HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-09-15 Mark Bottles MARL{ BOTTLES
REAL ESTATE SERVICES
839 S. Bridgeway Place
Eagle, Idaho 83616
September 15, 2021
Via email cityclerk*meridiancity.org
33 East Broadway Avenue
Meridian, ID 83642
Re: H-2021-0047,Fields Subarea Plan
Dear Mayor, Council Members, Planning & Zoning Commissioners, and City Staff:
Through several separate entities, I control approximately 630 acres of the Fields Subarea.
We have been closely participating in the City's planning process and are invested in seeing this
Subarea develop in alignment with the City's vision. We want to thank City Staff, the Mayor, the
Commission, and City Council for their careful consideration of the Fields Subarea Plan (the
"Plan"), and their efforts to make this a vibrant and distinct part of Meridian.
Over the last year, our planning team has regularly engaged with City Staff, offering
comments, questions, and suggestions for the Plan. Specifically, we participated and engaged in:
• Stakeholder Roundtables hosted virtually by Logan Simpson in the Fall of 2020;
• Digital Workshops in the Winter of 2021;
• City Staff's presentations to City Council in the Spring of 2021
• Numerous in person and virtual meetings between our planning team and City Staff
• Kimley Horn submitted the enclosed written comments dated June 23,2021 as part of the
initial draft provided by City Staff
• Follow-up virtual meetings with City Staff to discuss Plan suggestions and comments as
part of the June review.
• Our Planning team also provided a second full set of comments, recommendations and
redlines on the current draft document provided August 18, 2021.
We are supportive of nearly all of the current draft Plan. But there are a few important
changes we ask the Commission and Council to incorporate into the Plan prior to its adoption. We
believe the below recommendations, summarized at the conclusion of this letter, strengthen the
overall vision and objectives the Plan seeks to achieve.
1. Star/McMillan Center
Our land holdings include a +/-62-acre parcel which makes up the majority of the
Star/McMillan Center(the"Center"). This parcel is adjacent to City limits and its annexation will
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be key to the annexation and development of the remainder of the Fields Subarea. The entity that
owns this parcel,Northern Land Holdings,LLC, anticipates it will bring an annexation and zoning
application to the City within the next 6-12 months. In light of this close timing,we have met with
City Staff about our development plans and have worked diligently to align our plans with the
City's vision for this Center. In one of our latest meetings, City Staff invited us to submit a bubble
plan of our development to be included as a second/alternative concept in the Subarea Plan. That
bubble plan is shown below, and we request this plan be included on page 3-16 of the Plan as a
second/additional Center Schematic Concept.
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Further, we suggest the City delete the Center Character rendering on page 3-18 of the
Plan. We believe this rendering, which accentuates large parking lots and oversized streets, is
inconsistent with several of the stated goals for the Center.
Finally, we request some of the more prescriptive language on page 3-15 of the Plan be
revised. Specifically, the "Center Components" passage describes a Main Street-style project
consisting specifically of"two or three-story mixed-use buildings fronting a curved street running
east-west,with on-street parking ..." Instead of prescribing the layout of the Center with this level
of specificity,the Plan should encourage creative designs that enhance the development of a Center
based on walkable, mixed-use development principles. A successful town center may come in
many different forms while providing the key community connections, a desirable mix of housing
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types, and neighborhood and commercial amenities. Overly prescriptive requirements stifles
innovative design and limits market interest. Private development needs to have support from the
market to be successful.
II. Design Standards
We are excited to partner with the City in developing the distinct sense of place, character,
and general design as described and depicted in the Plan. We believe that developers are able to
achieve the high-quality design desired by the City without the prescriptive design standards set
forth on Page 4-20 of the Plan:
Recommended +
Elevate a distinct community identity by creating design standards for the StariMcMillan Center,
adjacent residential areas. Imear park and greenway and regional park, including a contemporary rural
thernaSic throughout commercial structures and public Facilities.
