there is a section where we added Station 7 and 8, the stations on the -- the two borders
-- and that was part of Mark's presentation -- or, sorry, Mark's presentation also, that --
that showed, you know, when we built those two fire stations these areas get colored in
green and we are good to go. So, again, it's -- it's the five minutes is a goal and we are
just touching the boundaries of these areas, you know, so I can't -- I can't promise that,
you know, everything is going to be okay, because it's hard to say.
Simison: Council Woman Strader, I think you are looking at five to six minutes. Typically
the further in you go on a collector road it takes a little longer. So, the shortest distance
by flight doesn't always mean the shortest distance by time or the quickest time. It just
depends on how they have to route to that within the internal part of the subdivision. But
I think you are looking five to six minutes typically in what would be proposed in phase
one. And, then, to follow up on your other conversation, Jon, I believe in your presentation
you indicated Gem Prep you were looking at opening in the fall of 2022 in phase one. So,
if -- if that's the case are you looking at -- for phase two would that be typically about a
year later that you would be looking to be active and open or six months, just to give
Council Woman Strader some confidence what might be built as of September 2023.
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, great question. So, let me go to the phasing first regarding what we
are doing. So -- so, yes, Gem Prep would be there by fall of 2022, but the residential
surrounding that directly on that collector road coming off of Lake Hazel, that's our first
phase and we would be our goal is to be building -- finishing development middle of next
year. So June we would have lots available. Home construction would occur. So, homes
probably be occupied the very end early 2022. In that area. Regarding the other phase
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in Pinnacle Northwest, one of the things that we -- we really feel strongly about is setting
the vision for the community at the very beginning. So, we intend to develop the area
right on Locust Grove and Lake Hazel, which would be our phase two, but it will be
following right after phase one and when I say right after, it's not a -- it's not a linear right
after, it's almost -- they are kind of happening concurrently. They won't both be available
at the same time, there will be a little bit of a gap, but they will both have homes available
in -- or lots would be available in 2021. In reality by the time that Fire Station No. 7 -- I'm
assuming this is seven -- or let's call it the south. By 2023 we probably would have 140
to 180 homes built. One of the things that I think is also important to note that there are
two different directions for Fire Station No. 4 to get to us, whether it's on Lake Hazel or
Locust Grove, they both have about the same distance, although I don't know which one
is a little bit farther. So, we aren't, quote, at the end of the road here, there are a couple
of different ways to get here and the fact that we are also developing right along these
arterial roadways gets pretty good access into the community at the very beginning.
Simison: Thank you.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Question for Mr. Wardle. Two very different questions. But to follow up on this
current discussion, Mr. Wardle, have you had a chance to -- you know, growth brings
impact and somehow we get impact fees and Fire is one of the impact fees we collect.
Any idea what the -- for -- for these two developments what that impact fee would be for
Fire?
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Hoaglun, I am on the impact fee committee. If my
recollection is correct, I think it's about 515 dollars per home for Fire and so in this project
with 340 homes, we would have 175,000 dollars right off the bat that would be generated
for this. One of the great things with --with the planning that has gone on with your impact
fees with Fire, Police and Parks, is they have -- they have anticipated this growth. They
are collecting fees for this. It's not just Pinnacle, but there are others out here that also
are generating fees, which go into the upfront design, acquisition of property, and the
construction of these facilities, which are really constructed by -- almost wholly by impact
fees. The operational site is General Fund. But the construction of these facilities are
impact fee eligible, including the equipment that goes in it. So, I think they are -- I think
the funds are -- are being collected. I know they are being collected. They are being
generated and the city has done a great job planning for how to support areas that are
already annexed and zoned currently by designating a site out here in south Meridian.
Hoaglun: And that's a good point, Mr. Wardle, Mr. Mayor, that, yes, you are not going to
carry the whole load on -- on the fire station and whatnot, that's already identified and the
land is there. We had an earlier discussion this evening about paying for that. We can
get things rolling and, then, how do we collect and what's coming in and there will be other
folks contributing to that fund that certainly impact that area. My second question that --
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like I said, is entirely unrelated and it's regarding a conversation I had with a resident of
south Meridian a couple weeks ago, completely unrelated to this site, but we were just
talking generally about the growth that's occurring in south Meridian and whatnot and, like
I said, he is a resident out there and he goes what I would really like is having a grocery
store closer to me and not having to drive to the north and without -- you don't have to
divulge any -- any top secret things and whatnot, but do you foresee some sort of major
retailer coming out at some point in time in those areas and whether it's home
improvement, grocery, other types of things?
Wardle: Mr. -- Mr. Mayor, Councilman Hoaglun, thank you for the question. Services are
important. We want to do what we can to bring -- allow people to stay nearby. In the first
part of this project, however, the commercial is really kind of neighborhood scale. We
don't -- we don't feel like a grocery store or something that would generate a lot of impact
-- this is the right place for it. However, with that said, we do have 80 acres on Lake Hazel
and Meridian Road which we really see that would be the location for some of that higher
automobile driven retail use that, you know, our residents definitely would go there, but
we also see the people elsewhere in south Meridian are also looking for these things. As
you know, the retailers are pretty savvy. They will follow where the growth is happening.
We do know that there is another grocery store that is planned, you know, at the other
corner of the Eagle Road and Amity. That will come at some point when timing is right
and we feel like we will have some retail that will come out here as well with Pinnacle as
-- you know, when it's built out and we bring in some other projects as well.
