HomeMy WebLinkAboutJanuary 19, 2006 P&Z Minutes
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Meridian Planning & Zoning
January 19, 2006
Page 60 of 92
Rohm: It's been moved and seconded that we folWard onto City Council recommending
approval of AZ 05-063 and PP 05-063, including all staff comments with the
amendments as stated. All those in favor say aye. Opposed Same sign? Motion
carries. Thank you.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 16:
Public Hearing: AZ 05-064 Request for Annexation and Zoning of
116.81 acres from RUT to R-8 zone for Bear Creek West Subdivision by
Tuscany Development, Inc. - south of West Overland Road and west of
South Stoddard Road:
Item 17:
Public Hearing: PP 05-064 Request for Preliminary Plat approval of 321
building lots and 34 common lots on 116.81 acres in a proposed R-8 zone
for Bear Creek West Subdivision by Tuscany Development, Inc. - south
of West Overland Road and west of South Stoddard Road:
Rohm: Okay. I would now like to open the Public Hearing on AZ 05-064 and PP
05-064 and open with the staff report, please.
Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Commission. We move on to Bear
Creek West, located generally west of Stoddard, east of Linder Road and south of
Overland in south Meridian, south of the interstate. The applicant has requested
annexation and zoning of 116.81 acres from RUT and R-1 in Ada County to the R-8
medium density residential zone, for preliminary plat approval of 320 single family
residential lots and 34 common lots. The site is vacant agricultural land and also
contains an existing residence on Linder Road. Some of the existing uses -- in this plat
-- or aerial photo will be a little outdated. There is the existing Bear Creek Subdivision.
It's a little bit hard to tell if that shows a house as being there or not. But there is the
existing Bear Creek Subdivision that will be shown better on this vicinity map to the
east. To the -- really, to the north, west, and south are a mix again of agricultural lands,
a church use, some residences in platted Ada County subdivisions south of the
Ridenbaugh Canal and, then some more agricultural land. Unfortunately, these are on
their side, but the applicant has proposed preliminary plat approval of 320 build-able
lots. I was provided a list just before the hearing of the size of the lots, so I'll go through
those. Between 5,100 square feet and 6,999 square feet there are 44 lots. Between
7,000 square feet and 8,999 square feet there are 86 lots. Between 9,000 and 10,999
square feet there are 92 lots. And above 11,000 square feet there are 98 lots. The
applicant has proposed a collector road to be named West Kodiak Drive. See if I can
get something that shows it a little better. Unfortunately not. Essentially, it -- the Kodiak
Drive bisects a portion of the property and, then, is on the north property line of another
portion of property. So, on these plats north is to the right, so Kodiak Drive connects to
Linder Road and bisects the property here, comes to this point and, then, it is on the
north boundary of the property. The portion of the project that Kodiak Drive is on the --
is on the boundary line with is a future middle school site. Kodiak will be a residential
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Meridian Planning & Zoning
January 19, 2006
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collector with detached sidewalks and street buffers along it. And, then, the remainder
of the roads are proposed as local streets. ACHD did approve a reduced street section
for one portion of the local roadways. The name of that I think is Eggers. The initial
proposal did not meet the minimum fire department requirements and ACHD, I believe,
did say that that was okay, as long as they did meet the fire department requirements
for that reduced street section. If it was the reduced street of 29 foot, it would be the
standard no parking comments per the Meridian fire department. So, this will, maybe,
show it a little bit better. Okay. Now, north is up, so it may be a little easier -- little bit
easier to orientate. Kodiak Drive, the residential collector that bisects a portion of the
property and, then, is on the north boundary here, is indicated there. Craig, if you could
move that up a little bit. That will work. That will work. There is an existing church
property along the northern boundary of the site. Mentioned in the staff analysis, I
believe the name is Christian Family Matters and there are representatives tonight that
will speak on their behalf. They have a valid Conditional Use Permit with the City of
Meridian for an indoor and outdoor church. I will maybe let them get into a little more
detail exactly what they do there, but there is outdoor services with a PA system
associated with those services. They are concerned about impacts on adjacent
properties and concerns of home buyers in this area of the subdivision in regards to
their use. They have provided a letter dated December 12 that was in part of your
packet that discusses these concerns. In discussions with the applicant, they have
addressed these. I didn't get anything in writing. I will let the applicant address those
during their presentation, but there are some measures they have taken to mitigate
those effects along that -- along that property line. From my recollection those
measures are a berm with a fence on top of it, some additional landscape plantings
along that property line and an increased setback from buildings -- from those houses to
that property line. Also, the possibility of notifying any buyers in this portion of the
subdivision that there is an existing church use with a PA on there to prevent those
conflicts if you get a homeowner who buys a house there and, then, complains to the
city or to the church about that PA system when it was -- it preexisted the houses.
Moving south in the subdivision -- and as previously mentioned, this is Linder Road and,
then, this is Stoddard Road. Stoddard Road is a half mile collector. Linder Road is
currently classified as an urban collector, but it is a -- it is a section line road and with
increased development in Meridian it would be anticipated that would become an
arterial in future Ada County designations. The southern boundary of the property is the
Ridenbaugh Canal with a subdivision in Ada County on the south side of -- I think there
is a couple different subdivisions. There is Eggers Subdivision, there is Molla farm
Acres, and there is also Pebble Lane Estates on the south side of the property. It's
much more apparent on the full size landscape plan that the Commission has, but the
applicant has proposed an open space lot along the Ridenbaugh Canal with a ten foot
multi-use pathway. That multi-use pathway does connect to Linder, continued through -
- through the property along the Ridenbaugh Canal. There is a small portion that the
applicant does not control, it is outside of their property boundaries, where there would
be a break in the path as proposed, right there in that bend in the Ridenbaugh. The
path is, then, picked up again as the Ridenbaugh enters their property and they have
the ability to place the multi-use path there. The idea being that they are providing the
multi-use path where they can. In the future it could be completed and connected to -- I
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January 19, 2006
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may need a little help here from Mike or the applicant where the multi-use path comes
out of Bear Creek -- the original Bear Creek, but the idea is that in the future those could
connect there and, then, continue also on the other side of Linder along the
Ridenbaugh. The issues highlighted in the staff report for the Commission are, really,
the church use to the north and their concerns about conflicts between their use and the
proposed houses in Bear Creek West. As submitted, the subdivision -- the application
before you did propose for the existing home on Linder Road to continue their access to
Linder Road. We have recommended a condition of approval be that they take access
from internal roads. That's consistent with ACHD's analysis of the project and it is also
consistent with requirements placed on subdivisions that come before you. We do ask
that they take access from internal roads. There is a Comprehensive Plan policy that
specifically addresses limiting access points on collectors and arterials and the
extension of that roadway to give that lot frontage and, therefore, access from that
roadway would rectify that. In conjunction with that, there would, then, be the
continuance of the 25-foot required landscape buffer along Linder for the majority of the
project, there is, actually, a 35-foot landscape buffer shown along Linder. Only 25
would be required. It seems fairly likely that they would include the 35 there to be
consistent as well, unless there is some kind of conflict with the existing house. The
provided open space does meet the requirements of the Unified Development Code,
with 10.3 percent of the property being dedicated to usable open space, with a -- with a
pool and grassy area located in the middle adjacent to the school site. It's kind of
centrally located for all the residents in the development. There were some concerns
with fencing along the open spaces. The Unified Development Code requires that any
solid fencing -- and I guess the applicant could clarify this as well. It's listed in their
application materials as vinyl. Usually, we don't see nonsolid fencing that's vinyl.
