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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-03-13 Dave Haymore Charlene Way From:Chris Johnson Sent:Saturday, March 13, 2021 11:35 AM To:FUMUNDA SOUP Cc:City Clerk; Joseph Dodson; Bill Nary Subject:Re: CUP H-2021-0004 Mr. Haymore, All comments provided to the city Meridian are public records and accessible to anyone. When you wrote the city, we responded stating this. Public records according to Idaho statute cannot be used for the purposes of a mailing list. I am copying the city attorneys office on my response to you, so that they are aware you have been contacted by the applicant. I am unsure if this is a violation, but I certainly understand your concern. My office has not been in contact with the applicant, and has not directly provided contact information to anyone. However, as I stated, your contact information becomes part of the public record when you provide comments, whether by email or at a public meeting. Please let me know if you have additional questions. Chris Johnson City Clerk On Mar 13, 2021, at 10:54 AM, FUMUNDA SOUP <dhaymore@gmail.com> wrote: External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments. Dear Meridian Officials, not only am I bothered and disturbed by the negative impact of this business yards from my home, but now after sending in my opinion and stance prior to the city hall meeting, now somehow the very owner of Oasis is email me. How in the hell did he get my contact info to harass me with more of his lies. He is the one spreading misinformation and using unsolicited advice from the direct email I sent to the city of Meridian. How does the city allow, or share the information to the very company seeking the conditional permit? He’s emailing me after I sent my feeling to the cityclerk@meridiancity.org. This is absolutely not acceptable, how can the city position itself in a way where you leave its citizens vulnerable to harassment, intimidation, and lies in behalf of a company trying to jump through permitting hoops by providing lies and deceit. Dave Haymore Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Brian <brian@theoasismeridian.com> Date: March 13, 2021 at 01:59:32 MST To: undisclosed-recipients:; Subject: A Thank You from The Oasis Good Morning: 1 I am writing you today to thank you for contacting the City of Meridian expressing your concerns for The Oasis. The fact that you took the time to write the letter shows that you care about the community and any impact our project may have on the surrounding areas. As the owner of The Oasis, I was born and raised in Boise, I watched Meridian grow from a small suburb of less than 20,000 to now a sprawling diverse city of over 100,000 to be listed almost every year as one of the fastest growing cities in the entire United States. Whereas the city was once considered a place best suited for retirement, the average age in 2010 was 54 years old. In the last decade, the median age has fallen nearly twenty years, and is now 36 years of age due to the inflow of new younger generation residents (based on the 2019 Census estimates). I was raised in a strongly religious household, where I learned to adhere to the family values that concern you and many others with regard to our project. I am writing to assure you that nothing with our intentions will ever aim to change that. One of the most important family values I learned was to be welcoming to others, and to have an open mind for people and things I don’t agree with. I have lived in over 10 major US cities, spending half a decade of the recent years as a state trooper along the US-Mexico border. There, I patrolled one of the most violent cities in the country, and personally took dozens of murderers, rapists, and other violent offenders to jail and saw that they received their just punishment. In that time, I also personally arrested over 200 DUI drivers, taking them off the road and to jail where they could no longer present a threat to the public. I can say with certainty I have a more intimate understanding of crime and how it affects a community than most citizens. Your letter, like many others, may have been written in haste, based on information that was provided to you by another opposing party, and you were not given the opportunity to form your own opinion based on the potential issues. I have attached our application narrative so that you can see (if you haven’t already) we have comprehensively analyzed and addressed many of the community’s concerns. Throughout this entire process, we have worked closely with the Meridian Police Department to ensure all aspects of parking, traffic flow, sound mitigation, hours of operation, lighting, and security were addressed, and properly controlled. Some have copied others on their letters to say that perhaps our location would be better suited in an industrial area. We would have loved to do that, as the price per square foot would have easily been ¼ as much as our current rate in prime corridor real estate. However, the strict rules of the City of Meridian’s zoning regulations only allow very specific commercial zones to be used as our intended purpose. In fact, less than 20% of our operations can be considered nightclub use. We have booked over 10 couples, many free of charge, to have their weddings and receptions at our facility! We are putting both the Idaho Humane Society and the Meridian Canine Rescue on our calendars, opening the venue to pet adoption events welcoming all ages (kids too!) We have several local dance clubs, some with over 40,000 followers nationwide and their own video training series, featured at our space and excited to bring dancing for all styles including hip hop, ballroom, and country western! These groups span all ages, including a local swing dancing group comprised primarily of age 60+ members. We’re even working with some local high school cheerleading groups so they can host their seminars and meets at our venue. 