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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 4, 2006 P&Z Minutes Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 36 of 84 Rohm: It's been moved and seconded that we forward onto City Council recommending approval of AZ 06-019 and PP 06-018, both related to Southwick Subdivision, to include staff comments. All those in favor say aye. Opposed same sign? Newton-Huckabay: Aye. Rohm: Let it be noted that there was one descending vote and the rest were in the affirmative. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. ONE NAY. Item 11: Continued Public Hearing from April 20, 2006: AZ 06-017 Request for Annexation and Zoning of 11.79 acres from RUT to R-15 zone for Wells Street Subdivision by C2B Developments, LLC - 675 and 715 Wells Street: ~ Item 12: Continued Public Hearing from April 20, 2006: PP 06-017 Request for Preliminary Plat approval of 84 building lots and 14 common lots on 11.79 acres in a proposed R-15 zone for Wells Street Subdivision by C2B Developments, LLC - 675 and 715 Wells Street: Item 13: Continued Public Hearing from April 20, 2006: CUP 06-012 Request for a Conditional Use Permit for 18 multifamily dwelling units in a proposed R-15 zone for Wells Street Subdivision by C2B Developments, LLC - 675 and 715 Wells Street: Rohm: Okay. Moving on. At this time I'd like to open the continued Public Hearing from April 20th, 2006, for project AZ 06-017, PP 06-017, and CUP 06-012. All three of these items related to Wells Street Subdivision and begin with the staff report. Hood: Thank you, Mr. Chair, Members of the Commission. This is the final item on your agenda for this evening that we didn't get to on the 20th of April. I, too, am pinch hitting for Josh this evening. This is the Wells Street Subdivision. As you may recall -- it's been awhile now, but there was a Comprehensive Plan amendment for this property -- I believe it was last fall that you made a recommendation -- it may have even been earlier than that -- to the City Council to change the Comprehensive Plan future land use map designation of this site from office to the -- to allow residential uses in this area. The subject application is 11.79 acres and includes 84 residential lots and 14 common lots in the R-15 zone. I'll go to the aerial here. The property is zoned in the county today. It is just due east of Woodbridge Subdivision. The remainder parcels around this site to the north, south, and back to the west -- or, excuse me, east, are all in the county today. There are a lot of these lots that are -- maybe I'll jump back to the zoning map. As you can see, the colored ones are in the city, so I guess there is an L- 0 zoned one there. They have not started to develop that site. That's why I guess I forgot about that one. But largely county around to the north and south anyways. Single family homes. Here is a copy of the plat. Just to touch on a couple of things in Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 37 of 84 the staff report. We do have ACHD's comments as well for this one since the last hearing. That was something that -- we were recommending that it be continued, because we didn't have ACHD's comments. I did have a chance to go through that staff report. It doesn't appear to have anything significant as far as conditions of approval from ACHD. I understand that at the Public Hearing there was some concern about traffic in this neighborhood and if you have ever been in this area, the traffic does move at a pretty pretty clip and some people may use it to even cut through from Locust Grove to Eagle Road. I have been guilty of that a time or two myself. But in that staff report there are no significant changes to the plat. As far as the roadway system goes, we are recommending down in the southern part of the plat -- the landscape plan, I believe, shows some access for the two larger lots that are being platted. In the staff report there is a requirement that they submit, actually, a private street application, which can be approved at the staff level, for the access for the multi-family lots that will be condoed. It's my understanding that the intent is to condo those lots, so you can see there are -- I don't want to call them lot lines, but there are condo lines on there for future condominium of the -- what will be the triplex, then, it gets condoed into three individual ownership units of those buildings. So, that is in the staff report that they submit that private street application and also apply for a Conditional Use Permit for the multi-family, since that is a requirement of the R-15 zone for multi-family dwellings. Just a final FYI, I guess, on the Comp Plan amendment. This has been scheduled for the City Council. It's on the City Council's agenda for June 6th. So, just so you know, they are prepared to take action on this. They are waiting to have this application catch up to it. The rest of the staff report, I believe, is pretty self-explanatory and I didn't see anything that Josh is pointing out here that seems to be significantly different than what the applicant is proposing. So, with that I will stand for any questions that you may have. Rohm: Thank you, Caleb. Any questions of staff? Seeing none, would the applicant like to come forward, please? McKinnon: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Commission. Dave McKinnon. 