Usually, the nonsolid fencing that's vinyl -- or the nonsolid fencing comes through as
wrought iron. So, they have indicated -- they propose a six foot vinyl fence along the
boundary of the Ridenbaugh Canal along that common open space lot and also on
another common open space lot within the subdivision. Meridian code would limit that
to a four foot fence if it was solid or six foot if open vision. Like I said, we typically don't
see open vision being vinyl. If that's the case, they are proposing an open vision vinyl
fence at that six feet. That would comply with code. They just do need to clarify that.
So, the condition reads that the fencing on those open spaces does need to comply with
Meridian City -- or with the Unified Development Code. Again, the same housekeeping
as in the last report, unfortunately. In the process facts it does list that -- and process
facts are on page two under item five. It does say that the subject application will
constitute a conditional use. They are not applying for a conditional use, they are
applying annexation and preliminary plat. There should be Items A and B that state that
the application will constitute an annexation and a preliminary plat as determined by the
Unified Development Code. Again, under the zoning ordinance it references the multi-
family developments conditional use. There are no multi-family developments with the
subdivision, it is all detached single family housing, principally permitted in the R-8
district and it does reference the multi-family again in the annexation and preliminary
plat analysis, unfortunately. So, I apologize for that. I want to clean those up. The last
item I will touch on is the fact that the ACHD Commission has not approved the project
as of tonight's hearing. I did receive a draft staff report that I was able to base my
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January 19, 2006
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comments on. In the past the Commission has not acted on applications that ACHD
has not approved. Because of ACHD's criteria, this application does require a Public
Hearing, which will be held January 25th at the ACHD Commission. I did recommend in
the staff report that this item not be acted on tonight, that it be continued to the next
available date, which would be the February 2nd hearing. At that hearing we can verify
that ACHD did approve the project as proposed and limit any new testimony or
discussion to those ACHD hearings and the issues that may come up in that. What that
does is it insures us that we don't get any surprises at the ACHD Commission that
would change the layout of the subdivision or change its compliance with code and
staffs findings and we get the majority of the discussion on the subdivision out of the
way tonight and, then, at the next hearing we can just verify that it was approved and
you can make the motion to approve the subdivision, if that's your choosing. I think with
that I will turn it over to the applicant and also ask if the Commission has any questions.
Rohm: Any questions of staff from the Commission?
Newton-Huckabay: Not at this time.
Zaremba: I don't, but I do, actually, have a question of the other Commissioners. As
part of my package I was given a letter from Dana O. Armstrong of the Christian Family
Matters church addressed to Mrs. McKay and I assume we all got that. Separately from
the package, I got a lengthy letter, a well thought out letter, from a Mr. Luke S. Lance
and my question is did everybody else get that?
Newton-Huckabay: Yes.
Zaremba: Okay. Thank you.
Rohm: Would the applicant like to come folWard, please.
McKay: Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Commission. Becky McKay with
Engineering Solutions, 150 East Aikens, Suite B, Eagle. We are representing the
applicant on this particular project. So, I'd like to kind of go over the project to
familiarize you with it. As Josh indicated, we are referring to this as Bear Creek West.
As some of you know, I worked on -- did the planning for Bear Creek in the late '90s, I
think it was. It seems like a long time ago. This particular project is the same
development team, same planner, and we wanted to continue the same type of homes
that they have in Bear Creek, providing a good mixture of different lot sizes, different
home sizes. The applicant owned all of this and the school district showed interest in a
middle school at this particular site, so that's what you see right here in this area. The
school district has purchased that as a future middle school. It's my understanding that
that school is probably about four to five years out. It will have to be in the next bond
issue, according to the information that Wendell provided me. Take into consideration
that -- that that middle school will generate quite a few vehicle trips per day,
approximately 1,458 vehicle trips per day, we thought it was in the best interest of this
particular area and our development to have a continuous collector. Stoddard is the
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January 19, 2006
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half mile here and as you know Stoddard goes up and interconnects to Overland and,
then, goes south to Victory. We connected here right in alignment with Kodiak Drive.
This is one of the entrances, one of two into the primary Bear Creek portion. It comes
up -- the collector would come up and intersect here at Linder. This property is unique
in the fact that it has some elevation to it. The Ridenbaugh Canal is right here on our
south boundary. There is I think approximately 35 feet of fall from this point here down
to right in here around the collector and, then, there is about 15 feet of fall from the
north portion going south down to this collector. So, we have some real good
topography to work with. And in planning some property that has topography like this,
we have to run perpendicular to the contours of the property, so as it's sloping this way,
we are running perpendicular to that, so the lots are all rising continuously. We don't
want lots on one side of the street considerably higher than lots on the other. So, that's
kind of one of the driving forces of our design. I decided that a central open space that
kind of -- everything flowed into was the best approach on this particular piece of
property. This is about 2.85 acres. In the middle here you see a restroom facility, a
pool, parking area, a little gazebo, some pedestrian pathways and play equipment. And
most of the roadways focus coming into this central area and, then, there is kind of a
loop collector here that would wrap around. This area here has it's -- it has one central
access with a split median. It comes up here. This is the area that Josh indicated
where we had a reduced right of way and that's because we had a single load only on
one side of the street with this kind of pocket park here. That type of development was
done in like Lexington Hills and some other developments. It creates a nice little open
space. We also wanted to make sure that this was pedestrian friendly. On your
Comprehensive Plan this is designated medium density residential. It also designates it
for a multi-use pathway, one that goes along the Ridenbaugh connecting over to Linder,
which we did delineate on our portion that adjoins the Ridenbaugh a multi-use pathway.
Now, when we get over to this location here, that we couldn't continue the path on, so I
took the path and I'm dropping it into the subdivision through this micro-path right here
and, then, down and it would link over, people could go over to the Bear Creek
Community Meridian park over here. We also went with an east-west connection. Not
only do we have the pathway -- multi-use pathway here, but we have got a pathway
coming across linking these pocket parks together. We have play equipment, like a tot
lot here. We have one in the primary 2.85 acre park and, then, we have another one
here. This particular area was more cumbersome to work with, because the collector
did isolate it. The location of this collector was dictated basically by the topography and
the site distance and coming in at this location seemed to be the best approach.