Hoaglun: Thank you, Mr. Wardle. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Simison: Mr. Wardle, I -- since I don't know if they are on the call and I'm sure you have
had conversations, but I know it's going to be a concern from our Parks Department as
we look at putting lights up -- more lights up on this park out in this area. I assume you
are well aware of that and that you will help educate potential homebuyers about that as
needed.
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, that's a good point regarding ball fields and lights. I think one of the
great things that you have right now is that it's already there and so people who are
moving in will be aware of that. Anecdotally, I live in a community that backs up to a high
school that has a lot of lights on it already. We -- we moved in there knowing that that
was going to be the case. We do -- though we are just aware of it and so that's a great
point. It -- it won't go unnoticed, but I think one of the -- the trade-offs, Mr. Mayor, is being
able to bring a great neighborhood close to an amenity that the city is already invested in
and so I think they are -- I think we are looking forward to being neighbors with the Parks
Department and continue our relationship there.
Simison: And it was more that only half the lights are in at this point in time and they may
or may not all be in there before you begin selling the lots. Just so that that's --
Wardle: Noted. Thank you.
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Simison: -- noted.
Wardle: Yes, we will -- yes. Thank you.
Simison: Council, any further questions for the applicant? Okay. This is a public hearing.
Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone signed up to provide testimony?
Johnson: Mr. Mayor, we do. We had no one online besides the applicant, but we have
three signed in in person, two wishing to testify. First is Christopher Loveland.
Simison: Okay. Please come forward and state your name and address for the record
and you will be recognized for three minutes.
Loveland: How much do I got?
Simison: Three minutes.
Loveland: Three minutes. Okay. That's what I thought you were going to say. Yes, my
name is Chris Loveland. I live at 224 East Prairie View Lane in the Shafer View
Subdivision. Thank you, Council, for being here tonight. This is my first attempt to
testifying in this manner, so you are going to have to excuse me for the whole basket of
thoughts that have been building up over several years as I watch our community grow.
My concern tonight all starts with this concept of cramming more houses into our
community, while failing with our roads and our schools. Of course, I'm not alone in this
concern and many of you have that same concern. As I communicate with my friends
and neighbors, they are not here tonight because they feel that they are not heard. As
we continue to see case in point, houses continue to be crammed into our -- into our
subdivisions and into our city. Many are frustrated, but we feel helpless to change that.
For that reason they are not here, but I'm going to try anyways. We have lived in south
Meridian for 12 years. My roots go back way further than that. Generations. We moved
back to Idaho after my schooling to raise my family here to the open space and beautiful
landscape. With all the great people that live here -- I have lived all over the world. My
dad grew up here. He left with us, we moved all over the world, came back, went to Boise
State, married my wife, went off to school, we came back. We live now in the Shafer View
Subdivision that have one plus acre lots for each home and many of the surrounding
homes have several acres each. All of this area surrounding us is R-8 and R-4. My
understanding is that when that land was sold that it would be at least R-4. We bought
our house with the plan in place that we would have neighbors. We are not naive that we
will -- that we weren't going to have neighbors, but we were hoping that it would be
according to the plan as originally drawn. We love our open space, but we do look forward
to future friends. We did not anticipate, however, littering the landscape surrounding us
with homes and concrete, asphalt, where you can't even see the grass on the ground
and when I talked to friends who moved here in the last several -- last few years, they
think Idaho is an area where you can buy a little land for your kids and grandkids. They
are surprised at the lack of property and are told by developers that, quote, there is no
money in large lots and, quote, no one wants a larger lot anyway, closed quote. They
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don't come to our area hoping for the same cramped situation they just left somewhere
else. As the area grows we seem to be changing, clustering, cramming more and more
homes into smaller spaces. Homes are so close together today that they can be often
mistaken as one home. I don't think that that was the original plan with Idaho. It was our
original -- it was not our original plan for coming back to Idaho. We love the open spaces
and beautiful landscape. And as I mentioned my grandpa, he used to own the store just
down the street here. My dad's dad. Just a few blocks away. I don't understand the
reason for cramming more and more homes in, unless there is another reason someone
can tell me. Perhaps it's financially driven. I -- let's see. How much time do I have left?
Simison: You are out of time. Go ahead and wrap up.
Loveland: Okay. I appreciate what Brighton is trying to do with Pinnacle with the
amphitheater, the community. I commend them for those plans. But we are hiding the
fact that we are cramming a lot of people to a small area. It is said to be an area for
community. Where is the parking for all those individuals? Whereas I see future plans
for schools, but we often see people move into communities -- case in point Century Farm
and you go to sign your kid up for school and before the subdivision is even done the
school is already full and you can't even sign your kid up and you end up busing them
across the city. So, this south Meridian, a quiet place with open spaces, is becoming a
cramped place. I don't understand the reason behind it. I -- I propose we -- we do not
change the -- our zoning designation, that we leave it as is, and if we are going to change
anything, let's open more land. We have plenty of subdivisions with small crammed in
lots. Let's provide some Idaho larger lots and let's stop cramming in. So, thank you for
your time and consideration.
Simison: Council, any questions? All right. Thank you.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, real quick? Mr. Loveland. Since you made the effort to come, I do
want to ask you a question. What's the value of your -- your home and lot right now?
Loveland: The value?
Hoaglun: Yeah. What -- what does the Ada county assessor say? It might be something
different than you could sell it for, but --
Loveland: Yeah. Yeah. And if we were selling that would be helpful. Honestly, I don't
know, because I -- I'm not in the market to sell. We plan on -- I have bought here, I want
to stay here my whole life. Raise the -- we have six kids and we have raised -- raised --
three of them are leaving, so we are going to be here a long time. Hopefully
grandchildren.