735 South Crosstimber. Scott's handing out some elevations for you to look at. Also a rendered site plan. He'll go ahead and wrap that up really quick and, then, I have got a shocking statement to make. I have read the staff report. It may sound funny to you. I find no fault with it. I agree with everything in the staff report. It has a recommendation for approval. There is findings in there for approval. There is conditions of approval that we are in complete agreement with and I can't find any fault with the analysis that Josh did. Unfortunately, Josh isn't here to hear that shocking statement, but I have already told him. I told him last week. We have no argument with what he's prepared. So, with that I guess the shocking information over, we agree with the staff recommendations for approval. That being said, I still have a few things I want to just quickly gloss over. In the last six months, seven months since you heard this last, there was a caveat from you saying prior to this going to City Council, as Craig mentioned, going in front of City Council next month -- prior to that happening you made a recommendation that we come back to you with an application showing you what we were doing with our mixed use project. Well, this is what we came to you with Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 38 of 84 previously. That's perfect. Wells Street. Magic View. Woodbridge. Just for orientation purposes. This is what we came to you with at the Comprehensive Plan hearing. A lot of changes have happened since then. We met with you, you guys gave us your input at the P&Z hearing. We had subsequent meetings with the neighbors. We have had meetings with the sub groups in the neighborhood. And we have had individual meetings with people in the neighborhood. If some of you don't know, I, actually, live in Woodbridge, so I see a lot of my neighbors here tonight to testify as well. So, it's going to be fun. Some of the changes that we made with this project happen to be on Wells -- on Magic View Drive, the entrance into Woodbridge. Originally, as you can see, we intended on putting an access road out onto Magic View Drive. We have since taken the access off of Magic View Drive. There is no longer a vehicle access to Magic View. We have eliminated that and replaced that with the pedestrian pathway. We have some concerns about traffic at that point, saying this would encourage cut-through traffic, so we eliminated the access point there. We have put in a 15 foot wide landscape buffer on Wells Street and put in a pedestrian pathway to connect the two neighborhoods. There is no direct connection, but there will be a sidewalk that will connect into Woodbridge. With the traffic concerns we went ahead and commissioned a traffic report. I have got a copy of that if you want to go into it later tonight, but the traffic report came back favorably, as Craig just mentioned. Last week we went in front of the commission for ACHD. The commission was unanimous in their decision to approve the -- to approve this project with the conditions placed upon it by staff. Their staff had recommended approval. And, again, another shocking statement. I have no problem with everything that was in the report. A couple other changes that we came up with after meeting with your staff and with the neighbors. We decided that along the back side here we would go ahead and make these lots deeper. As this was originally drawn, we went with 80 foot deep lots there. We decided that wasn't deep enough backing up to Woodbridge, so we went to one hundred foot deep lots. In addition to that, we widened those lots and got rid of the big house concept. Those of you that might remember, the big house concept was larger -- a large house that looks like one big house that has multiple units in it. We decided to get rid of those backing up to Woodbridge. We didn't think it was appropriate with massing and the scale, so what we have done is taken these individual single family home lots and run them the full length of Woodbridge and tried to match up sides. So, we have widened those and made those deeper to match up better with Woodbridge. In addition to that, we originally had three pack housing, this is housing that would be in three units similar to what we have now proposed down in the condo area, all along the perimeter of the subdivision. We decided that we could make those lots wider and make those a little bit deeper as well and make those into either pared housing, that would be two houses together, with a zero lot line, or they are wide enough that you can, actually, build individual houses on individual lots. In the packet that Scott gave you -- and Scott will go over this