Therefore, this particular pod is isolated from the primary Bear Creek West, but has it's
own open space and that is the focus as you would enter into the development. We
also placed a pedestrian pathway coming out the corner, which would, therefore, lead
right into the middle school. We have one existing house, as Josh indicated, located
here on Linder Road. It's an older farm house. They wanted to retain the home, retain
a certain area around that home. I suspected that the staff would be a little bit upset
about the direct access to Linder. We did anticipate that and so we thought about
providing a driveway out the back of that cul-de-sac and that's why we kind of left it
open. However, the staff does want us to bend this down to give them street frontage to
take that direct lot access off Linder. We -- I did bring with me a design that does bend
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January 19, 2006
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that over to demonstrate to the Commission that that is feasible. As I mentioned, this is
designated medium density residential. That's three to eight dwelling units per acre, as
you well know. What we are proposing here is 2.74 dwelling units per acre. That's our
gross density. Our net density is 3.52. So, really, our gross is just a smidge under, but
our net is a little over. So, we are on the low end. As Josh indicated our lot distribution,
we did provide him with a breakdown this evening. We have -- our smallest lots are
located kind of right in this particular area here and I have got a nice pocket park open
space lot right there and I think that's got a tot lot in it also. Yes, it does. Those lots --
our smallest one is 5,100. So, from the 5,100 to 6,999 square feet we have got about
13.35 percent of our total lots. In the 7,000 to 8,999 square foot we have 26.875
percent. In the 8,000 to 10,999 we have got 28.75. 11,000 and up -- our biggest lots
are around 25,000 square feet. We have 30.62 percent. So, 59.38 percent of the lots
that you see there are 9,000 square feet and above. So, these are pretty good size.
Concerning some of the other projects that have been coming through the process
lately, this is very low density. Our open space total, we have got about 14 percent
open space, around 16.386 acres. If you take out the buffers, the mandatory buffers we
are at a little over ten percent. We anticipate this to be in five phases, most likely
starting right over here and -- with phase one and, then, working our way westward. As
far as the utilities, there is water here in Stoddard. There is a city well over here in Bear
Creek Park. We will, according to the staff, based on their water model, have to come
up to Overland Road, extend a 12 inch line, and bring it into the subdivision and, then,
install a pressure relief valve in order to stabilize the pressure due to the elevation
change that we have. As far as sewer, this is designated as the Black Cat Trunk. It is
not our intent to get into the Bear Creek lift station. It is our understanding, based on
Meridian Public Works, that they are diligently working on getting the Black Cat Trunk to
the south side of 1-84, which I believe is going to be a 36 inch. So, this is, obviously,
contingent upon serviceability by the Black Cat Trunk. It's stated so in our conditions of
approval and recognizes that fact. As far as the fencing, I believe that the landscape
architect went in and showed vinyl fencing. In speaking with Mr. Johnson, he's
indicated that in the open spaces they would probably prefer wrought iron and, then,
along the multi-use pathway at the Ridenbaugh it would be wrought iron. The multi-use
pathway, they installed some of that with Bear Creek to the east of us and he
anticipates doing the same here. Traffic. When we had our neighborhood meeting, that
was one of the big questions that kept popping up, you know, what is ACHD's time line
for improvements out in this area. Josh, can you put up the vicinity map, do you think?
There we go. According to ACHD, what they are going to do in 2007, they will be
rebuilding Overland Road from Meridian Road over to Linder and they will -- they will,
basically, be creating a seven lane intersection at Meridian Road and Linder and they
will be creating a three lane intersection at Stoddard here. They will be signalizing this.
And, then, I believe a five lane intersection will be installed here. And some of the
residents that own parcels along Overland have indicated that ACHD is in the process
of that right of way acquisition at this time. ACHD seemed to feel quite confident that
2007, you know, is when it's going to happen, because it is on their priority list and
appears to be funded. As far as trips per day, we are going to generate about 3,100.
And, like I said, the school -- middle school at about 1,458. So, about 4,559 vehicle
trips per day at total build out. And like we -- we indicate that this will be probably about
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January 19, 2006
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a five phase project and we would like to go on the record to allow us for some phasing
flexibility based on market conditions. We feel that we have taken a lot of time working
through this project. I did meet with the church -- I'm not sure what they call -- members
here to the north. We walked that north boundary, talked about it, looked at their church
facility, I talked to them about the functions that they have. We did receive that letter
from the Christian Family Matters. I did respond to them via e-mail, which I don't
believe you guys have a copy. I will provide staff with a copy of this. We indicated that
we would move Elias Drive, which is this one here, south ten feet, which, therefore,
would mean these lots adjoining the church would be between 150 and 155 feet in
depth. We would adjust our lot lines to try to shift some lot lines east and west to -- we
have got three lots that back up to them right now. We would make that two lots, versus
the three. The two lots that would back up to them, would be single level, so that there
would be no two -- second story, obviously, overlooking into the church facility. We
indicate in our landscape plan we will construct a two foot berm with a six foot fence
there to give, obviously, a little more privacy. And the developer said that they would
plant some arborvitae there to try to create some type of a vegetative buffer on our side
also. One of the other things that we thought was real important is that we would
disclose in the purchase agreement that the church facility exists, that outdoor activities
are very common there and that these activities are approved preexisting. They
recognize that and should in no way be considered a nuisance. Very similar to the right
to farm, just recognizing that that particular use does take place. One of the other
things I'd like to mention, we have Eggers Subdivision here, one acre lots. There is
Ariel Estates over here, they are five acre lots. And, then, there is some -- I think two
acre lots in this particular area. And, then, there is kind of a rural lot located here. We
did take great care to try to make sure that these lots were deeper, wider, were our
largest lots. If you look at our plat, these particular lots are -- this depth here is about
145 feet. This is 164. This is 143. These lots are ranging -- I have got some that are
14,12,15,18,17,16 thousand square feet. And in our lot distribution, like I said, all of
our largest lots are on this perimeter here, in order to, obviously, create some type of a
transitioning. The smallest lots were located right here kind of in a cluster down by the
collector. We would ask the Commission to approve this project. We feel it's a good
project. We have received ACHD's staff report. We have nothing that we disagree with
in the ACHD staff report. I did provide a letter. I apologize for the tardiness of my letter,
but I had a death in my family this week and I have got a funeral to go to in the morning
and so it kind of took up some time. We are pretty much in agreement with most of
staff's conditions. We just mention some corrections that needed to be made
mentioned -- I think Josh said the multi-family. The only thing that I found that would --
could be problematic is it talked about requiring us to install all of the sidewalk along
Kodiak prior to the issuance of a building permit I think on the first phase. Stoddard,
that is reasonable. And I think along Kodiak, for any portion of that collector that is part
of the first phase -- if the first phase comes up to here or if it comes up and makes this
loop, but I can't extend sidewalk where I don't have a roadway built. So, I think the
wording on that needs to be modified. There is reference to the Ten Mile stub drain. I
think they meant to say the Ridenbaugh Canal. The only other issue that I wanted to
bring up was the fire department. Their condition of approval was very confusing. They
talk about a 39 foot measurement and parking restriction and I don't think that is correct.
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You know, an ACHD local street is 36 back to back. They are saying anything 30 --
anything 39 foot or less requires -- and that's from face to face -- requires restricted
parking. And that's not a condition that we have seen in the past. I'm not sure if those
numbers have been transposed -- maybe Josh can find their memo. But that condition
is not accurate. It should read anything less than a 36 back to back, which is a standard
Ada County Highway District local street, then, they do restrict the parking. That's the
last information that I received from Joe Silva. But not 39 face to face. Because a 36
back to back is 32 face to face. That concludes my comments. Do you have any
questions?