2 In addition, we’ve also reached out to the Meridian Arts Commission, an advisory board of the Meridian City Council, and offered them the use of our space, completely free of charge, for any use of their future uses. Art shows? Trade events? We’ll leave that up to them. Traffic and parking are very real issues to us. Anyone who has ever seen the shirt downtown printed “I Survived Eagle Road” knows exactly what its talking about. In order to mitigate any potential issues with the inflow of traffic and parking related congestion based on our original intended occupancy, we worked closely with the planning staff of the City of Meridian and reduced our capacity by half. The dozens of staff at the planning office, including the fire marshal, and the Meridian Police Department have agreed that this change would significantly reduce if not completely eliminate any concerns regarding adding to congestion or traffic flow. We are also in the process of creating a program with the Meridian Police Department to promote safe habits and educational programs and seminars as they relate to DUI incidents as well as offering to donate future profits to any supportive equipment the department may need to increase the effectiveness of their DUI enforcement program. While my letter to you may not change your mind, I hope it may at least ease some of your concerns when compared to the potentially false narratives you were presented with. The reason we removed “nightclub” from our permanent materials is not because we aren’t trying to call it what it is. Many of the concerns that have been raised often reflect locations that are ONLY nightclubs. While it is only a small portion of ours. While night operations are a portion of our overall business model, we are as much a nightclub only as Walmart is only a tire shop, or Jack In The Box is only a Mexican restaurant because they sell tacos. I thank you for taking the time to read this letter. This is my direct email should you have any questions or additional concerns that I may address. Sincerely, Brian Tsai, Owner of The Oasis <Narrative V5 23Feb2021.docx> 3 (Revisions to the original application narrative and important points are bolded for easy reference.) In this narrative, I hope to convey the ideas, concepts, and background that led to this project. I will also address a few concerns of negative impact and the comprehensiveness in which I have analyzed the situation so that the commission may see the minimal, if any, impact of the concerns. You’ll be able to understand each of the negative points, and subsequently why the positive aspects of them massively outweigh any potential negatives. You’ll see that I have first- hand experience dealing with these situations in a manner far more extensive than most citizens and how that factors into this project. I came up with the idea for The Oasis over ten years ago now, and I thought surely within the last decade something would have come up. However, I soon learned that there was nothing new. There was nothing for the music scene or entertainment or nightlife like there was in other prominent cities. That big players in the music and arts industry were bypassing the Treasure Valley completely due to lack of suitable venues. As one of the fastest growing cities in the entire United States, Meridian along with the rest of the Treasure Valley has been severely lacking in music and entertainment promotion. After speaking with many consultants regarding this project, including some who have personally opened other projects and spaces in the area, they all told me one simple fact. The Eagle/Meridian area has been trying to promote their presence in the arts and entertainment sector for over a decade. Satisfied at least by opening at minimum a venue or community gathering area, but nothing ever came to fruition. A nightclub should be an experience, one place to enjoy food and drink, dance, or socialize with your friends and coworkers. I quickly realized the Treasure Valley merely had more bars with a dance floor, and no true nightclubs. I understand there is an inherent stigma to the word “nightclub” and what media and movies have portrayed some aspects of it. It is with this idea that other terms such as “social club” have appeared in filings and promotions. In which case, what is a nightclub other than a social club that is open at night? Some of the best nightclubs in the world are extremely affluent, catering to major celebrities and entertainment acts. With a location such as this, it is perfectly suited to cater to a classy