in a few minutes -- the housing on that perimeter will be allowed to be either built together or detached. The reason why you would put them together is you could have larger side yards. If you put them detached from each other, you have eight foot in between, instead of 16 feet in between on the side yards. So, we went ahead and did that. We thought that would be more appropriate backing up on the periphery of the subdivision. We have worked with ACHD as an unimproved right of way. This cul-de-sac does not Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 39 of 84 currently exist. It's, actually, just a field right now and you can see that on the aerial that Craig originally showed you on this project tonight. We kept the open space in the middle. We went ahead and widened out the alleys from -- to comply with the UDC. Your fire department required a 24 foot wide driveway aisle. Those have to be public -- they have to be private roads, they can't be alleys, because the housing on the interior of this block all open onto open space. And so they actually have the front yards and the front doors will open onto the open space to a product -- I know you have seen. We are excited about it. This is something that we have actually shown to a lot of people and a lot architects and a lot of builders are, actually, excited about this. They see a desire for people to buy these types of houses. We have met with a lot of people. We have had a lot of good talent and a lot of people tell us what they want and your staff has been invaluable -- they have been valuable to us, the comments that you have made, all our meetings with the neighbors -- it's been a good process for us. This isn't something that we have put together, it's been a long slot for the last seven months, but what we have ended up with is something that looks like almost identical to this. So, if you can go to the next slide. This is what we ended up with. The changes that I -- there we go. Again, just for orientation purposes, that cul-de-sac that doesn't exist that will exist in the future here and Woodbridge, Magic View, and Wells, we ended up with something that looks very similar. What we told you we were going to come up with we did. We started off with 108 lots on that last slide that I showed you. We are down to a hundred. So, we have eliminated lots. We have made the lots deeper and we have made some wider. We have varied the product type. We now have four product types within this subdivision. We have got elevations and footprints and floor plans for all of those. I'm going to turn a little bit of time over to Scott, so that he can talk about some design philosophy and talk about the elevations. At this time reserve the right to come back for rebuttal. Again, we'd ask for your approval tonight and ask if you have any questions of me before I turn some time over to Scott to talk about design. Thank you. Rohm: Fair enough. Beecham: Mr. Chairman, Members of the Commission, for the record Scott Beecham, 405 South 8th Street in Boise. I just wanted to talk to you quickly about kind of what our goal and our philosophy was when we started this and when we put the applicant together for the Comp Plan amendment and really show you what we have come up with at the end of this process. The dates been talked about, but our goal here was to introduce a higher density, smart growth development pattern to the City of Meridian. Wanted to do this by locating housing near employment centers and near major transportation corridors. Of course, this site is right near Eagle Road, as well as 1-84, and it is within a ten mile radius of 22 of the 28 major employers identified on the Meridian Chamber of Commerce site. So, we have accomplished those goals. Again, this is a little bit difficult to see on this overhead, but the site is right in here with Woodbridge, Eagle Road, 84, Silverstone, and EI Dorado, obviously, down south of Overland Road. What we want to do was provide a diversity of housing types. We were looking to fill a need in the City of Meridian, an alternative to the large lot single family residential that we are seeing. What we have done is looked at a variety of product and I don't know if we can adjust the color on this, but we do have call outs -- Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 40 of 84 again, we have got a single family detached product here along the boundary with Woodbridge. We have got a paired housing or -- that can also be built individually, they can be detached or attached on the perimeter here at Magic View and Wells. We have got the interior attached townhomes that are alley loaded and, then, the condominium townhomes here on the south. I won't go into detail on the floor plans. We did present you with the colored elevations and floor plans to show that it is feasible on these smaller lots to build a very very effective home. I will just point out case in point. On the single family detached homes adjacent to Woodbridge, the concept plan that we have put in front of you is, again, a