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Home My WebLink About2021-11-15 Melissa Phillips Charlene Way From:Chris Johnson Sent:Monday, November 15, 2021 8:52 AM To:Charlene Way Subject:FW: A Form Has Been Submitted For Your Review From: Josha Iverson Sent: Monday, November 15, 2021 8:51 AM To: melissaphillips225@gmail.com Cc: Robert Simison <rsimison@meridiancity.org>; Brad Hoaglun <bhoaglun@meridiancity.org>; David Miles <dmiles@meridiancity.org>; Joe Borton <jborton@meridiancity.org>; Jessica Perreault <jperreault@meridiancity.org>; Luke Cavener <lcavener@meridiancity.org>; Liz Strader <lstrader@meridiancity.org>; Treg Bernt <tbernt@meridiancity.org>; Josha Iverson <jiverson@meridiancity.org>; Chris Johnson <cjohnson@meridiancity.org>; Bill Parsons <bparsons@meridiancity.org> Subject: RE: A Form Has Been Submitted For Your Review Melissa, Thank you for your email, it has been received by the Mayor’s Office. We appreciate you taking time to share your concerns about the Centerville subdivision. Because this project is part of an open application, our City Council members are prohibited from commenting outside the public hearing. We take public feedback seriously and want you to know that we have received your email and have read your comments. Your email has been forwarded to our City Clerk and will be included in the public record. We invite you to check the City’s website, meridiancity.org, for additional information regarding the development. Thank you again for contacting up with your concerns. Josha Iverson| Executive Assistant City of Meridian | Mayor’s Office 33 E. Broadway Ave., Meridian, Idaho 83642 Phone: (208) 489-0529 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: laserfiche@meridiancity.org <laserfiche@meridiancity.org> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2021 1:16 AM To: Robert Simison <rsimison@meridiancity.org>; Brad Hoaglun <bhoaglun@meridiancity.org>; David Miles <dmiles@meridiancity.org>; Joe Borton <jborton@meridiancity.org>; Josha Iverson <jiverson@meridiancity.org>; Jessica Perreault <jperreault@meridiancity.org>; Luke Cavener <lcavener@meridiancity.org>; Liz Strader <lstrader@meridiancity.org>; Treg Bernt <tbernt@meridiancity.org> Subject: A Form Has Been Submitted For Your Review 1 Request For Mayor and Council From: Melissa Phillips Email: melissaphillips225@gmail.com Address: 4140 E Rockhampton St Meridian ID 83642 Subject: Centerville Subdivision Message: Dear City Council and Mayor, My name is Melissa Phillips and I am a resident in Hillsdale Creek Subdivision. I never thought I would be so involved with fighting a development and learning about city growth as I am now. Centerville Subdivision has opened my eyes to the issues our city is facing. I see the importance now of what it means for residents to be involved with their city. I might be a lifelong city advocate now, or maybe I'll be so burnt out after this I'll take a break. Joke aside, I'm grateful I've been placed in this situation where I have to bring forth our concerns for the proposed Centerville Subdivision. I am a mother of four little kids, I have a degree in special education and I am a proud homeowner. I have concerns that I feel I am more able to clearly speak towards. To jump right in, I realize it's not favored to bring up the concern that CBH is a lower quality build, but it's also no secret. I worry about that. I worry about the quality of these homes that are to be built and how they will not only look in years to come, but how residents will deal with the issues that are bound to arise. All these concerns and issues that current residents have can be easily found on the BBB complaints. Second, the housing market is so expensive right now and I'm sad to even think of someone working so hard to buy their first home for them to end up paying $500,000+ for an attached townhome. That doesn't seem like the type of achievement Meridian would want for their residents. We don't live in New York City or Downtown Portland. This is Meridian, Idaho. I'm just not envisioning how that is inline with Meridian's Vision. Maybe I'm projecting, maybe I'm too empathetic. But I do think about these people, my future neighbors and I'm sure future friends. I can only imagine what they would want out of an "affordable" home. Privacy, parking availability and a covered patio, to name a few. Other concerns for the development include safety. This neighborhood is going to draw in a lot of families with the school, YMCA and large park nearby. This neighborhood isn't safe. There are going to be kids walking and riding their bikes and with so many street parked vehicles I'm concerned for the safety of the kids. Please be sure there are ample sidewalks and paths for these kids to be on so they aren't in the narrow streets hidden by parked cars. I'm also worried about the kids getting to school. Becky said they'll be putting in a flashing beacon crosswalk, but that still doesn't provide the kids with the safety they need to get to school. Also, ACHD never even did a topography of Hillsdale Ave. before signing off on that. In fact, they never even did a traffic study on Hillsdale Ave at all. It's not a safe road because it is a hill with the school at the bottom. And because the school is right there, kids are going to be tempted to jaywalk and walk along shoulder because there is no sidewalk. Then they'll be trying to walk through the cars turning in for drop-off students. See the problem? If kids use the crosswalk and go across the street they'll have to go around the YMCA's parking lot, behind the YMCA and School to the front. I just envision the worst case scenario and I think there needs to be a better solution. The COMP plan says 2.03.01E Work with West Ada School District to locate and connect schools to safe and accessible walking,bicycle, transit, and automobile routes. Did this happen? Was there real thought put into this or was it another item on the list to check off? 2 Lastly, the redrawing of the school boundaries has helped this year. However, with so many neighborhoods behind built that will be feeding into Hillsdale Creek, we are at risk of overcrowding again. As a teacher, I know the struggle it is to teach to 20 kids, let alone 25, 28, 30. My own children are in these classes. This isn't the public education I want for them from a city I'm proud to live in. The teachers work tirelessly and it's disheartening to not be able to teach how you know you can because you're managing too many children. It's unfair. Becky mentioned at the Planning and Zoning meeting that GEM Prep will take some of the pressure off. NO. NO. NO. We can't use a charter school as a cop out. If we wanted a charter school education, we know that it's available. We want our kiddos to go to their neighborhood public school within walking distance and be taught by teachers who aren't burnt out. Centerville Subdivision is too dense for this area, it is not safe and it needs a lot of redrawing (or a complete redo) to make it a better neighborhood overall. THERE IS NO RUSH! Let's get this right! Sincerely, Melissa Phillips 3