and elegant atmosphere, just like the rest of the area surrounding the site. It is a fallacy that such a facility serves to bring more crime. Violence propagates where it already exists. The reason that incidents occur in venues near downtown Boise or in Garden City is only reinforced by the fact that those areas already have a significantly higher ordinary crime rate than Meridian. The idea that a nightclub by its very nature can bring along with it a proportional increase in violence is an inaccurate and falsely conceived notion. Just like saying putting in a racetrack will encourage people to speed in the nearby area. By its own term, a nightclub is nothing more than a social club just like the already approved VillaSport. In order to reduce the stigma surrounding the term itself, we have removed the “nightclub” element from our ongoing publications and building signage plans. Moving forward, we will still utilize the existing printed signage advertising the nightclub portion, but it will not appear on our future advertising material or permanent signage. With the project being the only one of its kind, it will additionally serve in both economic and intrinsic growth for the area. In comparison, the influx of revenue will subsequently continue to improve the home values, and in turn, the ability of the city to improve schools, community activities, and more broadly, arts and entertainment as a whole. I additionally reached out to the Meridian Arts Council, an advisory board to the Meridian City Council, and offered exclusive use of our facility, completely free of charge, for a number of upcoming art shows and other events in an effort to increase our community involvement. In the last 10 years, I moved and spent more than half of it in Arizona, where I was stationed as a state trooper by the southern border of Arizona right at the Mexico border. In the gang disputed regions of Tucson and Nogales, one of the most violent areas in the country. I was trained as an instructor for various disciplines, but also working in advanced impairment detection and enforcement, and stopping narcotics, gang violence, human trafficking, and being posted on the state wide response riot control team in the time when the Ferguson riots were occurring nationwide and we were issued many overnight deployments. And of all of those things, one of the most impactful and highest enforcement priorities due to volume, was impaired driver DUI enforcement. In my career term, personally took at least 200 impaired drivers to jail, cleaning up the aftermath of the collisions with other people, vehicles, and objects they caused, and subsequently appeared in court to ensure they received sentences for the endangerment and death they caused. One of the hardest things to do is remembering your face is seared into the memory of the loved ones lost as you told them their father, mother, brother, or sister was never coming home again because they were killed by a drunk driver. But with all of this, I quickly realized that alcohol was not an evil thing. Alcohol is merely a product, and humans are the factor that created the outcome. I bring this up to emphasize my deep understanding of how alcohol can affect not only people as individuals, but a community as a whole and my experience in community interactions. While I was working, I thought about what I had left behind in Idaho almost every single day. I thought about my passion for music and what an unforgettable experience it was to not only set up and produce shows for talented musicians, but to meet them after the show and learn of their experiences. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a long-lost dream because I couldn’t think of a way to make that dream into a feasible reality. And one day it occurred to me. The creation of this multi-purpose venue, following an exciting and fun beach and tropical theme. Because let’s be honest, there aren’t many people who don’t enjoy the beach. A place that not only serves as a music venue, but also a location to host weddings, receptions, corporate events, trade shows, art exhibits, and to serve as a pillar for arts and entertainment for Meridian and the entire Treasure Valley. Something that has been talked about and worked on for years, by many different firms, but never came to fruition. No longer will major artists and acts consider bypassing the valley entirely due to lack of venue selection. This ideal location puts the City of Meridian on the map as a central location to serve the entire Treasure Valley. To go against it, would be to deprive hundreds of thousands of citizens of access to arts and entertainment. And of course, the revenues for the city that come with it. To put the Treasure Valley back on the map as a prominent stop for music performances as the area has already drawn hundreds of thousands of new residents from other states. I was surprised to discover in my community interactions, that while both alcohol and noise were concerns by some nearby residents, they were minimal and very rarely inquired about. I have addressed one of the two primary concerns with having a venue of this type in this area. It is zoned correctly and located just north of The Village, a location that is without argument the most