Rohm: Any questions of the applicant by the Commission?
Newton-Huckabay:
Linder.
I was interested in seeing the modification with the house on
McKay: Yeah. I thought you might ask. This is the modification. Right now the cul-de-
sac comes out like this. Here is the existing house located on that Lot 38, Block 5. If
you stick this in here, it looks like -- not doing a very good job of holding it. It looks like
that. So, what we have done, just bent the cul-de-sac down to give it frontage. Still
maintaining landscaping, therefore, allowing them to take access off of a local versus
Linder.
Zaremba: Would you mind making a 360 with that, so, first, the staff and, then, the
audience can see it?
McKay: Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, yes. It looks like that. The cul-de-sac at this time is shown
stopping back here with a couple of flag lots off of it. This takes direct lot access. We
are just taking it and bending it down.
Newton-Huckabay: Can I ask one more question? If that homeowner wanted -- would
that be easy for them to put it into smaller lots at some point if they choose to with that
design? This is an awfully big lot that at some point I can see if they sold it they would
want to incorporate it more into the subdivision.
McKay: They wanted to keep those approximate dimensions at this time. It's about
39,000 square feet. So, it's a little less than an acre.
Newton-Huckabay: Right.
McKay: If we extended that street there, they potentially could pull it in -- you know,
have a driveway. I think your new ordinance allows for up to four dwelling units, single
family detached, to share a driveway. So, they have like a common drive coming off
there. So, yes, to answer your question it could be re-subdivided in the future without
causing any detriment to traffic on Linder.
Newton-Huckabay: Okay. Great.
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January 19, 2006
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Zaremba: Mr. Chairman?
Rohm: Any other questions of the applicant?
Zaremba: Yes. Actually, my first comment would be my sympathies to your family.
McKay: Thank you.
Zaremba: And I appreciate your taking the time to be here tonight to do what must
seem like something that's not quite as important to you as your family, but I appreciate
you being here. The letter that I mentioned earlier from Luke S. Lance was addressed
to us and I don't know if you ever received a copy of that.
McKay: I did not, sir.
Zaremba: Okay. He lists a number of things that he's concerned about. Maybe he's
here tonight to repeat it when we get to public testimony. One of the things that caught
my eye is on his page four, I believe it is -- and I'll read it to you. This is about home site
statistics. With the proposed zoning of eight homes per acre, this will force the builder
to build up to increase size and marketability. This will take away from the view
easement of houses on the south side of the Ridenbaugh Canal. And what caught my
attention is the view easement. Typically, standard procedure is that nobody is
guaranteed a view through their neighbor's property. Are you aware of any view
easement that would encumber your property?
McKay: No, sir. Not to my knowledge.
Zaremba: Okay. If he's here we will ask him about that. Okay. That was it for me.
McKay: One thing, I guess, I'd like to mention -- they are sitting up high, this is
dropping, keep in mind.
Borup: Eight to ten feet.
McKay: No. Thirty-five. It's dropping 35 feet down to this point.
Borup: I mean just to the road is about eight to ten feet. Just the first road.
McKay: Yes. You're correct. Yes, sir. So, because they are on a high point, we are
going to be below them.
Rohm: Thank you, Becky.
Wilson: Chairman Rohm, if I could just maybe clear up that fire department comment a
little bit.
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January 19, 2006
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Borup: Please.
Wilson: Believe it or not, Craig thinks that that is an accurate condition. What it's
specifically referring to is dead end cul-de-sacs of between 500 and 750 feet in length,
which there doesn't appear to be any in this subdivision. If I can get to the conditions of
approval here real quick. Okay. So, that 3.2 is, actually, specifically, referencing dead
end roads between 500 and 750 feet in length do, actually, require those dimensions,
the 39 feet in width. But there don't appear to be any on this project and we think that
item was probably included in error. Their standard street section comment that
references the 29 feet is 3.9, which is probably the appropriate one and 3.2 should
probably be stricken.
Rohm: Thank you. At this time it's time for public testimony and Don Webber, would
you like to come folWard, please. Before you speak, is there anybody here that is
speaking for a homeowners association or are each of you speaking individually?
Okay. Come on folWard.
Webber: Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Don Webber and I live at 1525
South Calistoga Avenue in Meridian. 83642. I'm here to speak on behalf of Christian
Family Matters and, additionally, I am the owner of record of the adjacent property, the
4.3 acre property to the west of Christian Family Matters' property and that particular
site is a home end site, it has a contract of sale between myself, Don Webber, and
Christian Family Matters. As mentioned in the staff report, we do have some concerns
about the adjacent properties to the north to our property. I should preface that with
saying that we have no concerns about the project as a whole. I believe they do a very
good quality job of developing. It was brought to their attention pretty recently, within
the last month -- well, actually, about the last month, that we do exist there. They were
unaware of that, so we got our public notice of the neighborhood meeting and we took
action and at our request we did meet with Beck McKay, she came to the property, and
we gave her a big scope of what do do there. We have a Conditional Use Permit that
allows us an indoor and outdoor Bible fellowship use and we are a very active
fellowship, so we don't limit to certain hours of the week and certain days of the week,
we have many different activities, as well as working with a lot of young people. The
real nuts and bolts of the issue is they -- the developer has agreed to make some
concessions, we are appreciative of that. They have come some way, but I think the
real meat of the issue is that we need to consider -- or asking you to consider that they
make the adjacent properties right behind Christian Family Matters an open area and
also consider the lots from there going west to be single stories. The reason we ask
that -- and that is outlined in the letter from Christian Family Matters that you have --
that Dane Armstrong addressed. You have that in your packet. Is we are concerned
that when homeowners do actually purchase the lots and build their homes and want to
enjoy their quiet and peaceable enjoyment like any homeowner would, we understand
that it would be disclosed to the homeowner, but bear in mind that we do have an
outdoor fellowship and we do, weather permitting, most frequently we do meet
outdoors. We meet at the southern part of our property, which we developed with code
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requirement, landscaping and so on, where we might have 150 plus people sitting
facing south. So, we have great concerns that although that's to be disclosed to
property purchasers, in all practicality, when it's all said and done and, then, when the
two neighbors need to live with each other, us and the neighbors across from us, that
they may have real trouble with what we do there, going on at different hours and
different times of the day. Of course, we are not there until late late hours. However,
we are an active fellowship. So, what I'm asking the Commissioners to consider that
they -- the lots directly behind, numbers 18, 19 and 20 be considered open use. Then,
lots 12 through 17 be restricted to one story and, then, appropriate landscaping buffers,
as they have already proposed. So, I'd ask for your consideration on that.
Newton-Huckabay: Why 12 through 17 one story?
Webber: Those are -- well, we are considering since we operate a lot on the south --
southern part of our property, that it may pose a conflict with two stories looking back
over our lawn and looking at 150 people having an outdoor Bible fellowship. So, we are
trying to think about what's best for both parties involved down the road. That's why I'm
proposing that.
Rohm: Thank you, sir. Any other questions for this -- for Don?