nice elevation, it is a narrower lot, but a nice elevation. It's a 2,700 square foot home designed on a 4,400 square foot home site. So, we do have a very adequate building and I think this concept plan will show that there is a lot you can do on a smaller lot if you pay attention to the design. Dave, if you wouldn't mind maybe just scroll through the next slide, which is the paired housing. And, again, these can be built together or apart, given the setbacks and the building footprint that we have established on this. The next slide is the elevations on the interior and, again, the use of color and, you know, modulation, some individual front porches, entries, allows these to live as single family homes. They are attached, but everybody's got the individuality of their own home and their own front porch, not multi-family apartment style housing. This is all ownership. The final slide is the condominium townhomes. They -- again, individual front porch, variation in window patterns and so forth, so you can clearly tell which house is yours and this is more similar to a Brownstone type of product, with tuck- under parking, we have got a flex room downstairs, and the majority of the living is up on the second floor. As Dave indicated, this product did not fit with massing and scale, really, adjacent to Woodbridge, so we pulled that away from Woodbridge and have that stand alone in the southeast corner. So, what we wanted to do is fill a need for more affordable housing type for people who want to live and work in Meridian. We are trying to cater to non-traditional families. These are singles, young families, single parents, and empty nesters. We are seeing average sales price -- I just looked at numbers this morning, average sales price for new construction in Meridian is above 300,000 right now. We are looking at product that we can bring in just below the 200 and stay within that 200,000 dollar range. I think there is a growing affordability issue in the City of Meridian and we are really not seeing the options. We are seeing apartment housing or these large lot single family homes and we are trying to fill that need that fits in between there. So, the proposal before you is for a higher density product. It's eight and a half dwelling units per acre. It's not a high density product, but it is a little bit higher. We feel the key to successfully integrating a development such as this is to pay a lot of attention to the design and, basically, soften the density through the design. What we have -- I think the way to do that, to accomplish that, is to provide for generous landscape areas and, Dave, if you will go back to the site plan that would be great. Within the private yard areas, you know, these all have backyards, of course, as do these along Woodbridge. But also in the common areas that are interior to this site -- and we have got a number of pockets around in the community. This one down here in the corner ties into the pathway that goes along Five Mile Creek, by the way. We also wanted to establish a street tree program that would really soften the street scene and create a nicer environment for pedestrian, as well as vehicular travel. Street buffers, as Dave mentioned, along Magic View and Wells and, again, within the common area at the Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 41 of 84 center of this product. In addition to that, we wanted to focus on enhanced architectural details and use of materials and colors. I think the elevations show that that's accomplished in our proposal. The individual private entries, again, are important and I guess to close, we are excited about this, we are excited to be bringing this type of product to the City of Meridian. We think we have got a great location for it and we think it's a great alternative to the multi-family four-plex style development that we have been seeing in the higher density developments in Meridian. With that I'll stand for any questions. Rohm: Thank you. Moe: Mr. Chairman? Rohm: Commissioner Moe. Moe: Can you pull up your second elevation that you have there? I assume that that is the one that is somewhat fronting the street going into Woodbridge and I am to -- on the backside, elevation-wise, are you -- do you have any -- basically, this is your front that's going to be facing to the south, I would assume. Beecham: That's correct. Moe: What exactly is the elevation going to look like from the street that went into Woodbridge? Beecham: Well, the rear elevation will be, first of all, screened between -- behind a 15 foot street buffer. Then, we have got our 15-foot rear yard area and there will be significant modulation on the rear elevation. It's not -- not too dissimilar than what you see on the front elevation, with gable ends -- Moe: Here is what I wanted to make sure of, is that we are going to see different -- Beecham: Yeah. If you look at the floor plan it will give you an idea of the modulation that will be occurring on the -- on the rear elevation. Moe: With different components in those; correct? Beecham: That's correct. Moe: Okay. Zaremba: Mr. Chairman, I do have a question. In the elevations that you're showing and I think it was the final one, probably plan D or something like that -- Beecham: Okay. Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 42 of 84 Zaremba: You mentioned tuck-under parking, which makes me believe that it's like basement level parking. Is that what you're meaning? Beecham: Mr. Chairman, Commissioner Zaremba, it's, actually, at grade. You don't drop down in. You pull in at grade, you actually step up a half a flight to what we are calling a flex room, which is kind of a guest suite on the floor plan that you can see. And, then, you step up another half a flight or three-quarters of a flight, really, and you live up above the garage in that flex space. So, that this particular plan is about 1,250 square feet in this concept, two bedrooms upstairs, and -- do you have a second floor on the -- Zaremba: You, actually, answered my question. Beecham: Did I already? Zaremba: As long as you're not going below grade. Beecham: No. Zaremba; I was going to ask about water table and stuff like that, so that's -- Beecham: No. Zaremba: If you're staying above grade -- Beecham: Yeah. Zaremba: -- my question's gone. Beecham: Okay. Rohm: Any other questions of this applicant? Beecham: Thank you. Rohm: Thank you. There are quite a number of people that have signed up to speak to this item and, typically, when we have this many people that have signed up there will be a spokesperson for maybe a subdivision and if, in fact, there is a spokesperson, that person is given ten minutes to voice their concerns and if that's the case, they are actually speaking for the balance of the people that would have offered testimony themselves. If that's the case, then, having the spokesperson for ten minutes -- I'd like to see a show of hands for those that he would be speaking for. From the audience a comment was made that there are two spokesmen and, quite honestly, I think that that's not a bad way to go, as long as they don't step over each other and present the same information twice, for all intents and purposes. So, with that being said, we will take our first -- Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 43 of 84 Newton-Huckabay: You want to take the hands -- a show of hands -- Rohm: Well, they kind of -- go ahead. Bader: My name is Ernie Bader and I live at 624 South Wood haven and I'm speaking on behalf of the residents of Woodbridge. First off, I'd like to say, wow, this is just great for Conger Management and for them to have this beautiful little miniature golf course, it appears to us. We are not so excited about it. And Woodbridge. We fought this initially and lost. We understand that, you know, things are changing. We are willing to accept certain things. However, this density just does not go with our neighborhood and what we would like to see going next to us in our backyards. Our main complaint is, really, the common space issue. They have what appears to be one acre and we have about 20 percent of our community of about approximately 80 acres and we just see them coming right over into our neighborhood, using our trails, their dogs doing their duties in our areas and, basically, spreading out into what we have that we pay for. You know, if they were to allot more common space, something for their residents, then, you know, we would be more open to what they have to offer. However, this R-15 designation -- you know, this many units next to our community is just too much congestion for what we have. Another thing is the services that they talk about, they are still going to have to travel the access onto Eagle that's already quite congested and this will definitely make it worse and people cutting through our neighborhood. But, basically, our biggest complaint we have is common space. If they could add a little bit more for their residents, you know, instead of having that one acre that's going to be shared by, you know, people's front yards, I don't really see people going out there and utilizing it. There is nothing there for them. We have a pool. We have trails. You know, they are just going to be cutting straight over to what we pay for and what we utilize. So, unless they could come up with something, you know, a little more feasible, you know, we are -- we enjoy their -- you know, their allotment is fine with us. That's all I've got to say. Newton-Huckabay: Thank you. Rohm: Thank you. Any questions of this individual? Fox: Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Gene Fox. I live at 582 South Woodhaven, with my wife Celeste. We enjoy our house and I have some slides. If you could advance, please, to the number six, I believe. That one. Before I go into my part of the presentation, which has to deal with traffic, I just want to regress a little bit and -- because there was a previous presentation concerning two story houses. Somebody else opened door, so, okay, fine, I'm going to step through. We have been in conflict