Hoaglun: Yeah. Well -- and you raise a great point. That's the difficulty we are trying to
balance here, because I just had kids who were on the market looking for a home and
they can't -- you know, things were just going out of sight and that's the dilemma we find
ourselves in is, you know, we -- if we go to single family homes, people in the market
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starting out, or even older folks wanting to downsize and so that's -- that's the tough --
tough dilemma. So, you touched on it, you know.
Loveland: Yeah.
Hoaglun: I wish everyone could have -- I got a single family home with a nice lot and you
do, too, and that's great. Love it. And, unfortunately, times have changed. So, how do
we -- how do we allow people the affordability to live in Meridian, because it is a great
place, and not feel so crammed in, but at the same time having an amenity. So, it's a
tough one. So, I appreciate you talking about that and making sure we keep this
community a wonderful place, so --
Loveland: Yeah. Thank you.
Hoaglun: There is no easy answer to it.
Loveland: And I agree with you. I think that we need to provide those opportunities for
people that are just entering. I have some children in that situation, but I have many many
friends who don't have the opportunity to buy one acre lots, because they don't exist.
They are not out there. And why is that? Why don't we have them? And it starts right
here. So, thank you.
Hoaglun: Thank you.
Simison: Question somewhat for the applicant. Just out of curiosity, because this is --
this is the push and the pull. If you were to spread your density out over the entire area,
do you have what that calculation would be? Obviously you are under no obligation to do
schools or any of-- a lot of what you have proposed, but if you were to spread it out what
-- what does your density equal out to? If you don't know that's okay, it's just a --
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, I -- can I just clarify. Are you asking about what the density would be
on an R-4 zone?
Simison: If you took all the homes you are proposing and you spread it out over the areas
where you are not proposing homes because you are doing other things, what that density
would equate to in this area. And that's a hard question and it's -- you probably haven't
done the calculations.
Wardle: Right -- right now we have 120 acres in these two plats that are before you and
we are 350 -- 357 homes. So, it's really less than three units per acre right now on -- on
these parcels.
Simison: With the -- with the amount of investment in the other things from that
standpoint.
Wardle: Yes.
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Simison: All right. Thank you.
Wardle: That is correct.
Simison: Mr. Clerk, who is next on our signup?
Johnson: Mr. Mayor, next is Marcella White.
Simison: State your name and address for the record and you will be recognized for three
minutes.
White: Okay. My name is Marcella White. My address is 6180 South Tarrega Lane,
Meridian, Idaho. Our property will be shared with the Pinnacle Subdivision and I guess
my main -- and I -- it's beautiful. I love everything they are proposing. But I am -- I am
kind of with Mr. Loveland here, I feel like the homes are -- or the lots -- the R-15. But I
can see the R-4 and the R-8 even, but I feel like there is people -- I heard you say it earlier
that Meridian -- south Meridian is special; right? I agree with that. And I have lived here
my whole entire life, so -- my parents moved here 50 years ago. I'm older than that. So,
I have raised all my children, but now I have grand -- my children want to locate here and
-- and I feel like there is a need to have a little bigger lots. I think there is people that want
them and not just -- you know, I don't know what R-15 is. I'm assuming it's patio homes
or townhomes or apartments or something. I just feel like I would like to keep this area
special and just a little bigger home lots that -- and I know things are high and expensive,
but I feel like there is a need, that people want to have a little bit more space, myself
included. I live on nine acres, so I still have a little cushion there. But I feel like if we just
keep -- and it's a beautiful -- the Pinnacle -- this common area or this community center,
it's beautiful, but I feel like the people -- I don't know. I mean that's nice and Discovery
Park has been great. I use it. I -- I have been running around it since it's been being
formed, so -- and I'm excited for parkways -- or the pathways and stuff. I just really am
against R-15. Mainly that's why I sat here for three hours, because I really don't like sitting
that long, but I would really like to see those be a little bigger lots and everything else.
think -- I know we have to have growth. I'm neighbors with Meridian. I have lived in my
home for over 29 years. So, I have -- you know, I have watched this emerge and, then,
my parents just live down the hill on Locust Grove and Amity. So, I have lived here my
whole entire life, but -- and I know we have to have growth, but I would like to see it stay
special and maybe not be so dense and just maybe a low -- lower density. Thank you.
Simison: Council, any questions? Thank you.
Johnson: Mr. Mayor, that was it for the advanced signup.
Simison: Okay. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to testify on this
application or anybody online?
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
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Simison: Is that -- Mr. Cavener. Yes.
Cavener: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just bring to your attention -- and maybe the clerk has
seen it and maybe you have already caught it, but it appears there is -- there is a hand
raised. It's now disappeared, but it was raised not two seconds ago. I'm not sure if there
was someone that still wanted to testify.
Johnson: Mr. Mayor, Mr. Cavener, thank you. We were getting people in the room and,
then, I was moving that person and we do have Julie Edwards now.
Simison: Okay. And if there is anyone else who would like to testify on this item, please,
do so by raising your hand at the bottom of the icon on the Zoom application. But if -- if
Julie is ready we can recognize her for three minutes. Just state your name and address
for the record.
Edwards: Hello. Can you hear me?
Simison: Yes. Julie, are you there?
Edwards: Hello. Can you hear me?
Simison: Yes, we can.
Edwards: Okay. Sorry about that. I actually just pulled over in a parking lot. So, there
is a couple of things that I wanted to mention and comment --
Simison: Julie, if you can state your name and address for the record, please.
Edwards: Oh, I'm sorry. My name is --
Cavener: I think she muted herself.