prominent and upscale shopping and entertainment districts in the entire state. Having already approved the VillaSport project, I see no reason to believe that the addition of one more alcohol licensed establishment would cause any issue whatsoever. Considering our venue is approximately 1/12th the size and at least twice as far from the nearest residence. Our project is crafted and proposed to suit a handful of specific requirements. Needs that nearly all citizens even remotely associated with arts, music, or entertainment would agree, that the Treasure Valley has never seen something like this before and has needed it for a very long time. Parking Considerations: Some have mentioned the issue of parking at our facility. Since the beginning of negotiations with the Wadsworth Group, they have understood my intended use for the location, and been equally excited and supportive of my project. I negotiated parking as one of the issues that sometimes surround event centers and venues. We have over 120 parking spaces that can be shared on this development alone. On the most recent revision of the site plan, there are 122 planned spaces. Because two or three other plats on the site are currently pending contracted tenants, Wadsworth is unable to provide a final site plan that can show the exact tenants and the final number of spaces. In order to meet the threshold of the City of Meridian planning staff occupancy ratios for parking requirements and use unlisted in the city code, the developers have guaranteed that a minimum of 125 parking spaces will be provided in order to meet this occupancy to parking threshold. Our hours of operations, particularly the busy portions of operations, are mostly centered around times both outside of peak traffic in the area, and after the close of business hours for the majority of surrounding businesses. Being in a well-constructed commercial area, our southwest quad is bordered on both sides by major arterial streets, where the majority of our traffic is, as I mentioned, outside of the peak traffic times. This means there will be no issues with congestion or the briefly increased traffic during ingress and egress of large events. The other tenant contracted on the site is an urgent care facility with listed hours of operation ending at 5pm. In addition, a possible pending lease contract will be for a financial institution on the north side of the site, also closing at 5pm or 6pm. This means with all information known at this time for the site, all other tenants for the site will have already ended their business hours of operation before our facility opens for business. For comparison, I performed a parking study on a few similar venues in the Treasure Valley. Starting with the Buffalo Club, a location that is approximately the same size by square footage as our project, has less than 40 dedicated parking spaces. It then shares up to 120 additional spaces with neighboring tenants. This means that even at full capacity, as they host concerts and large events as well, there has never been an issue with finding a parking spot even on the busiest weekend days. The reason for this is the same reason that it is beneficial to have a licensed alcohol establishment. The majority of the visitors there know they will be consuming some type of alcohol, and therefore they carpool with a designated driver, or simply utilize a ride sharing service or a taxi. This is the reason that parking is not an issue at that location. After conducting interviews with approximately half a dozen bar, restaurant, and music industry professionals, I was able to determine anecdotally that during peak attendance events, anywhere from 40-60% of patrons attending a maximum capacity event would utilize ridesharing or an alternate form of transit. This data is also reflected within Uber's and Lyft's annual reports of use on their domestic and worldwide services. Based on our proximity, many homeowners in the area have stated they would be within walking distance from their home. I am currently unable to speculate on our maximum capacity until the architects have completed their space analysis. During absolute peak capacity use, the majority of businesses in the area operate on an 0800-1700 schedule, meaning most if not all of the shared spaced in this development alone would be available. Having to assume the absolute worst-case scenario based on the above numbers of 40% rideshare use, and an average seating of 5 persons in a vehicle attending such an event, that would equate to approximately 120 parking spaces. Our venue could be filled to absolute peak capacity before exhausting all available parking spaces on the development. With my background in research science, the difficulty in documenting the actual percent of use comes down to the inability to produce evidence based on sound scientific principles within an acceptable margin of error to determine if the result is statistically significant, typically when the p-value of analysis is below a .05 threshold. This is because all evidence must be based on surveys, and without a control group they aren’t able to be peer reviewed and replicated. However, we can show based on socially based studies that these above estimates are typically consistent with compared