Zaremba: I do have a comment and, actually, it doesn't relate to the current application
that's before us, but as I previously admitted, my memory is sometimes faulty, but when
I saw the discussion in the letter from Dana Armstrong about it expanding into
apparently what is your property or property you're selling to the church, first let me say
I encourage churches, I'm happy you're there. My recollection is that when this came
before us for the CUP that you're referencing, the church was already there as an
existing nonconforming use in that parcel. The CUP was required to continue it as a
nonconforming use and I believe there was a provision in the CUP that it either expired
or voided if there was any expansion. I would ask you to get with staff. I'm just alerting
you that there may be a provision that stops you from expanding. I'm not sure.
Webber: May I address that, Commissioner?
Zaremba: Sure.
Webber: That did come up when we annexed into the city about a year and a half ago.
What was advised us and we understand that if we do want to expand onto the
additional parcel or do other things on the existing Christian Family Matters' property,
we have to go through the process of -- the permit process and meeting any
requirements to do so. So, while the adjacent property that I'm still the owner of record
on is not part of Christian Family Matters' property and we operate our Conditional Use
Permit on the existing property, I just thought it would be wise to forewarn the builder
that we do come and go on the property, people live on both properties as residents,
and we thought it would be best to propose the open area and the single story, some
buffer, just landscape buffer, and when this is all said and done and we have to live
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together as neighbors and the developer is long gone, that we are not going to have
issues there. So, it would best for both.
Rohm: Thank you, sir.
Webber: Thank you.
Moe: Actually, I have one question. I'm just curious. Mr. Webber, you made a
statement earlier you own the property to the north from the Lots 12 through 17; is that
correct?
Webber: That's correct.
Moe: Okay. I was just -- and you're not concerned with any of the lots to the east of
your property as far as Lots 21 and beyond as far as going single story?
Webber: No. I don't see that as a problem.
Moe: Okay.
Webber: I don't see that as a problem.
Moe: Thank you.
Rohm: Neil Bowl.
Bowl: My name is Neil Bowl, 3803 Gemini Circle, Boise, Idaho. 83709. I don't have
much to add besides what Don added. We are -- I am in favor of the development. It's
a good job. We do -- my concerns are the same as Don's regarding having an open
area behind Christian Family Matters. That would be something we'd like you to
consider. We don't want to hold up the development. We don't think -- that's not our
intent. But we do see that sewer is a ways off and ACHD still needs have their say, so
maybe just catch our breath and take a good look at it and not jump to any quick
conclusions, but take a good look at maybe putting a common area behind there. That
would be -- that's my concern. So, thank you.
Rohm: Thank you. Sandy Cisneros?
Newton-Huckabay: There was a statement from the audience that she left.
Rohm: Oh. Okay. Chuck Rough.
Rough: My name is Chuck Rough and I'm the property owner at 2707 South Stoddard
Road, which is -- borders the proposed subdivision on the -- kind of the southeast
corner. I have a five acre piece of property there. I just have a couple of issues I just
want to address or maybe some concerns. I'll just kind of go through them here. One is
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that the trash that's developed from a subdivision of this size from the builders. From
the first Bear Creek that was put in there was quite a bit of trash that gets blown around
and it seems to -- some of it ends up on my property and it's kind of a constant thing
trying to keep that cleaned up and I'm not sure how, if the -- this Commission can
address that in any way, but I would like to just look at how -- when their construction is
going on how we can address the trash that's generated from all the contractors that
come in. Along those same lines is the dust and noise that's generated also. There will
be a significant amount of construction that will border my property and the amount of
dust that gets generated from the construction; I'd just like to see how that's going to be
addressed. And, then, the property buffers, kind of review that a little bit. Need to look
at the final plan that they have submitted and see what the depth of lots will be that
adjoin my property and see what kind buffers that they have along there. There is some
trees that -- some existing trees that border my property and the subdivision property
and I'm just interested on what's going to happen to those trees. Are they going to be
taken out and replaced. Since they are right on the property line, need to kind of work
through that and find out what the plan is for those trees. The streetlights that are in the
current Bear Creek Subdivision are fairly bright and pretty much light up my five acres
across the street and if there is lights like that, I'd like to see some type of shielding to
be put up, maybe to not flood those bright lights onto my property. I do have livestock.
I have five acres. I do have livestock there and it would be good for the homeowners
that would be purchasing property adjacent to mine to understand that I do have
livestock there and that would be something that they would have to deal with. Just
interested in ACHD's comments on the traffic that's going to be generated on Victory
and the traffic that's going to be on Overland. Both areas right now is pretty much a
mess and adding additional traffic there would just mean that -- to kind of see what their
plans are. That's pretty much the comments I have and would like to see how those
issues will be addressed as this development moves folWard.
Newton-Huckabay: Thank you.
Rohm: My comment to you, sir, is thank you for your organization. That's very much
appreciated.
Zaremba: I would make a comment, sir. Of course, the applicant will come back and
answer questions as well, but I think our dust abatement and construction blowing stuff
-- our ordinances have improved since Bear Creek was begun. There are rules which
the applicant has to comply with, standard rules for everything, but I think they have
gotten stronger since the beginning of Bear Creek. The other is there are also rules
about the down-shielding of lighting, so it's not supposed to be bleeding off onto other
people's property and that's not an issue for this applicant if you're talking about
previously and across the street, but you could call the police department and ask to
speak to the compliance officer at the police department and they will come out and
take a look at the lights and see whether they are complying with the down-shielding
and no bleed off.
Rough: Okay. I will do that. Thanks.
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Zaremba: And we will ask the applicant to answer the other questions.
Rough: Okay. Thank you.
Rohm: James Prather.
Prather: Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners. James Prather, 2595 South
Linder, Meridian. I'll make my comments brief. I appreciate the presentation tonight. I
did not make the earlier meeting of a couple of months ago. It's well thought out. It's
well prepared. I think they have a few perhaps lose ends that they are taking care of as
shown tonight, but more specifically, I live right across the street on Linder to the west.
If I can -- correct.
Zaremba: In that area?
Prather: One south. Right there.
Zaremba: Okay.
Prather: What I would like to see here -- and I do appreciate, again, the attention of the
applicant taking this into consideration, but Ariel Estates is the subdivision that I live in
to the west. We are five acre estates and most of us in there -- well, all of us in there
have made a pretty substantial investment, along with Eggers Subdivision, which is to
the south of the Ridenbaugh, most of those lots in there are between one acre and two
acres. And what I would like to see -- and I won't speak for the rest of the owners, but
I'm sure -- if there could be a little bit more attention paid to the transition. Eggers is
probably 25 to 30 years there and Ariel Estates I think are about 12 years old. What we
would like to see is perhaps those lots that were enumerated to be somewhere between
-- I believe Becky said somewhere between 13 and 18 thousand square feet Just
bumped up to see if we can get closer to half acre lots. The way they are now, they are
just roughly maybe on an average of a quarter acre coming up to acre and five acre
lots. It would be nice, since we were in here preceding this development -- and, by the
way, I -- this is what I do for a living as well. That's a good development and we know
it's coming and we, actually, welcome it. But it would be nice if they would revisit their
position and make those abutting lots to the north of the Ridenbaugh -- just the lots that
abut that up about a half an acre. And that's my comment.