with Conger Group for some time over this area right here, because these are all two story houses. On this side of the property line, our -- about 14 houses, I believe, all single story. And some of the residents on our side of the fence have been objecting to the possibility -- or not the possibility, but objecting to two story houses, because they don't want people looking into their backyards. So, if -- if Conger blocked off all the Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 44 of 84 windows on the west side, we would be happy about that. Me, personally, I don't care. If somebody wants to look into my backyard, take a look at this body, that's punishment enough for them. So, that being said, let me go on to what I'm talking about and I believe I need to go to slide 12. We have slides -- we had slides prepared for a previous speaker, but he pulled up lame, so -- this one, please. Ernie had to step in and cover for him. Thank you, Ernie. With high density housing, as I understand it, there should be several things and two of them that I'll address is public transportation and a fluid traffic flow. Well, obviously, we don't have public transportation in this city and contrary to the mural -- very nice mural that I have been admiring for several months here on the back, there is no trolley cars available for public transport. Now, we have the horses. In fact, the horses are just about in my backyard. But there is no trolleys for them to pull and nor are there buses, nor are their trains. Please go to the next slide. The next two slides, actually. Actually, there is no fluid traffic flow, as everybody knows. This is Eagle. You recognize Eagle, because it's got cars back to back almost 13, 14 hours of the day. Actually, we have an unsolvable traffic problem regardless of the type of construction that may go in in this area, but we do believe that public officials have the opportunity to control, to some extent, the quantity of traffic that will be added. It is obvious that a 50 unit project will add only half as many vehicles as will a hundred unit project. Besides that, the impact of an office complex will be even less, because there will be no weekend traffic. Next slide, please. Now, there are some who have cavalierly stated the residents of the new development will use Eagle Road and the freeway, because they are nearby. We hold this to be a hallow argument. And if I may, I would like to read from this recent ACHD report that somehow mysteriously came into our possession, because none of us knew that there was even going to be an ACHD meeting about this. On their number B or their letter B, findings for consideration, has a heading traffic impact study. ACHD says the traffic impact study was not required with this application, but was supplied by the applicant. Now, Woodbridge community rates one sentence. The district staff has been contracted by property owners in the neighboring Woodbridge Subdivision regarding concerns of existing and potential cut- through traffic. They have been in contact -- we have been in contact with ACHD any number of times expressing our concerns to them, with no apparent results, other than, basically, they are ignoring our concerns. I want to go on with this. ACHD concludes -- they call it conclusions of law. The proposed site plan is approved and that is if all the specific conditions, such as curbs and gutters, et cetera, are satisfied. However, the key to this whole thing, from my point of view, is -- and I quote: ACHD requirements are intended to insure -- to assure that the proposed use development will not place an undue burden on the existing vehicular transportation system within the vicinity impacted by the proposed development. Let me repeat that. Undue burden on the existing vehicular transportation system within the vicinity impacted by the proposed development. May I have the next two slides, please. Washington Group International put out this report that the Conger organization -- Conger Group submitted to the ACHD. I don't know anything about the Washington Group International, but they are involved in rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan and New Orleans and their motto is dedication to development. Right there, Unfortunately, the motto is not dedicated to good development. Is there any doubt about how Washington Group International is aligned? The Conger Group hired the Washington Group International -- there is a Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 45 of 84 whole bunch of groups here -- to support this development. Washington Group International supplied the Conger Group with these statistics. And I don't want you to forget what Mark Twain said. There are lies, damn lies, and, then, there are statistics. The Conger Group bought the statistics, but we don't. May I have the next slide, please? My vocabulary ranks within the top ten percent of the English speaking world. That's not a lie or a damn lie. But the only acceptable four letter word that I could come up with was nonsense. How