across global studies, multiple regions, and hundreds of survey participants. A study published in the Southern Economic Journal (Dills, Mulholland 2018), demonstrates that since the inception of ride sharing services (Uber/Lyft combined), there has been a consistent downtrend in both DUI related arrests, and DUI related collisions, a total reduction of 40% since 2013. This number varies city to city, but in comparable cities of size and scale to Meridian, can demonstrate that at minimum 40% of drivers are utilizing their services. In a study based out of Denver, Colorado, these numbers are reflected in data compiled in published studies by Statista: When this information was subsequently updated in 2018 (University of Colorado, Henao, Marshall), it showed an increase of ride share usage, consistent with our trend analysis. This data set reflects ordinary usage, and can only show anecdotally that ride share usage increases beyond this threshold during peak usage events. However, the data demonstrates at minimum, our scenario of 40% ride share usage. Based on the current plan and including development of all future lots, the code would require a minimum of 58 parking spaces at the ratio of 1 space per 250 square feet. The current allotment would provide more than double the code required parking spaces. This ratio of available parking spaces is similar, if not with even more available spaces, if you compare any number of currently operating larger venues, including stadiums up to 75,000 capacity. Even larger venues typically offer one parking space for every 6-7 persons of capacity, reflecting less than our available parking. Likewise, I will take you to the Revolution Concert House in Garden City. It also shares a shopping area with several different tenants. Their facility is however, over twice as large as our project. Of dedicated parking for the complex, there are approximately 80 spaces. Calculated per square foot, they have over 330% less, or over 3 times fewer parking spaces per square foot than our facility. Based on the same above reasons of alternative transit, even at that location there is usually no issue with lack of parking as most patrons will have already been dropped off or carpooled. Lastly, let’s look at our beloved Knitting Factory in downtown Boise. A similarly sized approximately 10,000 square foot location, with absolutely zero parking spaces. Outside of just a few dedicated parking spaces for the facility, it operates many large concerts a week with full capacity, without any parking spaces whatsoever. There is a parking garage available within walking distance, but many attendees are usually forced to park several blocks away and walk. As demonstrated, we have both identified, and fully mitigated any parking issues related to our operation. We have additionally addressed the issue of parking by encouraging patrons to carpool, use shared transit, and designated drivers. The parking issue is a bit outside my scope as it is designed by the landlord and developer. This issue is also mitigated by our location, where much of the positive feedback we have received were from individuals who stated they lived in the area, and could easily walk or bike to our location. While we expect parking to be simplistic with a bi-directional ingress and egress like most similarly built sites, the following site plan shows the manner in which traffic can flow in both directions both in and out of the site-specific parking area. It is typical in these types of configurations that drivers have no issue getting in out of the parking lot using various pathways because a single parking spot may have many different ways to exit the parking lot. However, in consideration of parking use during peak occupancy, we intend to schedule additional security staff if needed, to be positioned at the entrance of the parking lot in order to regulate the number of vehicles in the lot at any one time so that gridlock does not occur. Addressing the concern of neighbors, we will additionally create a notice for patrons so that overflow vehicles (if any) do not create an excessive parking situation in the neighborhood to the south. Please see the occupancy section for updated capacity counts. Pedestrian Concerns: A point raised by city staff and citizens, is the concern of activities related to intoxicated patrons. Our in-house security staff will be trained to identify and address the hazards related to alcohol consumption and make efforts to mitigate any within our control. This includes the training with bartenders and service staff to recognize the signs and symptoms of impairment and intoxication. The security staff are posted not only at the door and within the facility, but also at available exits to look for these signs of impairment. All three of the above listed facilities: The Buffalo Club, Revolution Concert House, and The Knitting Factory, are licensed for alcohol service. Safe operations have been sustained at all three of these locations for over a decade or more. The idea that an intoxicated patron could leave our facility and be subsequently struck by a vehicle is certainly a valid concern. However, it is unfounded as it relates to documented incidents. For example, The Knitting Factory is very