Incorporate gabled roofs, exposed trusses and rafters, covered porches, oversized architectural
hardware, transitional landscape walls, gates, railings, chimneys, dormers, brackets, corbels, belly
band board trim, posts, masonry piers, or other thematic elements into commercial structures.
tncorporate stone, cultured stone, or brick masonry: horizontal lap siding, vertical board and
batten siding, beadboard paneling,and taper sawn shin gI";ccrten and/or wrought iron, or other
local thematic materials into commercial structures.
Discourage or aklavw only a very limited use of pre-cast concrete, EIFS, PVC or plastic materials,
metall siding, plywood or pressed-board materials. or composition siding into commercial
structures_
Incorporate distinct architectural elements into monuments, sig nag e, building addressing, and
Structural infrastruaure within Iandsirape buffers, parking lots, and open space that enhances
prpmary structure architectural features.
Even as an"action item,"that is, a guide for the creation of future design standards,the list
of materials is too prescriptive, and risks being interpreted and applied as a zoning code standard
rather than as general design policy goals. The list is more prescriptive than the standards currently
provided in the City's Architectural Standards Manual. Many of the "discouraged" and "limited"
listed materials are regularly used in high quality development. The design standards should be
flexible to allow development that meets the character goals for this subarea while not limiting
materials and the creative process.
Based on these goals, and the preliminary nature of the"action",we urge the City to amend
the above Recommended Action Items as follows:
• Preface bullet points one and two with the following italicized language
"Incorporate materials such as, but not limited to ... ;
• Delete the third bullet point("Discourage or allow ...") in its entirety.
III. Table 4A: Overall Development Program
We request the City substantially revise, or altogether remove, Table 4A on page 3-9 of
the Plan:
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!\I:;r r', (1t'1 II\1I I t I%I!,or I N t T'Rll[1 Ia.\]I
Residential
Land Use Designation Approx. Allowable Density Total Units Approx. PAR SF
Acreage Low Range High Low High Average Acreage
Medium-Nigh Density Retidentiai 180 8 12 1,440 2.160 1,800
Medium Density Residential 800 3 8 2,400 6,400 4,400
Low Density Residential 70 0 3 40 60 50
Parks @ Open Space 225 - - - -
Schools(Civic) 125 - - - -
Mixed-Ose Community 30 6 15 160 450 315 40 0,35 610,000
Mixed-Use Regional 10 6 40 60 400 230 40 0,25 436,000
Mixed-Use Inteechange - - - - - - 70 0.15 458,000
Mixed-We Non•Residenoal 60 0.10 262,000
Industrial 160 0,05 349,000
..e 4,120 9,470 6.795e ere
Araumpunns:the StadMA110 Center and Sta0swk[enter eswme 40%feudsm al.Chmdrn mere aswmr 10%rrudential.Cemrstwal uses aft broken dwn as f919-MU•C and M0•A assumes e0%aemmaeial and 105
gorernmeneallolher;MU-MR assumra WA af0a,40%olfi r,Ate,and 10%othtr;and MU-1 aauees 50a/A%W/6 gorunmrnlallolher,and 2P`,err.
The Plan does not explain or substantiate how certain figures (i.e., the Floor Area Ratios
(FARs), Approximate Acreages, and Assumption percentages) were reached. The FAR figures
are concerning and appear to be in error; for example, the Plan states that the industrial FAR is
0.05,but the City of Meridian's Ten Mile Plan recommends industrial FAR to be 0.5 or more. Our
team has been unable to determine how the approximate acreage figures were reached. And, it is
unclear how the "Assumptions" listed in the table caption were reached.
The intended application of Table 4A is also unclear, specifically as it relates to
Commercial properties. The Plan does not explain whether the Commercial Floor Area Ratios are
targets, specific criteria against which applications will be measured, or estimates that have no
specific future use.
If the City desires to keep a form of Table 4A in the Plan, we request the Plan (i) clarify
that Table 4A is for estimation purposes only and will not be used to evaluate development
applications; and(ii)explain how the Approximate Acreages, Commercial FAR, and Assumptions
were reached, and allow for further comment on these figures.