Simison: Yeah. Julie, we lost you.
Edwards: Okay. I'm back.
Simison: Okay. So, try it again. Name and address for the record.
Edwards: Okay. My name is Julie Edwards. Address is 1310 East Mary Lane in Meridian.
Simison: Thank you. Julie, we lost you again if you are speaking.
Edwards: Are you there?
Simison: We are here. Yes.
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Edwards: I'm so sorry about this. So, I just wanted to mention first off with zoning, I have
-- I know that the northern area there is zoned R-4 now and they are looking to turn that
into R-8 and I know that there is R-15 as well. My concern, like the other folks who are
in Shafer View and I'm not sure where the other one person lives -- is also a concern
about overgrowth and I think that with the zoning plan that's happening now, it just seems
that the growth is -- is, you know, give an inch, take a foot, you know. So, it's R-4, these
are -- I live -- I have some acreage as well and, you know, there are people who still want
that. We -- you know, we raise cattle. Our children are working on our, you know, small
farm and it's -- that's why we moved here years ago. However -- so, I have noticed
comparing the future land use map, there are other subdivisions in this area, BlackRock
and Mesa something, Century Farms as well, that in the future land use map they are
zoned low density and I haven't gone around and counted and measured, but aerially it
doesn't look low density, it looks at least medium density. So, I'm just not sure why --
Cavener: I think she muted again.
Simison: Yeah. We lost you again, Julie.
Edwards: Okay. Sorry about that. I don't know why it keeps muting. Can you hear me?
Simison: Yes.
Edwards: Oh. Okay. So -- so, just to follow the future land use map a little more
thoroughly. I see subdivisions that are at higher capacity than I think they should be. So,
that's what -- I would like to see the zoning stay R-4. You know, if -- if it's R-4 and they
want R-8, you know, maybe rather than eight homes per acre we could compromise and
say six, you know, something so it's not the extreme. As far as pools, I have heard the
West Ada School District say that, you know, whatever developers come in we just say,
yeah, we will fit those kids in. We will find a place for them. We will fit them in. But when
you look at their website they are planning -- or they have planned eight schools by 2028.
Well, that's probably impossible, because they would have to build at least a school a
year, which means the people have to give the two-thirds majority vote in order to get that
school. So, while it's gracious that Brighton is allowing the space to be created, they are
not funding the school -- the building of the school, which doesn't help out the district at
all, unless we impose the impact fees for schools from development from now on. Green
space. I have noticed them --
Simison- Julie, if you can wrap up, please.
Edwards: Sure. I have noticed the green space. I hope green space -- I have seen in
Century Farms there is some water retention areas and I hope that's not included in green
space. I feel like the roundabout at the intersection of Lake Hazel and Locust Grove, five
lanes, four lanes heading east-west, I wouldn't feel comfortable having my kids walk, ride
bikes -- which there will be plenty of children walking and riding bikes from the Discovery
Park to their home. That's just too much traffic for me and a roundabout with multiple
cars traveling, you know, side by side, maybe one driving faster than the other, the child
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goes to cross, gets hit by the other car. So, I would like to keep Lake Hazel to three lanes
if possible and there is more than that, but I know other people need to speak, too.
Simison: Thank you.
Edwards: Thank you for your time.
Simison: Council, any questions?
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Maybe just a comment. Thanks -- thanks for coming and testifying. You know,
we do take it to heart. I think what's different here -- and, hopefully, you caught this piece
-- was that they are -- they are going to be including a 550 seat public charter school and
in my mind that -- that's kind of the bar that needs to be cleared as developers -- we are
actually trying to help fix problems with school overcrowding in this area, because as to
your point, we have a severe overcrowding issue, but I just wanted to mention that. Does
that change your concern on the school front, Julie?
Edwards: Can you still hear me?
Simison: Yes.
Strader: Yep.
Edwards: Okay. It actually doesn't, because there was an article about the Pinnacle
Subdivision a few weeks back and it said -- I know he was hesitant to give you the number
of homes that were in that subdivision and the article stated 2,000 homes, you know, mix
of -- mixed use homes. Some single family, apartments, whatnot. So, I think that 550
students attending that Gem Prep, yeah, that's great for -- for starters, but as the other --
the homes -- as the other homes are built, as he said, they are going to start to be
simultaneously built, I just don't see any room for 2,000 homes when you have Lavender
Heights going in, you have Greycliff I think going in. They are still finishing Century Farm.
And I just think there is such a massive amount of homes going in and my kids last year
had 30 -- 33 and 34 kids per class in their elementary school and I think it was stated that
25 is about -- you know, nationally or something that -- that that's about a good level for
parents -- or I mean teacher-student ratio I guess for learning. So, they were way over
that and you can sense that in the classroom and in their learning experience as well, so
-- I mean while I think Gem Prep going there is interesting and I just don't see --you know,
leaving room for a school -- again, I said that's gracious. I don't know what their
agreement is, but I have read in the rezoning that, you know, if -- if -- if the builders do
leave room -- room for schools and parks and whatnot within their community, then, they
are allowed to bump up their residency -- residences, you know, so rather than eight
homes per acre maybe they can bump it up to nine or ten, because they are doing a favor
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to the city and -- you know, I mean I don't know where West Ada -- where they will get
that money to build that school to fill that, you know, 2,000 homes if each home has one
child that's an entire high school, you know.
Strader: Thank you. No doubt we need to understand the future. Appreciate your
comment.
Simison: Council, any further questions for Ms. Edwards? Is there anybody else who
would like to provide testimony on this application at this time? Hearing and seeing none,
I will turn this back over to the applicant for final remarks.