similar to our location in terms of traffic hazards, bordered on one side by a 4-lane road like Ustick, and on the other side by the 5-lane road of Myrtle St, only two lanes less than Eagle. The speed limits in this comparison are irrelevant to the example. If impaired patrons walking was a sustained concern, we would see pedestrians getting hit all the time near this venue and any other similar venue. With The Knitting Factory having zero parking spaces, and no ride share areas like our facility, they would have to walk and cross not just one crosswalk, but half a dozen or more crosswalks to get to a ride share location. Noise Mitigation: With regards to noise, having now over 12 years of commercial sound and lighting experience, I can say with absolute certainty we have taken these factors into consideration. These calculations are made using sound scientific principles as it relates to noise propagation using the Inverse Square Law. I made these calculations based on the Sound Transmission Class or STC of a single piece of ¾” plywood. An absolute worse case scenario possible. As you can imagine, a building has much more than just a sheet of plywood between the inside and outside. STC as it relates to sound pressure is roughly correlated directly to A-weighted decibels. The calculation completely negates the fact that we will add several inches of dense insulation, and another full panel of wood on the interior, effectively doubling the rating and dropping these numbers by an additional 20 decibels. A standard framed wall has an STC rating at or above 45. This is additionally neglecting the fact that there will soon be a massive 120,000 square foot facility constructed of high-density steel and concrete in between our facility and any residences, in the form of the VillaSport building, making it nearly impossible to hear anything from the closest residence or business, even if we didn’t have any walls at all. Based on A-weighted decibels, the sound will quickly drop to less than the ambient sound of traffic on Eagle Road immediately away from the facility. We intend to operate from 1600 to 0100 (or 0200) on weeknights, and 1600 to 0200 on weekends. In reality, it is likely our facility will close earlier than 0200 on weekdays due to reduced activity. Capacity Concerns and Limitations: At the time of this application, the final numbers have not been produced by our architects regarding safe maximum capacity, nor has paperwork been submitted to obtain these estimates from any city officials. We estimated our peak capacity based on currently existing venues of a similar size and use. Therefore, our actual maximum occupancy is subject to change, by increase or reduction, based on the finalized buildout numbers. In order to ensure safe operations and the availability of parking spaces for all patrons during maximum capacity events, we have worked closely with the City of Meridian planning staff and the Meridian Police Department to determine a workable occupancy number in relation to the proposed available parking spaces. Please reference the revised section regarding parking above for the newest parking space counts. We have reduced our estimated maximum capacity by half, from 1000 to 500 persons. This should ensure all patrons have adequate parking and should completely eliminate any parking issues due to an excess capacity figure. Because the City of Meridian does not provide a requirement for alcohol establishments, entertainment facilities, or clubs of any kind, our estimate fell back on the Meridian City Code that requires 1 parking space per 250 square feet of floor area for food serving businesses. Because of this discrepancy, an additional study was conducted across 10 other US cities in various locations and of various sizes who have existing listed requirements for this specific project use in their city codes. Parking Ratio City Code Comparison CityCodeRequirementNumberThe Oasis Comparison Los Angeles, CA12.21A41 per 100sf95+31% Evanston, IL6-16-21 per 250sf38+328% Laguna Beach, CA25.52.0121 per 100sf95+31% Salt Lake City, UT21A.44.0606 per 1000sf57+219% Chicago, IL17-10-02072.5 per 1000sf24+521% St. Petersburg, FL16.10.020.11 per 150sf63+98% San Francisco, CA150(b)1 per 200sf47+265% New Orleans, LA22.4.A1 per 200sf47+265% Portland, OR33.2661 per 250sf38+328% Bentonville, AK501.061 per 200sf47+265% In all 10 cases, the updated ratio of 125 parking spaces for a 500 person capacity, significantly exceeds the code requirements for both nearby cities, and cities of a similar size. COVID Considerations: At the time of this application, the most recent data released today from the White House and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is consistent with the indication that has been published for prior months. This evidence and current trend shows that SARS-CoV-2 infection numbers have plateaued, and the United States is still currently on track for a reduction to minimal restrictions, or a complete removal of all infection control measures by approximately June/July of 2021. For the purposes of this project, we anticipate an opening date of late-September 2021 to October 2021 when all infection control measures will have been removed. In the event the timeline is extended, we will implement