Rohm: Thank you, sir. Ruth Ann Green. From the audience she states that her issues
have been addressed. That is everybody that signed up for this, but at this time I'd
welcome anybody else to come folWard that chooses to speak.
Bradshaw: Thank you, Commissioners. My name is Allen Bradshaw. I live on 2730
South Linder Road and I'm south of -- of the canal as well and I would kind of reiterate
what James Prather said about the transition of the lot sizes in respect to the size of the
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lots that have been in existence for quite a long time, that maybe they look at expanding
those lots with that. That's all.
Rohm: Thank you. Any questions? Thank you. Anybodyelse? Yes. Please come
folWard.
Young: Good morning. My name is Jan Young. I live at 1330 Eggers Place and I own
two lots in Eggers. I have been there since May of 1979 and Becky has really
addressed most of the concerns I had and I do feel approval for this and I agree with
what Mr. Prather also said about along the canal, the additional lots being just slightly
larger. One thing I do -- would like to address is the church that's down off of Overland.
Living up on -- in Eggers Subdivision I'm not really sure how that was approved for them
to have the outdoor speakers, but in the summertime up all the way to Eggers you can
hear the church and it is very loud. So, I think anyone buying down in that subdivision
would need to be aware that you can hear it throughout the entire subdivision and all
the way up to our subdivision and that's one thing I'd like address. Thank you.
Rohm: You bet. Thank you. I think that probably speaks to his concerns about the lots
-- wanting to see them become common lots, rather than developable lots, so -- in
support of what his comments were. Thank you. Is there anybody else who would like
to comment on this at this time? Seeing none, Commission?
Zaremba: I would ask a question of staff on -- I agree that the church's CUP allows the
public address system, but doesn't it still need to comply with sound levels leaving the
property? Aren't there some rules about that?
Wilson: There is a noise ordinance. It's contained in the Meridian civil code that Mr.
Nary would likely be more familiar with than I am. Our Unified Development Code
specifically addresses PA systems within 100 feet of residences needing a CU. It
doesn't, actually, set levels or anything else, it just kind of falls back on the civil code,
which, if I remember correctly, doesn't set decibel levels either, it's fairly vague and says
that it can't disturb other properties, I think. But I would defer to Mr. Nary on that.
Nary: Mr. Chairman, Members of the Commission, it's, actually, the criminal code that
we are referring to, but under the city noise ordinance, activities on religious property
are exempt. So, it wouldn't violate the city criminal code.
Zaremba: Thank you.
Rohm: All right. I think, probably, at this time it's appropriate to ask Becky to come
back up and let's see what she has to say.
McKay: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Becky McKay, Engineering Solutions. I have
spoken with Mr. Webber on multiple occasions and we have made what my clients
thought was good faith measures trying to, obviously, buffer the church from our future
residents and vice-versa. We looked at possibly putting some open space up there, but
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that is the high point on this portion. This particular pod here everything is sloping to the
south. So, as you well know, any storm drainage, where sub surface or surface from
retention ponds, have to be in a separate common lot. So, that was one reason that
they were concerned about taking the open space and moving it and that was one of
the recommendations that Mr. Webber had at the time. As far as their PA system --
Rohm: Becky -- oh, I was just going to say, it sounds from the testimony that we have
heard that the PA system penetrates the entire subdivision and not just the adjacent
lots, so I'm not sure that you could really address that adequately without elimination of
the subdivision. But, anyway, that's --
McKay: Let me try -- one thing I have noticed, sound carries over bare ground and it
carries for quite a distance, depending on the weather conditions and the way the wind's
blowing. My past experience, like along Interstate 84, for example, very noisy facility.
Some of the residents that were in subdivisions beyond the freeway -- and I designed a
subdivision between them and the freeway, I have seen them since the subdivision was
built out and one thing they said was, you know what, I can't hear the freeway now. So,
that was one good thing about the development going in. So, you know, the sound is
going to carry, because there is nothing to block it. When you do start getting built out,
we do see a reduction in the distance that sound will carry, I mean that just lays to
reason. One thing I did talk to Mr. Webber about is a church facility really any different
than say a high school, a middle school, elementary? I used to live by an elementary. I
could hear the little kids squealing and laughing and playing, the bell ringing, I have
done lots of subdivisions next to high schools, they have outdoor sports events, lights,
PA systems, traffic, and noise. There are lots of things associated with that type of
activity, but yet schools are able to coexist and be compatible with residential
development. We see churches primarily in residential areas. This one is a little
unique, that they do have it looks like more outdoor activities than the average church.
Most of them are indoors, but you do have like some of the LDS churches have
baseball diamonds behind them I have seen and, you know, other outdoor activities that
take place. So, I don't feel that their use is not compatible with us or vice-versa. I've
tried my best to, you know, come up with different ideas to buffer them. I guess I leave
it up to the Commission, if they believe that the two lots behind them that are limited to
single story that are 150 feet deep, that we put a berm, a fence, and landscaping, is still
not enough. I leave that to the Commission to make a determination. As far as the --
Mr. Rough indicated, who lives right here, about the trash. The staff -- or the
ordinances always, I think, required the perimeter fencing, which, obviously, it's
supposed to catch any of the building trash that's blowing around. However, if you drive
around and we have had a big windstorm, you will see that some of the trash will go up
over a six foot fence. That's, obviously -- you know, that burden's upon the developer to
make sure that the builders understand that they must contain their trash, they can't just
leave it, you know, around to blow all over and to go off of the subject property. As far
as dust and noise, the city -- for the record, the city's pretty tough on dust. I have
received phone calls from the staff and said Mrs. Smith or Jones called me and says
that there is dust out there and you better take care of it. We call our contractor
immediately, they send water trucks out. Most contractors are very cognizant of that,
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they are very conscientious about trying to get their water trucks out there. If we know
we have, you know, a dust issue, they are pretty sensitive about it or if we have -- one
time at Redfeather Estates we had an adjoining neighbor that had asthma and so we
went to great pains to try to make sure that we took care of the dust and his wife called
me if there was any dust, so -- existing trees. There are some existing trees that the
Commission should be aware of. You see them right here on this landscape plan. But
there is some that appear to be on the common boundary and, then, there are some
that are primarily on the adjoining property. What I told the gentleman that lives there,
that we can, obviously, meet him out there and look at the trees. He says some of them
are like those black Locusts, they are not in very good condition. We, obviously, don't
want to create a hazard, if it's determined -- we could get the city forester out there to
look at them, that they should be taken out, because they are not safe, that they are on
their last leg or diseased, but we typically try to retain as many trees as possible and the
ordinance states that we must. We have to mitigate, obviously, any trees that we take
out that are existing. Street lights. The shoe box lights should be -- you know, they
should be shining downward. Sometimes they get tipped a little bit and they will shine
on adjacent properties. I did out at Bridgetower have an adjoining neighbor call once
and say it's shining in my bedroom. We sent an electrician out, they adjusted the little
shield, and they said, hey, that worked great. So, maybe that's what needs to be done
out here at Bear Creek. I'm not sure what the situation is. But, obviously, there are
ways to try to relieve that problem. As far as just livestock, the right to farm, obviously,
we would be willing to put that on the plat, that's a state law, if we have any agricultural
that surround us, we, obviously, have to recognize those and respect those and any
subsequent owners have to do the same. Traffic. I went through ACHD's plans for the
improvement out in this area. I mean this area is planned for, funded, it's within next
year. We did do a traffic study. Washington Group International did our traffic study,
they went and did counts, looked all the surrounding intersections. We had them go
beyond what -- just the Overland and Linder, we had them go further out and look at
what's happening out there and look at the impact. They did a very thorough job. Ada
County Highway District has incorporated all of those comments into their staff report
that we received. We will be installing left turn bays, right turn bays on Linder, sidewalk
along Linder. We will be donating the right of way to Ada County Highway District along
Linder, 48 feet from center line. Along Stoddard that will be free right of way there,
because it's designated as a collector. We will be building curb, gutter, sidewalk, half of,
I think it is, a 46 foot section. And, then, obviously, the addition of the collector at our
expense will be accommodating traffic moving in between this half mile. Not very often
that the projects have a continuous collector. I like them. I'm an advocate for them. In
this instance I think it's going to work real well with this school. So, we feel that, you
know, all the traffic issues have been answered. As far as Ariel Estates and Eggers
Estates, we did -- we did look at those lots and I'm sensitive to the rural lots. In fact, I
did Ariel Estates. Last five acre lot subdivision I did before they required dry line sewers
within the Meridian's area of impact. If we look at an aerial photo -- and I can submit
this for the record. As you can see, I had them go beyond our project, which shows the
location of the homes. To give you the scale of this, this is one inch equals 200 feet.
