HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-21 Austin Nelson
Charlene Way
From:Austin Nelson <nelson.austin@hotmail.com>
Sent:Thursday, October 21, 2021 3:03 PM
To:City Clerk
Subject:Centerville Development concerns and opposition
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To whom it may concern,
I will be unable to attend the meeting this evening, but I still wanted a chance to express my
opposition to the Centerville Development proposed for the corner of Amity Rd and Hillsdale Ave. My
wife grew up in South Meridian. Her parents have lived on 5 acres at the east end of Zaldia Lane for
the past 20 years, and still live there today. Throughout her childhood, the surrounding area was
nothing but corn and alfalfa fields, so the topic of development in this area is something we take
seriously and is close to our hearts.
Growth in this town is bound to happen, but it needs to be done in a way to support the existing
homeowners and infrastructure. Current plans for the Centerville Development do not match the
surrounding homes. The existing subdivisions are on significantly larger lots, with lots in Hillsdale
Creek reaching over 1/4 of an acre. These are $1 million homes. I realize that the lots directly
bordering Hillsdale Creek will be larger, but only about 38% of this development will be R-8 housing,
when the city originally desired this area to have 75% R-8 homes. According to their published
documents, Centerville Development plans on having the average single family lot to be 5500 sq ft.
That's less than half of many of the lots in Hillsdale Creek and Century Farm. Rock Hampton to the
east has smaller lots, but that subdivision was built 20+ years ago. If the Centerville Development
continues to propose these high density and medium-high density lots, they won't even compare to
the quality of the homes in the newer subdivisions like Hillsdale Creek and Century Farm that have
become the standard for that area. With small lots looking so out of place, Centerville's townhomes
will be even more out of place in this area. South Meridian is known for its beautiful residential areas
on large lots. Townhomes and all the R-15 zoned homes will not fit in with the surrounding
neighborhoods in this area. Hillsdale Creek, Century Farm, Tuscany, and Kingsbridge are all beautiful
subdivisions known for their large family homes situated on large lots. I and many others desire to
keep that feel for this area of South Meridian. For all these reasons I would argue for a further
reduction in density for the Centerville Development.
Another concern is that significant construction would have to take place in order to accommodate the
increase in daily drivers. Hillsdale Ave and Amity Rd would need additional turn lanes, widening,
traffic lights, etc. to be able to handle all the additional cars. Infrastructure would also need
improvement to support additional development. Emergency services are already strained by the
growth. Landowners' wells are running dry in the surrounding area. This summer there were
significant irrigation problems in the Orchard Creek neighborhood. These services are already
struggling with the growth. A pause needs to be placed on so much development so the infrastructure
can catch up to effectively support all the people.
I do understand that whether we like it or not, growth is going to continue to happen in this area. Even
so, I wholly oppose the increase of high density and medium-high density development in the
Centerville Development. It is my hope that the City of Meridian takes into consideration their initial
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goals of 75% R-8 development in this area when they go to approve the Centerville Development.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Austin Nelson
208-631-8454
nelson.austin@hotmail.com
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