and why did the Washington Group arrive at these figures that ACHD so readily accepted? I have no clue. But they certainly did not ask us about what paths the drivers from Wells Street would use to drive to Winco. Washington Group claims to employ 25,000 people. They should have sent at least one of those 25,000 to Woodbridge, so that they could actually look at the potential problem. Woodbridge residents look at it every day and I hope that you Commissioners will also look it. ACHD and Washington Group International may have been myopic and indifferent, but this Commission should not ignore common sense. I have -- may I have the next slide, please. I want to take you on a little drive through. Some of you may not have even been to Woodbridge, but I would like for you to at least see our streets. May I have the next slide, please. This is -- this is a plot layout of Woodbridge. This is the entrance here that comes from the Wells Street. We have a street that basically circles around, comes into one street, comes out to the other -- other end at Locust Grove. So, I have about 12 slides and you can go fairly quickly through these, because the speed limit is 25 miles an hour, although some people manage to ignore it. And I want to say that water, electricity, and traffic will always follow the path of least resistance. The path of least resistance between the new development and the Meridian avenue shopping will be courtesy of the Woodbridge corridor. And please stop there. Woodbridge does not pretend to be an elite community, but it is unique. It's not the people, nor the houses, nor the landscaping that make this community unique, it's the location, because Woodbridge is situated in a location that turns it into a traffic bypass. This is unavoidable, because it is so much easier to travel between Eagle and Main via Woodbridge than it is to travel the freeway, especially during heavy traffic hours. We cannot stop the bypass traffic. We do not own the streets. What we can hope for is that city officials, including this Commission, will recognize the problem and help by restricting the quantity of traffic that will pass through our neighborhood on a regular basis. On a recent Saturday afternoon -- yeah. This is fine. On a recent Saturday afternoon I compared the driving time from the corner of Wells and Magic View to the Home Depot parking lot. Now, when I went by the freeway, the average trip took nine minutes. Nine minutes there, nine back. I had 18 minutes total. When I came through Woodbridge it took seven minutes. Actually, it took six minutes. On that same day I took a journey to Fred Meyers by Eagle -- you know, Fred Meyers is up here. I went Eagle to Fairview to Fred Meyers and it took me ten minutes and traffic. When I came back, I came down Locust Grove and on into Woodbridge and took me seven minutes. I obeyed the traffic laws. An added bonus of traveling through Woodbridge was a lack of traffic aggravation. Believe me, traffic aggravation is -- shut up. A community of 102 units will add at least a 102 cars and maybe as many as 200 additional drivers who will try to avoid that traffic aggravation. The shortest distance between Wells Street and some of the shopping down on Fairview is via Eagle. However, severe traffic conditions -- and that's not even considering the current construction progress -- project -- make it Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 46 of 84 easier and faster to go the long way through Woodbridge, up Locust Grove, and, then, go east on Fairview. The Washington Group International paper pays no attention to this detail, but -- and we invite you to put off this -- put off your decision for one week, one day, two days, come on with me, we will take some driving tests, we will go out -- Dave and Scott can go, somebody from the Washington Group can go. We will drive around and you can see the convenience for yourself. Now, our new neighbors, however many they will be, will quickly adapt to the convenience of the Woodbridge corridor, because doing so will take less time and cause less stress on their drive to Winco or Sheri's or TacoTime. The inescapable conclusion is that there are half as many units -- if there are half as many units, there will be half as many vehicles passing through our neighborhood and if you deny the zoning change all together, we will probably have little or no additional traffic to contend with. May I have the last slide, please. The best use of this property in question may very well be residential, but it is not yet zoned for residential. When we bought into this area, the understanding was that the adjacent land was zoned for commercial office use, not high density housing. Is not the Comprehensive Plan a promise to the citizens of Meridian by which they could plan their future? Will the Washington Group International and the Conger Group and the ACHD guarantee that only ten percent of the new residents will drive through Woodbridge community? Will the Wells Street development be torn down if the traffic