So, some of these homes -- I think the closest one I found along this Eggers boundary
here was about 160 feet from the closest point of their home to the rear lot line. That
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would not be to -- you know, the home would be further away, but to the rear lot line.
This particular gentleman talked about the impact on him. From his home over to this
lot line I think is 235 feet. So, that kind of gives you an idea of the separation that we
have. In looking at our distribution of lots, I brought this just to kind of demonstrate to
the Commission that we did -- we did go through a logical process in determining our lot
sizes. Everything you see in blue are our largest lots. Everything in pink is the next
largest. Then, it goes down to the orange. The yellow are smallest. And pink are
second. Yeah. No. The pink -- I'm sorry. It goes blue, pink, orange, yellow. Got it
reversed. So, as you can see, all along Eggers and wrapping around there to Linder
from the existing home, everything is blue. Over here we have some pinks. But we --
you know, these lots are pretty good size. They are not half acre, but I've got some that
are 19,000, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 12 -- I mean they vary. I try to keep them wider and
deeper than any of the other lots that I had. So, I think I have made an effort. I think
that's all that I have. I think I have went through my list. Does the Commission have
any other questions, comments? We would like to move folWard, if possible. I don't
think with the large collector and our vehicle trips generated that we violate any ACHD
policies. In fact, their staff report indicated that we are in compliance. And we meet and
exceed their requirements.
Moe: Becky, you made comment in regards to the lots right behind the church --
McKay: Yes, sir.
Moe: -- being single story.
McKay: Yes, sir.
Moe: And I didn't hear you comment at all on Lots 12 through 17, possibly making
those single-story.
McKay: From--
Moe: From Linder over.
McKay: From here over?
Moe: Yes.
McKay: The applicant doesn't agree.
Moe: Thank you.
McKay: I guess that burden is on the Commission to determine if that is necessary.
Newton-Huckabay: Mr. Chair, Becky, I was just wondering what you expect build out to
be on this, approximately, because the sewer is not there yet.
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McKay: Fall 2007 and that is the best optimistic that I'm hearing from staff. I mean
Mike may correct me. I know they are pushing hard to get it across the interstate.
There is a need for it. All your trunks are at capacity or over capacity south of 1-84, so I
know this has been a priority and it's even popped up higher on the priority list. We
accept the fact that we may have to wait. We had hoped to get the first phase on this
year. That was our hope. We think this will probably be, you know, a five phase
project. Typically, projects run one to two phases a year, roughly. So, build out, you
know, could be three to five years, depending on market conditions and, obviously,
availability of the sewer.
Rohm: Thank you, Becky.
McKay: Thank you.
Zaremba: I, actually, have a couple of questions, if I may. And, actually, the first one is
probably directed at staff, Mr. Cole, but while you're here, what is the mechanism for --
enforcing is not the right word, but making sure that sewer is available to enough
homes? Is it the certificate of zoning compliance or certificate of occupancy, that they
can't get until their sewer -- or am I making that up?
Cole: Commissioner Zaremba, they are not allowed to build in any lots in this
subdivision until the Black Cat --
Zaremba: So, they can't break ground.
Cole: No.
Zaremba: Okay.
Cole: They could move a little dirt around if they wanted to, but until -- to answer the
earlier question, the Black Cat Trunk is planned to be on the south side of the interstate
in '06. From that point it's still roughly a half to three quarters of a mile away from Mrs.
McKay's development. There is an application pending that would bring it to her front
door. Depending on how fast that developer builds his sewer out, it's conceivable she
could have sewer by '07, but that's a very --
McKay: Optimistic.
Cole: -- optimistic expectation. Thank you, Mrs. McKay.
Zaremba: Thank you. Appreciate that. So, you have heard that and you're aware of it
and you probably knew that before I did.
McKay: Yes, sir. We are aware of that and, obviously, we realize we may have to file a
time extension on the preliminary plat in the event that there are any setbacks. The
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staff has been very diligent and has not allowed us to start any subdivisions, that is the
infrastructure, until that trunk was on its way. That's been pretty much a standard.
They don't take any chances that somebody builds something that has no connection to
a trunk.
Zaremba: Okay. Great. The other question that I have is in regards to the police
department requirement that you have objected to and this is something that Ada
County Highway District, I'm sure, will be considering and that's that you consider traffic
calming on West Kodiak to slow the speeds and stuff. My guess is that one of the
methods that ACHD has presented to us as being traffic calming is a meandering street,
which, to me, you appear to have been. I don't see any real straight-aways.
McKay: No, sir.
Zaremba: And I'm not sure that we have the authority to change a police department
requirement, but I guess you're assuming ACHD is going to go along with your design.
McKay: Mr. Chairman, Commissioner Zaremba, we received the same comment on
Volterra, because we have a continuous collector that in that instance ran from one
arterial -- Ten Mile to Black Cat, another arterial. I think what the police chief -- I think
he thinks it's like a local street for front-on housing. There is no front-on housing along
the collector. A collector can carry up to 8,000 vehicle trips a day, because it doesn't
impact anybody's home, because it's not in front of their home, unlike the local street
that we restrict to less than 1,000 vehicle trips. People do go faster on the collectors.
We do our best to try to give them a meander, not make them a straight shot, as,
Commissioner Zaremba, you indicated. One thing we did do here is on the landscape
plan we do show some pedestrian crossings, like some stamped pavers. That does --
that does make them slow down. It just kind of -- for some reason they will reduce their
speed when you designate crosswalks. Also, you know, that would be a school zone.