and comply with the most recent control measures available at the time of implementation. These measures can include, but are not limited to, minimal or no dance floor use, opening for food and beverage service only, use of hard panel partitions to enforce social distancing, universal masks required upon entry, and maintaining physical distancing measures while not seated at a table. Conclusion: With these factors in mind, seeing my background and having comprehensively researched and analyzed and potentially negative impacts to the area, I can only emphasize the need for this project and the massively positive public support I have received for it. Below are over 8 pages of messages we received from the community in less than a week, prior to taking down our promotional signage at the site. We have been contacted by corporate entities, dance crews, musicians of all genres, wedding parties, and even cheerleading competitions excited about this project and hoping to utilize our facility in the future. Our operation as a venue and a concert house can only create an immense benefit for the entire community. This permit is requested without any changes to conditions or variances to the existing Meridian City Code requirements. It abuts only other commercial zones and no residential zones, and is correctly zoned for the intended use without any rezoning or annexation. In addition, the use is congruent with the City of Meridian’s Comprehensive Plan Policies, indicating MU-R (Mixed Use – Regional). The proposed project additionally promotes the following action items contained in the Comprehensive Plan: “Develop indoor/outdoor multiple-use facilities (i.e. recreation center, fairgrounds, etc.) for a variety of recreational, educational, cultural and sports purposes and uses.” ( 6.01.02D) As reflected in the neighborhood meeting notes, the most recent available information directly from the Census Bureau produces chart DP05 2019, showing that the median age for this area is now 36 years of age, approximately 2 years younger than even the median age of the United States. This, as you can expect, is due to the large recent influx of new residents. I went and hand delivered the notices for the neighborhood meeting to approximately 40 residences and 20 businesses and I can confirm that the majority of the people actually living in the houses and not just reflected in homeowner records, were younger residents in the 25-35 age range. The majority of them told me outright that they were in support of this project and they would not be attending the meeting. I have learned over the years that there is truly a magic to music. It has a way of bringing joy, nostalgia, and unforgettable moments, bringing groups of people and communities together, regardless of anyone’s race, gender, religion, beliefs, or any other demographic. Unsolicited Community Testimony: Ashlie Monroe of All Things Idaho “A concert house sounds exciting and just what Meridian needs!” Stacy Schafer “Looking forward to the opening! Glad to hear!” Jacqualyn Jenkins “Great! Looking forward to it” Hello Meridian (32,000 followers) “Good location you’re grabbing, just five minutes from my house.” Leslie Davis “I’d love that ? excited to see what it’s all about!” Makenna Berry “I’m excited to have this in town, close to home! I would love to be apart of this!” Idaho Painter (157,000 followers) “Excited. Live right next door.” Abby Morgan and Gabby (TSG Artistry) “We saw your post on Facebook and are interested in being a part of the soft opening! We love that you’re born and raised local and are so excited for a place in Meridian since that’s where we both reside currently. So excited for this! ?” Wade Huston “I manage several EMG Records country music artists and would love to discuss booking events at your venue.” Korey Ashton “This could be an excellent venue for me to host an event for my top clients next year! Thank you!” Rocky Wing “I just read about this in a Boise music FB group. This is so cool what you all are doing. When things open up, I would love to book a show with you all.” Dave Ficks “Eric Bodreau, lead vocalist in one of the bands I manage through my organization The CEG (Chronology Entertainment Group) shared your recent FB post with me. First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on what you are doing, and THANK YOU. Boise has needed something like this for, well, ever. I am interested in both your nightclub live music offerings with my gigging bar band Chronology and your reception / private event opportunities with my wedding/ party band EpicUnion.” Brittany Mannie “We’re interested in the opening!” Landonious Monk (local band) “We would love to play there! Let me know what we can work out!” Ray Cruz I live right around the corner we saw the sign today on the property. We are very excited to be within walking distance.” Steve Russell Jr. “About time!!! Everyone needs to check out The Oasis once it opens!” Sean Des Portes “Fiiiinally!” Travis Shuman “I am so excited for this man!” Zack Yates “This is SERIOUSLY what the treasure valley needs for its music industry.” Tyler Echols “So excited to give this place a try! Congratulations!” Jolene Marie “I’m excited!!!!!” Marvin Webb “My wife and I live in the subdivision