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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter from Mark Freeman "-' ~, ,~ Mark S. Freeman FOLEY FREEMAN BORTON, PLLC Attorneys at Law 77 East Idaho Street, Suite 100 P.O. Box 10 Meridian, Idaho 83680 Telephone: (208) 888-9111 Facsimile: (208) 888-5130 ISB 3074 RECEI\lEf) ", , ¡ ", I.;~_-_r{ OF ME,DJ'O'-IA ' f,-v,n"¡:::,~ ~I\ N , ; "---,'- '-- r=:? ,!( C' r-~=,! r: r= -,- Attorneys for Joint School District No.2 BEFORE THE CITY OF MERIDIAN CITY COUNCIL IN THE MATTER OF THE ) APPLICATION OF TODD CAMPBELL) for Annexation and Zoning of 49.95 ) acres from RUT to R-8 Zone, ) ) CASE NO. AZ 05-058 POSITION STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO APPLICATION COMES NOW, Joint School District No.2, an Idaho school district and body corporate and politic of the State of Idaho (hereinafter "District"), by and through its attorneys of record, Mark S. Freeman of the law firm Foley Freeman Borton, PLLC, and hereby submits this statement of the District's opposition to the above referenced Application. I. THE APPLICATION: A. The Applicant has applied for annexation and zoning of 49.95 acres, located generally east of North Black Cat Road and south of Chinden Road, from RUT (Ada County) to R-8 Zone (Medium-Density Residential). B. Applicant also applied for Preliminary Plat approval of 201 single family residential lots and nine (9) common lots (Case No. PP-05-060). Thereafter, the Applicant submitted a revised Preliminary Plat dated January 24,2006 POSITION STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO APPLICATION-1 c" -. "-~ which eliminated 22 buildable lots and which added a lot consisting of approximately 4.91 acres which was designated as a portion of a future school site. II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: A. The District is in dire need of an approximate 9.5 acre elementary school site within the one-square mile area consisting of the real property bounded to the south by McMillan Road, to the west by Black Cat Road, to the north by Chinden, and to the east by Ten Mile Road (hereinafter referred to as the "Square Mile Area"). A portion of the Applicant's property which is the subject of the application includes a prime location for such an elementary school site. The District's negotiations in an attempt to purchase a school site from the previous owner of this property ended when the District learned that the subject parcel had been sold to the Applicant. B. In response to the District's concerns about the absence of an elementary school site to serve students within the above-described area, the Applicant did revise his original Preliminary Plat to include a lot which was intended to serve as a portion of a future elementary school site. C. Staff has recommended to Council that "[i]f the school district has not finalized negotiations with Volterra and the applicant for the "School Site" by the earlier of June 1,2006, orwhen utilities are available, applicant will replat the property identified as "School Site" in conformance with applicants original plan." [Planning Department Staff Report for the Hearing Date of April 4, 2006, Section 2(d)(i) at page 2]. POSITION STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO APPLICATION - 2 .!'- -. . III. IV. D. The District has reached a verbal agreement with the owner of the proposed Volterra Subdivision property (hereinafter "Volterra"), which is located immediately south of the Applicant's property, whereby Volterra agreed to donate the approximate the 4.5 acre remaining portion of the school site to the District in exchange for the District's agreement to pay for a portion of certain utilities and services which Volterra would extend to serve the school site. E. Although the District has reached a verbal agreement with Volterra for the 4.5 acre portion of the future school site, negotiations with the Applicant for the purchase of the remaining 4.91 acres required for an elementary school site have been totally unsuccessful and, from the District's standpoint, the parties appear to be deadlocked. REQUESTED MOTION TO BE ENTERED BY COUNCIL: A. The District requests that the Applicant's application for annexation and zoning be denied. BASIS FOR THE DISTRICT'S REQUEST: A. Until such time as it is certain that the District will be able to obtain an elementary school site within the subject Square Mile Area, the District's ability to deliver educational services to elementary-aged students who will reside within said area will be adversely impacted should the Council approve Applicant's request for annexation and zoning. B. In the event District is unable to obtain the portion of Applicant's property identified as the "School Site" in Applicant's latest Preliminary Plat, as a result of the extent of the proposed development within the Square Mile Area POSITION STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO APPLICATION - 3 ,-. -, - " which had been platted and approved to date, it appears likely at this point that the elementary-aged students who will ultimately reside within the Square Mile Area will be required to be bussed to school(s) located outside said area. Such a result would be contrary to the intent of Meridian City Code Section 11-4-3.14B, which sets forth location criteria for elementary schools and which provides, in part, as follows: "Elementary schools should be located within the center of neighborhoods with access encouraged from local streets." C. Based upon the District's and the Applicant's inability to reach an agreement upon the terms of the sale of the school site to date, if the Council approves Applicant's request for annexation and zoning at this point, the District is concerned that it will end up without a school site in the Square Mile Area and the Applicant will merely re-plat and divide the School Site lot into additional residential lots in conformance with the Applicant's original plan. Respectfully submitted for inclusion in the public record of these proceedings on this /tffl.. day of April, 2006. :LEY~TON'PLLC Mark S. Freeman Attorneys for Joint School District No.2 POSITION STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO APPLICATION - 4 " :., ," CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTI FY that on the J§-r:ray of April, 2006, I caused to be served a true and correct copy of the foregoing Position Statement in Opposition to Application by the method indicated below, and addressed to the following: Michael T. Spink Spink Butler, LLP 251 E. Front St. Suite 200 Boise, Idaho 83701 (X) via e-mail to MSpink@sb-attorneys.com (X) via facsimile to (208) 388-1001 POSITION STATEMENT IN OPPOSITION TO APPLICATION - 5