So, you will have, you know, some type of restricted speeds during the school hours.
They usually have the little flashers and so forth. I don't see that as a problem. On
Volterra Ada County Highway District just kind of shook their head and said this is a
collector, not a local. If it was a local and you're trying to put this many vehicle trips on
it, you would have a problem. You wouldn't meet their policies. But we meet all of
ACHD's policies.
Zaremba: Thank you.
McKay: Thank you.
Rohm: Thank you, Becky. Before we proceed with this, I'd like to just make a comment
that because we do not have the report from the Ada County Highway District to include
in our deliberations, I think that the testimony that we have received tonight from the
audience and rebuttal from the applicant is all in good order and I think this has been a
healthy discussion. What I would like to see us do -- we can't make a decision tonight,
because we do not have that report from the highway district. What I'd like to see us do
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is just stop the discussion at this point in time, move to continue until the following
February 2nd meeting and only take testimony associated with the Ada County Highway
District report period at that next meeting and there is no sense in making any additional
deliberations tonight and we will just conclude it with the Ada County Highway District
report that we will receive between now and February 2nd. Any comments?
Borup: Yes, Mr. Chairman. I certainly agree with that, that the testimony should be
limited to the ACHD report, but I also think there is some merits to discuss an issue
when it's fresh in our minds. Not that we would be making -- necessarily making a
motion, but in my mind it would be good to maybe discuss some of the issues that's
been discussed while it's still fresh, rather than --
Rohm: And I guess --
Borup: -- weeks from now.
Rohm: And I don't have a problem with that. I was hoping that we could get through
this and open the last item on the agenda, but I'm open to hearing comments from each
Commissioner associated with testimony currently received.
Newton-Huckabay: I would recommend that we go ahead -- we stay until we open the
last item on the agenda, but I do agree that we should discuss this one, if we want to
make the changes. Even if it is after midnight, that we --
Borup: The time to have made that decision was earlier in the evening, maybe, and
moved things along then.
Newton-Huckabay: But I mean it's only -- because 19 and 20 are continued.
Borup: I only have two comments and I don't know how many the others have.
Zaremba: Yeah. I was going to say anticipating that this discussion may be fairly brief;
I think I've had most of my answers -- my questions answered. I would like to hear
Commissioner Borup's concern, but I also feel the following two issues, one of which
hasn't been noticed and we are going to continue that one anyhow, will probably also go
fairly quickly and I would be amenable to starting it even if it happens after midnight.
Rohm: Fair enough. I can live with that. Commissioner Borup, you're on.
Borup: Okay. I only, really, had a couple of notes. I mean I had a lot of notes, but two
that may be open for discussion. One was perhaps a transition on the southern part of
the subdivision. I got to look at things on what we have looked at historically and I think
there is very good transition here. These are large lots compared to what we normally
see against same size neighboring subdivisions, so I don't have any concern about that
and I think they have done a good job of some real -- real large almost estate size lots, I
guess maybe small estate. And the other is the property to the north. Not just on this,
Meridian Planning & Zoning
January 19, 2006
Page 81 of 92
but I have always been opposed to limiting two story houses. I have never really felt
that it really makes any sense. It shouldn't be a factor in my mind. I've seen it done in
others and you go back and look at it attelWards and some of the single story homes
are -- have got the same height as the two story. One of these -- so I don't know that --
and the taller homes there is going to be bigger blocking away. I don't see -- if you
leave an open area there, that's going to just funnel the noise through there. So, I
would not be in favor of having any limitation on heights. You know, if the developers
want to do that to a couple of them, I guess, that's -- you know, that's up to them, but
that's my feeling.
Rohm: Commissioner Borup, I think they are well thought out statements and in
support of those, the distance from lot line to adjacent existing structures is pretty
significant and I don't think they'd even be able -- from the horizon I don't think they'd
even see the two story homes.
Borup: Well, that's what's really different in this one is the topography. It's something
we are normally not looking at either.
Rohm: Thank you for your comments.
Newton-Huckabay: Slopes up?
Borup: Yeah. Or slopes down. The canal is the high point.
Newton-Huckabay: But isn't the property somewhat bowl shaped? It slopes down and,
then, goes back up?
Borup: Right. Yeah.
Rohm: Commissioner Zaremba, do you have some thoughts that you'd like to share?
Zaremba: Nothing to add. I agree with what Commissioner Borup just added and I
have previously said or asked everything that I care to do.
Rohm: Thank you. Commissioner Newton-Huckabay.
Newton-Huckabay: I have no additional comments.
Rohm: Okay. Thank you. Commissioner Moe.
Moe: Ditto.
Rohm: All right. I think we have done with comments.
Zaremba: Mr. Chairman, I move that we continue AZ 0 --
Meridian Planning & Zoning
January 19, 2006
Page 82 of 92
Wilson: Commissioner Zaremba?
Zaremba: I'm sorry.
Wilson: Sorry to interrupt. The applicant did indicate that she's out of town the 2nd, so
if you could choose the 16th or if that agenda is full, maybe one after that.
Borup: The 16th is probably better.
Zaremba: Okay. All right. Thank you. In that case, Mr. Chairman, I move that we
continue the Public Hearing for AZ 05-064 and PP 05-064, both relating to Bear Creek
West Subdivision to our regularly scheduled meeting of February 16th, 2006, for the
sole purpose of considering action taken by ACHD and making a decision that night.
Newton-Huckabay: Second.
Rohm: It's been moved and seconded that we continue AZ 05-064 and PP 05-064 to
the regularly scheduled meeting of February 16th, 2006. All those in favor say aye. All
opposed same sign? Motion carries.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 18:
Public Hearing: CUP 05-056 Request for a Conditional Use Permit for a
Day Care Center on .58 acres in the C-N zone for Young America Early
Care and Education Center by Young American Early Care and
Education Center - 1525 Leigh Field Drive:
Rohm: Okay. We have got three minutes to spare. At this time I'd like to open up the
Public Hearing on CUP 05-056 associated with Young America Early Care and
Education Center and begin with the staff report.
Hood: Thank you, Mr. Chair, Members of the Commission. This is a Conditional Use
Permit for a child care center for up to 100 kids. The existing child care -- or the
proposed child care center is located within an existing building, approximately 5,100
square feet. It is on a .5 acre lot -- a little over half an acre lot within Quenzer Commons
Subdivision No.8, so the subdivision you heard earlier is this property right there and,
then, there is the triangle that their street came up. We are just back to the east a little
bit. The applicant is proposing to construct an outdoor play area within -- on this lot,
approximately 1,200 square feet. Let me see if I have a little better -- it shows it a little
bit better. It will be in this general vicinity, fenced off -- I'll get to the fencing here in a
second, but it has about 1,200 square feet. And there are 31 parking stalls within this
lot. There are other parking within the area today. There is a cross-access agreement
currently in place for the subdivision, so if they do get some overflow traffic, there are
some other parking available currently in the general vicinity. This property is currently
zoned C-N, which is a neighborhood business district. Just a couple of the conditions, I
guess, to quickly run through the staff report. Staff is recommending that the hours of