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, thank you very much. I'm going to just make a couple of comments
and, then, let David Turnbull talk for a few minutes as well. It's a -- it's an interesting
question on growth and what that really means. The future land use map that I have
shown here -- and I have actually put the outline of the Pinnacle community that -- that
we are presenting to you tonight, this -- the future land use map, although it was recently
re-adopted, this land pattern has been on the city's plans for a long time. We have been
a landowner out here for a long time and been anxiously engaged in that process. The
city approached us back in 2015 and 2016 looking for a way to get sewer extended out
here and in order to do that they provided a holding zone and the holding zone was the
R-4 zone. In that development agreement was anticipated that these properties would
rezone in the future, something that would match up with the future land use map, but we
need to demonstrate what that looks like and that's what we have for you now. We have
a future land -- we have a concept plan. We are providing the zoning for that and giving
you a vision of what this community will now be as we really invest back in the community.
The sewer, although it is extended to our property, we actually are extending it another
mile nearly to get the project going. We are committing to building a roundabout -- a dual
lane roundabout and building out the roads ultimately for their future plans that ACHD has
for the area. We know that schools are a big issue. A big topic. We are not blind to that.
We are very well aware of it. Brighton has made investments in schools and education
throughout Meridian and West Ada for a long time and we will continue to do that. But
one of the things that we are really proud about is being able to provide an educational
opportunity sooner than the public could offer it and it's going to be privately funded. This
is not a publicly funded facility. Ultimately the education piece of it will be, but the facility
will be built by private funds. We are really anticipating that this will set the tone not only
for what Pinnacle will be and how we develop it, but it will set the tone for south Meridian
as a whole. Create the SO ME District, so that we can create places for both the residents
of Pinnacle and the community at large to come here, live and recreate and socialize. I'm
going to give David a moment to talk and, then, we can stand for any questions that you
might have.
Turnbull: Thank you, Mayor, Members of the Council. David Turnbull. 2929 West
Navigator. I just wanted to take a moment to actually compliment our team. I think Jon's
done an excellent job of presenting this. But what you don't see is the behind the scenes
work that goes into a project like this. We bought -- we started buying property out in this
area 14 years ago. We have been looking at this for all that time and we probably really
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started serious development planning a couple of years ago and if you saw all of the
charrette material, all of the different plans that we have gone through and torn up and
gone through and torn up and, then, we finally arrived on what we think is really going to
be a marquee project here and I gave our team a lot of leash. You know, Lars Hansen is
here. Lars is our -- you know, in a lot of ways Lars is a creative genius and this whole
amphitheater and the community center idea was his creation and as Jon mentioned, this
is a community asset. There are a lot of ways you -- you have observed the way
developers try to probably maximize return. We don't think of it in those terms. We -- we
think of our development obligation in terms of how are we maximizing return to the
community and this is just one of those ways. So, yeah, we could take out seven percent
of our open space and meet the minimum. We could attach the sidewalks and save a lot
of money there. But that's not what maximizes the value of what we create. I appreciate
the comments of the people that showed up to testify. I think they have a
misunderstanding of what the Comprehensive Plan has always detailed and we have
worked with your staff about -- based on this Comprehensive Plan to tailor it to the
Comprehensive Plan. I think what we have created here is actually pretty spectacular
and I just want to note that, you know, to the best of my knowledge I think we are probably
the only developer that is proactively addressing school capacity and transportation
capacity issues the way we are. I had conversations in the past how we get a little bit
wary of doing this upfront work and, then, other developers come tag along and piggyback
on the capacity that we helped create throughout the community. So, I hope that you can
appreciate the effort we go through when we submit an application like this and I just want
to compliment our team once again. With that we will stand for any questions.
Simison: All right. Thank you very much. Council, I'm going to say something that's
going to shock you all in a certain way, but in this case I don't mind a roundabout. I will
say this, though. I would prefer a one lane roundabout in this location, because I do think
it ultimately takes away from the walkability of this area personally. I would love to see
this road be two lanes through this area. I know that's not going to happen though. But
just as a general proposed -- rule I think they have created something really unique. We
don't know what's going to happen on a couple of corners to see how the rest of it would
integrate, being the pedestrian connections from that standpoint and, unfortunately, this
is what happens when we have mile line section roads, how it can sometimes impact
what could be something really really special, instead you got to put a four lane road in
between it. I digress.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: Thank you, gentlemen, for your patience in answering our many questions.
do have a specific question about Gem Prep. I'm familiar with some of the other public
charter schools in the area, but not with Gem Prep specifically. So, I'm wondering if it's
set up on a lottery system like some of the other charter schools and, if so, and if that --
that being the case I assume, since the public is open to anybody in the -- in the district,
it's not -- there is not boundaries -- geographic boundaries, so how is there an assurance
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that the residents of this neighborhood will have access to Gem Prep versus students
from another area if it is a lottery system?
Wardle; Mr. Mayor, Council Member Perreault, that's a great question. Actually, in the
case of Gem Prep and charter, there -- there are two boundaries that they draw. One is
a boundary that is directly -- you know, they draw a boundary fairly close around where
they are going to be, so that they have that opportunity to draw from students that are
nearby. So, they would be priority on the lottery system. If those seats are not filled, then,
it is opened up to a broader range and, then, that repeats itself year after year after year.
So, we have worked very closely with them to draw boundaries that are -- you know, they
work in this south area, not just Pinnacle, but in the direct area, so that, you know,
neighbors, homeowners, residents will have an opportunity to attend here. But clearly we
have worked with them on drawing a boundary that would create priority for this area.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: Maybe just a comment and an opportunity for the applicant to comment as well.
