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Home My WebLink About2020-10-16 Dr. Laurie Bower Charlene Way From:Joseph Dodson Sent:Monday, October 19, 2020 1:24 PM To:Charlene Way; Laurie Bower; City Clerk Subject:RE: Proposed Goddard Creek Subdivision Good afternoon Dr. Bower, Thank you for providing your comments about the proposed Goddard Creek development; it is always nice to see the public participating in the public hearing process. I wanted to take a few moments to address some of your concerns since I am the assigned planner on this application. First, this project is being proposed as an age-restricted development on private streets (not owned and maintained by ACHD). As part of my review, I will require that they maintain this age restriction via a Development Agreement provision. The Applicant will be required to adhere to these provisions as well as other conditions of approval. Secondly, the densities you are referencing are not the City of Meridian’s zoning; they appear to be that of Ada County zoning which has no bearing on this property any longer because it is already zoned R-4 in the City of Meridian. In addition, the allowable density of projects is not directly related to the zoning but instead is tied to the future land use designation within the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The future land use on the subject property is Mixed Use Community and allows a density range of 6-15 dwellings per acre. This application is far under the maximum allowed density. All common lots will be non-buildable lots as is the standard in development. These lots usually hold open space or utilities and occasionally common driveways or emergency access driveways. The Application proposes to construct a total of 34 units on 4.62 acres which amounts to a gross density of 7.35 dwellings per acre. Again, this is much lower than what is allowed by the future land use designation. I hope my response to you helps with any misunderstandings about the City of Meridian zoning and densities as well as our processes. If you have more questions, please feel free to reach out to me personally. Best Regards, Joseph Dodson | Current Associate Planner City of Meridian | Community Development 33 E. Broadway Ave., Meridian, Idaho 83642 Phone: 208.884.5533 | Built for Business, Designed for Living All e-mail messages sent to or received by City of Meridian e-mail accounts are subject to the Idaho law, in regards to both release and retention, and may be released upon request, unless exempt from disclosure by law. From: Charlene Way <cway@meridiancity.org> Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 8:08 AM To: Laurie Bower <plainjump@msn.com>; City Clerk <CityClerk@meridiancity.org> Cc: Joseph Dodson <jdodson@meridiancity.org> Subject: RE: Proposed Goddard Creek Subdivision 1 Dr. Bower: Thank you for your comments. They are available in the Public Comment section of the Project Folder for review. You can access that folder by following this link: https://bit.ly/H-2020-0092. I will forward your email onto the Planning Department so that they may be able to answer your questions. You may also contact them by calling 208-884-5533. Have a wonderful Day, Charlene Way | Assistant City Clerk City of Meridian | City Clerk’s Office 33 E. Broadway Ave., Meridian, Idaho 83642 Phone: | 208-489-0394 FAX: 208-888-4218 All e-mail messages sent to or received by City of Meridian e-mail accounts are subject to the Idaho law, in regards to both release and retention, and may be released upon request, unless exempt from disclosure by law. From: Laurie Bower <plainjump@msn.com> Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 2:48 PM To: City Clerk <CityClerk@meridiancity.org> Subject: Proposed Goddard Creek Subdivision Dear Mayor and City Council members (as well as Ada County Planning and Zoning), First of all, if this developer is truly telling the truth (we've been lied to before by developers in this area), I like the idea of an "age-restricted" development, assuming that means housing for seniors, which Meridian does not have enough of. If there is sufficient parking for the number of units, I am not opposed to this residential development going in with certain qualifications. I have objected in the past to other development proposals on this land because of parking concerns and traffic issues. School-aged children are dropped off from the bus in this area, and parking is already insufficient with the Selway apartments nearby, resulting in cars parked along both sides of Apgar Creek near Goddard all the time, making visibility treacherous. With older residents, traffic will be reduced from a family-oriented development because seniors may only have one car per household. I'm still worried about the density on this property, however. Forty-two lots is an awful lot on 5 acres, even though 8 of them are designated as common areas. I hope the added eight units are for parking. That's still only .119 acre per lot (5 acres divided by 42). This equals the maximum residential density of R8 - 8 dwelling units per acre, or if the extra 8 common areas are truly for parking then it's .147 acre or close to R7-7 dwelling units per acre (for which there is no residential zoning designation). Referencing https://www.adacounty.id.gov for zoning designations. 2 What's to stop the developer from ignoring the common areas and building more than 34 units? This has happened in other developments in the area where they get approval for one thing and build something else (Bridgetower has still not put in its promised 10-acre park.). I've also had this experience in Boise, where we lived for 30 years until our area became unlivable because of rampant uncontrolled development and snarled traffic. Or what if the developer decides he/she won't restrict ownership to those over 55? Can we reduce the density to 6 per acre--R6, dropping it to 30 units and limit the developer's ability to make as much money as possible off the land? If the developer can be talked into a more medium density and can offer a guarantee of restricted ownership, then, as a long-time resident of Kelly Creek, I heartily support this age-conscious development. Sincerely, Dr. Laurie Bower 5057 N. Lolo Pass Way Meridian, ID 83646 3 Charlene Way From:Laurie Bower <plainjump@msn.com> Sent:Thursday, October 15, 2020 2:48 PM To:City Clerk Subject:Proposed Goddard Creek Subdivision Dear Mayor and City Council members (as well as Ada County Planning and Zoning), First of all, if this developer is truly telling the truth (we've been lied to before by developers in this area), I like the idea of an "age-restricted" development, assuming that means housing for seniors, which Meridian does not have enough of. If there is sufficient parking for the number of units, I am not opposed to this residential development going in with certain qualifications. I have objected in the past to other development proposals on this land because of parking concerns and traffic issues. School-aged children are dropped off from the bus in this area, and parking is already insufficient with the Selway apartments nearby, resulting in cars parked along both sides of Apgar Creek near Goddard all the time, making visibility treacherous. With older residents, traffic will be reduced from a family-oriented development because seniors may only have one car per household. I'm still worried about the density on this property, however. Forty-two lots is an awful lot on 5 acres, even though 8 of them are designated as common areas. I hope the added eight units are for parking. That's still only .119 acre per lot (5 acres divided by 42). This equals the maximum residential density of R8 - 8 dwelling units per acre, or if the extra 8 common areas are truly for parking then it's .147 acre or close to R7-7 dwelling units per acre (for which there is no residential zoning designation). Referencing https://www.adacounty.id.gov for zoning designations. What's to stop the developer from ignoring the common areas and building more than 34 units? This has happened in other developments in the area where they get approval for one thing and build something else (Bridgetower has still not put in its promised 10-acre park.). I've also had this experience in Boise, where we lived for 30 years until our area became unlivable because of rampant uncontrolled development and snarled traffic. Or what if the developer decides he/she won't restrict ownership to those over 55? Can we reduce the density to 6 per acre--R6, dropping it to 30 units and limit the developer's ability to make as much money as possible off the land? If the developer can be talked into a more medium density and can offer a guarantee of restricted ownership, then, as a long-time resident of Kelly Creek, I heartily support this age-conscious development. Sincerely, Dr. Laurie Bower 5057 N. Lolo Pass Way Meridian, ID 83646 1