next to your property. We like to go to music festivals, and love local artists as well.” “I'm looking forward to seeing some good shows.” Becka Pearce “Super excited to know more!!!!” Terra Hill “Very excited about you coming to Meridian!” Brandon Pritchett “I’m a musician here who’s been doing this for over 20 years. Would love to get on your schedule and make it a reoccurring gig!” “Looking forward to a new venue in town. Sounds like it’ll be the spot” Taiya Brown “Just heard about this and I think it’s going to be awesome!” Hannah Weir “That’s exciting!! I’d love to come check it out! I saw you will also have a space for photoshoots. I would love to be one of the firsts to use the venue for a photoshoot using one of the top photographers (with a high follower count) in Boise to show off your space” “I’m really excited above this new venue. After being stuck inside most of the year, getting all dolled up and going dancing sounds amazing! ? can’t wait!” Jill Lipscomb “I am interested in using your venue. I have a large and varied group of friends who would see the venue and it would be a great advertisement for you!” Jeni Wilson “I was interested in using your venue for our wedding and reception. It will be a Halloween masquerade themed! I look forward to speaking to you soon!” Katarina Teebken “We have been trying to plan more in regards to the wedding and wanted to get married in 2021 so when I saw you guys were opening up this coming summer, I thought it’d be perfect.” Haley Parlin “Hello! I am a social media influencer known for my costume/cosplay work in the valley. I am also a 2020 Eagle Rock gal! I am very interested in the soft opening of your location!” Allie Martin “I appreciate what you are bringing to the music scene in the Boise metro area and I am very excited to see the fruits of your planted seeds.” Morgan Kephart “It looks like it’s going to be such a fun venue ??” Dakota Porter “I’ve lived in Idaho since I was about 10 and I love it more and more each year. I’m very excited to see this new addition to Meridian. I work at the Trader Joe’s across the street and I dabble in DJing as a hobby.” “I’m really excited to meet people and see how this all turns out. Meridian needs this” Lori Aulbach (Owner of Millie Grace, Neighbor of The Oasis site) “I am very excited to have such a fun venue going in as a neighbor. I wish you the best of luck and much success with The Oasis!” Resident at 2948 LeBlanc (Neighbor of The Oasis site) “We’re all for it!” Resident at 2924 Villere (Neighbor of The Oasis site) “I think it’s awesome, it’s what this area needs. I’m so excited!” General Manager of Jimmy Johns (Neighbor south of The Oasis site) “Yeah I can’t wait, I’m excited it’s so close!” Kelly Ochampaugh (Gem State Paper) “Hello- and congratulations on your new nightclub. Very exciting!!” Peter Billings (Guilty Pleasure, band) “Great local dance band Guilty Pleasure is very excited about the new Oasis and would love to play there when you open and we all say goodbye to covid. We regularly pack large venues.” Mackenzie Lee “I saw your signs while driving and researched the concept. I love that you’re bringing this energy to the valley. This is everything I’ve ever wanted growing up here and having to go to the knitting factory. I’m a software engineer at Scentsy and would love to bring my partner, my best friend, and her new fiancé (4 people) to your soft opening! Let me know if there’s a way I can get me and my best friends on your V.I.P list. Regardless we will be at The Oasis all the time I’m sure. (:” Rocco (General Manager of SAS Shoes, Neighbor north of The Oasis site) “I’m a big electronic music fan, and I’m excited that something like this is coming to Meridian.” Jessica Hacker “Looking forward to it!” Matt Payne “Very excited to see The Oasis coming to Meridian, no doubt will be a big success.” Kris Robinson “Congrats to you and the OASIS team on the new venue coming to boise valley. I just heard the news through boiseDEV and very impressed with what you are building.” Dasha McDonovich “Hello! Very excited to see a club coming to Meridian! About time!” Jereme Mowla (Idaho Power Customer Relations) “I saw that ground has broken near my home to start building the 10,000 sq ft beach themed club. I read all about it on your website and it sounds amazing!” Vanessa Schneidau “I’m excited to hear about The Oasis, like many others in the area! It’s exactly what we need here in Meridian!” Jacob Booher “I'm excited for this venue! I live on Ustick and Linder, so this venue is going to be really close!” John Parks “That’s exciting Boise is in need of a new concert venue!” Janet Brennan “I congratulate you on bringing your idea for a new innovative venue to produce multi-sensory experiences that people will be raving about. How exciting for all of us. :)” Darce Johnson “People are going to lose their minds to have a new "real" nightclub! Congratulations on making your lifelong dream come true. That alone is special.” Brian Thacker “Looking forward to the opening of the Oasis!” Greg Nettles “First of all very excited to see a very top rate nightclub opening in the Boise/Meridian area. I can see the demand for this type of facility and the lack of options so I believe this will be a tremendous success.”