I -- I have to compliment you. I agree I have not seen developers be this proactive on
building roads, extending infrastructure, and there is a reason -- I mean this is part of the
limits of the city and so, you know, when you have a ten acre property chances are you
are not connected to city sewer, et cetera. But I -- I appreciate the additional capacity
being added by Gem Prep, but it certainly doesn't mean that future phases aren't going
to have similar problems. I just think it would be helpful for the public to hear that you are
still going to be laser focused on school capacity and helping, you know, to be as proactive
as you can in future phases given the size of this development.
Turnbull: I will address that a little bit. So, with the Gem Prep with 550 seats -- I assume
the elementary school is going to be around 650 seats. We have already included 1 ,200
seats into our plan. If you took the -- you know, one of the previous ladies that testified
talked about 2,000 homes. Yeah, we have other property out in this area. There will be
future applications. This isn't the end of opportunities for school facilities. But if we just
took a 2,000 unit number, which I don't know if it's accurate or not, but -- and multiply that
by the number of students that would be -- .8. -- yeah .8 is -- is total. That includes high
school. So, high -- setting aside high school, we probably have already created enough
K through eight just in the few sites that we have to accommodate our development. Now,
we are not naive enough to think that it's just going to be our development, but, you know,
other developers in this area are going to have to step up to the plate, too. I guess we
are counting on the Council to hold other people's feet to the fire instead of having it all
fall on us every time, so -- but, you know, there will be future applications. It will be viewed
under the same lens. So, what --what are we doing for transportation, what are we doing
for school capacity. So, I think we have demonstrated our track record that we have
addressed those issues and proactively.
Strader: Thank you.
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Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, I think it was Mr. Wardle who said it -- that this will set the tone for
south Meridian and it certainly does. As they were going through their presentation I
thought, yeah, this -- this is a high bar and that's what we need, because the growth is
going -- growth is going to occur out there.
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Hoaglun: Is this -- is this less or more?
Simison: They had a hard time hearing you.
Cavener: Yeah. I think it was maybe Mr. Hoaglun, but we couldn't hear anything. Sorry.
Hoaglun: I switched microphones. How is this?
Cavener: Much better.
Hoaglun: Okay. Okay. Is this less is more type of deal, Chris? Okay. And you don't
need to see me, because nothing to look out there. And, Mr. Wardle, you said this will set
the tone for south Meridian and looking at it I was very impressed with -- with the -- with
the community center, with the amphitheater area, the open space. It certainly does and
I guess maybe for Mr. Turnbull, the question is can you maintain this. You know, this is
the first of much more to come and will this be something that we can still point people to
and say this is what -- this is what you need to be doing. When developers come and
say, well, how come this wasn't approved or you are not happy with this. You know, I
would like some assurances that, yes, you will -- you will keep setting that bar high as you
continue to develop the area.
Turnbull: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Council Member Hoaglun, I think that -- I don't want to
be -- I don't want to give anybody the effect that we think that we are -- you know, we do
everything right. We make mistakes. We learn from things that we have done in the past.
But -- but I can't point to a project that we have done where I think we actually weren't
doing the best thing that was -- that was being done at that time. We learn from every
project. We -- we incorporate elements and lessons learned and we put them into the
next project. So, that is a continual evolution of continuing to try to get better and better
and advance the quality of development in Meridian. I think many of you are aware of a
conversation I had with Mayor Tammy -- I don't know how long ago it was. Probably 20
years ago where I said, you know, Tammy, take a look at your location. The question is
not whether Meridian is going to grow, it's going to be how is it going to grow. What's
going to be the quality of that growth and so we continue to advocate for development
standards that will position the city and its residents and I think we have done a pretty
darn good job of that. So, yes, in answer to your question as we continue to bring
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development forward in this area -- this won't be the last application -- we want to be
measured against that same standard and we will continue to provide a premier
development for the City of Meridian.
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: I apologize if this was already asked and answered. This is a lot to take in. A
big project to -- to think about all the parts. With the phasing of the -- the Northwest and
the Southeast are -- is one area going to be primary? So, are you going to focus on the
Southeast first and the Northwest later or are you going -- are you planning on working
on both phase one in both quadrants at the same time? Can you go over that -- the two
applications in relationship to one another and how they will be phased?
Wardle: Mr. Mayor, Council Member Perreault, thank you for the question and the
clarification. As we -- as I did mention, we do -- we will be starting in the Southeast, but
we will also be following almost simultaneously in the Northwest. So, we will have a
variety of living opportunities and be able to get the charter school before you sooner than
later, but also execute on the amphitheater and community center at the very beginning
of the project. So, there will be in the Northwest that first phase will probably be about 20
acres, ten of that will be residential and ten of it will be the community center and small
neighborhood services and amphitheater. Starting in the Southeast we probably will have
about 25 acres of that, which will include the charter school and close to 80 homes as
well. So, those will be going kind of at the same time. But our emphasis is starting
Southeast, followed up, just like I said, almost at the same time in the Northwest.
Perreault: Thank you.
Simison: Council, anything further or a motion?
Perreault: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Perreault.
Perreault: I wonder if maybe this would be a situation where we might leave the public
hearing open if we have more questions for the applicant during our deliberation.
Simison: I leave it to Council.
Cavener: I'm good with that. That way a Council Member doesn't try to close the public
hearing twice.
Simison: I will go to --
Borton: Mr. Mayor?