IV. Housing Limitations
As envisioned in the Plan, we are excited to provide a sustainable variety of housing types
in the Fields Subarea. We are concerned that some of the recommended action items set forth on
page 4-11, even as a guide for future action, may curb creative planning and development that
responds to the changing residential and business landscape. Accordingly, we request the City
delete the first two recommended action items as set forth in the below table:
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Limit single-lamily developments per planned land use designations to ensure suMdent land for h-ghv Long-term(4-20 Community
densiiy housinq as market demand matures. Vearsf Deve-opmeni
Codilyor adopt sLronger sLandmds!or a maximum percentage of tared area dedkated for resWential Slwrmerm{,1 -3 Community
within mixed use areas.to ensure Fond is preserved for the City%job base. Vearsi DeWapmeM
Consider incentives for developers to build workforce afrordable housing. Long-term(b-20 Corr munity
yearsy De,re�opmeni
Consider incentives for developers oons:deHng r,eighbor#iood=integrated'multi family housing, Long4erm(h-20 Community
especially in support of future retail around McMillan Road and Star Road intersection,as shown in this parsf Devebpmenl
Plan
The first recommended action item to "Limit single family developments" is a blanket
statement that does not support the changing market, especially where single-family housing is
being redefined every year with denser product types. The market is providing a denser and
growing mix of creative housing types that should not be limited at this point in the development
process.
The second recommended action item to "Codify or adopt stronger standards for a
maximum percentage of land area dedicated for residential within mixed use areas" similarly
concerns us. We do not believe a blanket limitation on residential uses within mixed-use areas is
needed. The Plan does not describe how these standards will be adopted/codified or by what
methodology. The Plan does not describe how the City has or will reach its desired job base /
residential land use ratios, or how those ratios may be adjusted in the future to reflect the ever-
changing residential markets and job models. The Plan should recognize that a great number of
individuals may be working from home for local and out of state companies in the future. The last
18 months alone have seen an enormous shift in how and where business is conducted, and we
would like to see the Plan set forth a methodology that will continue to respond to this changing
landscape.
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
I. Star/McMillan Center
a. Add the second/altemate concept plan on page 3-16 of the Plan to provide
flexibility and illustrate multiple possibilities for a successful mixed-use center.
b. Delete the Center Character rendering on page 3-18 of the Plan.
c. Reduce limiting or prescriptive language on page 3-15 of the Plan that may
foreclose innovative and market-supported mixed-use development.
Specifically:
i. Delete the clause that the Main Street will specifically be comprised of
"two or three-story mixed-use buildings fronting a curved street running
east-west" and replace with: "Main Street-style that incorporates
innovative design and uses based on market demand, with on-street
parking and a pedestrian-oriented streetscape ..."
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II. Design Standards
a. Reduce limiting or prescriptive language on page 4-20 of the Plan that may
close the door on a creative discussion about future design standards and
material selections. Specifically:
i. Preface bullet points one and two with: "Incorporate materials such as,
but not limited to ... ;
ii. Delete the third bullet point ("Discourage or allow ...") in its entirety.
III. Table 4A: Overall Development Program
a. Remove Table 4A and instead allow future Development Agreements to set the
land use ratios, FAR's, and mix desired to achieve a healthy live and job center
balance as defined in the Comprehensive Plan.
b. If Table 4A is not removed, then:
i. Explain how the Approximate Acreages, Commercial FAR, and
Assumptions were reached.
ii. Add a statement that Table 4A"reflects estimated ratios of current uses
and does not present standards for considering future development
applications."
IV. Housing Limitations
a. Reduce Action Items on page 4-11 of the Plan that do not allow for market
shifts and creative new ideas and consequently may limit different job models
and future housing options.
b. Delete the first two recommended action items from the table on page 4-11 of
the Plan.
Thank you for your time, consideration, and attention to our requested changes to the Plan.
We look forward to working with the City to realize our shared goal of making the Fields Subarea
a vibrant place to live, work, and recreate.
Sincerely,
Mark Bottles
cc: Brian McClure (via email to bmccluregmeridiancity.org)
Caleb Hood(via email to chood(c�r�,meridiancity.org)
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