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Simison: Yeah. I was going to say, Mr. Borton, you have been quiet, so -- I think we have
heard from everybody else.
Borton: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just listening and taking it all in. A lot of preparation in
getting ready for today's hearing, reviewing the materials, and it's a large complex
application, but I think starting with the comp plan and what's been intended down there
is something that I started my focus and review on and the staff report summarizes it
pretty well. This project, in my mind, does check off all the boxes. It provides the variety
of amenities, some of which are extremely unique. A large project like this has an
opportunity to do unique things and that opportunity can be skipped, but this application
seemed to capture that and try to -- to go above and beyond, to be unique in how it
provides the amenities within it, the community center and amphitheater that we are
looking at right now is just an example. The comp plan in review talks about a principle
of diverse housing opportunities. I think this plan as a whole hits that one as well. A lot
of good discussion on addressing school capacity and -- and transportation --
transportation capacity. Really important topics for us and I think this application was very
proactive in addressing both of those concerns in ways that we don't see other applicants
being able to do. So, I commend the applicant with those efforts as well. I think in review
and in hearing the comments today and in looking at my notes, it's --this master integrated
community -- community plan, the town center, trails and pathways, there is reference --
Jon referenced social and outdoor experiences. There is a lot of things that -- that this
large scale development does in a very unique and positive way that I -- I agree with Mr.
Turnbull in describing it as providing value for the region as a whole. So, listening --
excuse me -- listening to the questions from fellow Council Members -- excuse me --
helped -- helped me gain even more comfort with this application. I think the rezone --
it's what's been planned in the comp plan and the future land use map for a number of
years. That wasn't changed recently. We are -- we have a desire to now hold true to it,
so I think it allows us to do it. So, the long and the short of it is, Mr. Mayor, I'm very
supportive of this application as presented, having walked through all the requirements
to make something like this -- this large scale development be successful. I think it's
going to be a gem for south Meridian and I'm supportive of it.
Strader: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Council Woman Strader.
Strader: I agree. I think that's perfect -- perfectly said. I think that Brighton's done a
beautiful job with this. I appreciate them being proactive. I continue to be concerned
about the education issue and the overcrowding and I think it's good for other developers
in south Meridian to hear this is the bar that it takes to clear I think to get a large scale
development approved in south Meridian and my expectation is that other developers are
going to be part of helping to solve community problems and be real partners in the
community. So, I just wanted to say that. But I like this project. I think it's a unique
opportunity and I think it's a much better outcome having this big master plan than having
smaller individual developments that are not integrated with this mix of uses and different
amenities. So, I am also supportive.
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Simison: As someone who has --
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Oh, Mr. Cavener.
Cavener: Please. You live in south Meridian, too. So do I. 1 would love to hear your
thoughts.
Simison: Well, I was just going to suggest two -- two things is that, you know, creating
community is hard and, you know, I think that Brighton's track record just in south Meridian
is one that shows that they care about creating places and not just building homes. You
know, I know -- I understand that the -- there is issues with density. Nobody likes density
to a certain extent, although I wish I sometimes had a smaller lot than I currently have,
because density creates yard work and that's not my favorite thing to do. But, you know,
in -- in somewhat jest and somewhat seriousness, I encourage Mr. Turnbull to turn Lars
loose a little bit more on -- when you have that opportunity on -- on these, because I do
think that what you have presented is a very innovative way to look at an intersection of
-- how you are incorporating the intersection components with two separate sets of
communities. I had no idea what will go on the other corners, but it is a real testament to
allow your team to see what they can put together and, essentially, create a space for the
community. My one concern in this is, you know, if everyone's mailbox is in that one
location, what's your traffic pattern going to be like at 5:15 four--four days a week coming
through that space, so -- and half joke, half serious, I don't know what that really looks
like, how that flow moves through that area, but overall I think it's a great project, but if
you haven't thought about that -- maybe you already have -- think about that and maybe
everyone is just going to walk there at the end of the day, because that's where the ice
cream shop is. I don't know. So, Councilman Cavener, your south Meridian comment.
Cavener: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. You captured -- much of Council has a lot of my thoughts.
You know, I keep coming back to -- as a -- as a body we often find ourselves wrestling
with two major categories, impact on schools, impact on our roads, but I think both of
those are kind of just underlying issues about probably the overriding philosophy that our
community is facing, which is that of just growth in general and should we grow, should
we not grow, where is it okay to grow, where is it not okay to grow and for me, as
somebody who grew up in Meridian and now lives in south Meridian, I remember a time
where our only choice of housing was a big house on a big lot or a small house on a big
lot and as buyers' demands and needs have changed and evolved, the free enterprise
has evolved with that, and that's why when I look at Pinnacle, it's -- I think it's a showcase
piece for community to show how diverse housing can work together, to the Mayor's point,
to create community and I think the applicant has done a masterful job of addressing the
two main factors that we wrestle with and so it really just boils down to some of the
comments that we heard from, you know, the public tonight about is it okay to grow there.
Big lots with agricultural use having our community kind of grow against their border and
that's a philosophical debate that we could do for weeks and never come to a conclusion.
So, for me it comes back to the -- I think the -- the most creative approach to having four
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corners that I have seen in our community and you look across the nation, I mean they
are given this amazing canvas and they created something really creative, something that
whether you live in south Meridian, like the Mayor or 1, or even in north Meridian or in
another community in the Treasure Valley, you can look to and be proud of that. So, I'm
supportive of the application. The boxes that we sometimes check as Council and we
look at, I think they have checked in spades, but, moreover, they have created a project I
think that we can really be proud to call a part of Meridian.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I just wanted to comment on a couple things. Julie Edwards said something
that was interesting, talking about kids crossing the roundabout and -- and I know this is
an ACHD thing, it's not in our wheelhouse to do, but, you know, I think she -- I would be
concerned, too, because of the traffic and how they go around. If -- just a suggestion. I
don't know if this is possible, but down the road if HAWK lights could be put in farther
back from that roundabout for kids to cross might be something to look at. That just might
be -- you know, I don't know if that would work, but I can understand her concern. I know
when Mr. Loveland and Ms. White spoke, you know, the concern about the change and
the densities and it is different and believe me I get it. My wife and I were on -- on her
folk's dairy farm in northwest Meridian and change came, developers came, and we were
fortunate that we were able to help guide that development to a place that, yes, we want
a subdivision where we would want to live in. If we were coming here to move, we would
look at that seriously to happen and we were out for a walk here a while back and we
were talking about how it was a good change, they did a good job and everything. But
we still miss seeing the whole Boise front mountains, you know, and the sunrise, sunset
and those types of things. So, it will be different, but the good news is you have a
developer who you heard is passionate about what they do, they are willing to invest and
you will be glad that, yes, it's changed and there is some things you are going to miss that
you go, ah, I wish we still had that. But, you know, change is coming and with that change
you want it to be the very best it can be and I think you will -- you will see that the
development will be top notch and that's -- that's a good thing. Just like we feel like things
change, it had to change, and it's -- it's a good place to be, so -- but it is hard. It truly is
hard. And -- and I certainly tried to put Mr. Turnbull on the spot there and get them to
keep the bar high and I have no doubt the way they do their developments -- they do
learn, they -- they change, they evolve and they are always trying to make it better, which
we appreciate. So, other than roundabouts, which, Mayor, you did surprise me that you
are in favor of the roundabout there. Yeah, just keeping an eye on that, seeing if other
things need to happen to adjust with what goes on there and I know you have got good
folks who do that and I think it's -- it's a good development. Yeah, it's a great development.
It does set the bar high out there for south Meridian and that's certainly what we want to
see and -- and have -- have others to follow in other areas commit to that high bar as well.
So, that's all I have.
Simison: So, with that is there a desire to keep the public hearing open? Great. Any
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further --
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, I do have one question on this. There are three different public
hearings --three different proposals here. Are all of these, Mr. Nary, that we have to close
individually and vote on individually? Can it be a group deal or how does that work?
Nary: So, Mr. Mayor, Members of Council, Council Member Hoaglun, since you opened
them together you can close them all together. The one thing I will point out on 4-B, the
request for annexation, remember that was removed. So, in your motion make sure to
note the fact that that was not part of the motion, because it has been requested to be
removed from your consideration.
Hoaglun: Thank you. Well, Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I move that we close the public hearing for H-2020-0066, H-2020-0056, and H-
2020-0057.
Perreault: Second.
Borton: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to close the public hearings. Is there any
discussion on the motion? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay.
The ayes have it.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE RECUSED.
Nary: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Mr. Nary.
Nary: Mr. Mayor, Members of Council, to follow up on the individual applications, you will
need to do them separately, because they obviously -- we have to keep track of the votes
for each one -- individually could be appealed. So, you will need to move to take action
on each one separately and vote separately.
Simison: Thank you, Mr. Nary.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: After considering all staff, applicant, and public testimony, I move to approve
H-2020-0066 for Items A and C, since B was removed.
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Strader: Second.
Cavener: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve H-2020-0066, Items A and C. Is there
any discussion on the motion? Hearing none, Clerk will call the roll.
Roll call: Bernt, recused; Borton, yea; Cavener, yea; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea;
Perreault, yea.
Simison: All ayes. Motion is approved.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE RECUSED.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: After considering all staff, applicant, and public testimony, I move that we
approve H-2020-0056, containing Item A.
Cavener: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve Item H-2020-0056. Is there any
discussion on the motion? If not, Clerk will call the roll.
Roll call: Bernt, recused; Borton, yea; Cavener, yea; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea;
Perreault, yea.
Simison: All ayes. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE RECUSED.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I move that we -- after considering all staff, applicant, and public testimony, I
move to approve H-2020-0057, which included Item A.
Cavener: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second approve H-2020-0057. Is there any discussion
on the motion? Hearing none, Clerk will call the roll.
Roll call: Bernt, recused; Borton, yea; Cavener, yea; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, yea;
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Perreault, yea.
Simison: All ayes. Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE RECUSED.
FUTURE MEETING TOPICS
Simison: Council, we are at the end of our agenda. Is there any items under future
meeting topics?
Cavener: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Cavener.
Cavener: Just maybe a precursor and I'm happy to follow up with you and the Council
President. I got a phone call today from a gentleman representing Crimestoppers who
had indicated a desire to come speak to Council about the program. Perhaps we could
combine that. I know we have had some conversations at different points about hearing
from PD about crime prevention and some of the work that's coming out of that office.
So, just something to put on your radar. I will -- we were playing phone tag, so I will get
the details pulled together and forward it on to you, if that's something we want to consider.
Simison: Duly noted.
Cavener: Thank you.
Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor?
Simison: Councilman Hoaglun.
Hoaglun: I move that we adjourn.
Perreault: Second.
Cavener: Second.
Simison: I have a motion and a second to adjourn. All those in favor signify by saying
aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have. We are adjourned.
MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE RECUSED.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:36 P.M.
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(AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
8 / 25 / 2020
_ MAYOR ROBERT E. SIMISON DATE APPROVED
ATTEST:
CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK
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