exceeds ten percent? Two years from now you don't get to say, oops, we made a mistake, because there will be no fix, then. The fix is now. If you, the Planning Commission, decide to recommend this zoning change request, then, please, insist upon a development that is more in tune with and less damaging to the Woodbridge community. I thank you for your time. Rohm: Thank you, sir. Any questions of this individual before he sits down? Newton-Huckabay: I have none. Rohm: Thank you, sir. These two individuals were supposed to have been the spokesmen for your subdivision and were given additional time at the podium with that in mind, but that does not preclude anybody else from speaking if, in fact, they are bringing up something different from that which has been presented in previous testimony and I would appreciate very much if you come forward it's new and different information than that which has been presented by the two previous testimonies. So, with that being said -- Newton-Huckabay: Mr. Chair, could we maybe recap the main concerns, if I may, being density, common space, two story houses on the west side, and traffic concerns. So, we would be looking for testimony pertaining to different than those issues. Rohm: I think that you have encapsulated that very well and thank you. So, any additional testimony should be outside of those items brought up by Commissioner Newton-Huckabay. And so the next person on the list that signed up would be Celeste Fox. She has been -- from the audience she said she's been spoken for. The next one Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 47 of 84 is, I believe, Rich Exile. And she's been spoken for. Jack McKinney. He's been spoken for. Jim Flecker. Flecker: My name's Jim Flecker. I live at 538 South Thornwood Way, Meridian. Commissioners -- Chairman. Commissioners. I'm just going to add one thing. I'm with the group, really, but I'm angry and here is why I'm angry. I put a lot of work in this early on and I went -- they made reference to neighborhood people. I went to ACHD. I went to lTD. I spent a lot of time talking about what can we do about this traffic situation. There weren't any answers. We had an ACHD meeting I knew nothing about until tonight and I am not happy about that, because I can tell you this, I have been 40 plus years as an engineer and a planner and I can make the numbers do anything you want, okay? And it's an illogical argument to me if you have that traffic coming -- okay, I'll just try to put it real quick. The traffic, if it's office traffic, it's not there on weekends. We all know that. So, you can't just go with a straight numbers game. The other issue is this: When the peak traffic, which is Monday through Friday, rush hour, the people coming to the offices are going to be coming in. The people from the Woodbridge are going to be going out. So, all you're going to do is add to the flow if you change this thing and we didn't have an opportunity and what I'm crying is foul. I want to talk to these ACHD people, because I want to know where they came from, because this is an illogical argument and I don't know where they got it, because it wasn't there. And even thought I had been there and all this is going down, I had no opportunity. Now, I don't know what the technicalities are here, but you can either go with maybe the technicalities or you can do the right thing. And the current Comp Plan is a good one, as was pointed out by Gene. So, we are trying to change something that's already good. This density is too much and its argument is invalid. Thank you. Any questions? Rohm: Thank you, sir. Steve Birch. Okay. From the audience said that that individual has left. John Strutt. I probably butchered the last name, but that's -- John was the first name. The next one is Tony Cezio. Okay. The next one is Ernie Bader. Okay. And the last one is Ray Foster. And from the audience he says he's been spoken for. And that concludes the list. So, at this time if there is anybody else that would like to speak to this issue, please, come forward. Pearcy: Chairman and Commissioners, my name is Betty Pearcy. I live at 675 Wells Street. And my husband and I did sign up on the sheet. Rohm: Oh, excuse me. Thank you. Pearcy: Okay. I would just like to -- I own the property in question, myself and my husband, and they -- these people -- the people from Woodbridge are so concerned about the traffic. They talk about traffic, traffic, traffic. My husband and I have lived there for 32 years. And before Woodbridge was built we had no traffic. We had a -- the Magic View Road that went down there was just a little turnaround, it went at the north side of our property and just turned around the neighbor's place just right there. We had no traffic at all. And, then, Woodbridge was built and the traffic is just constant. In the mornings I can look out my front window and it's like an exodus out of there. About Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 48 of 84 4:30, 5:00 o'clock at night, here they all come back again. And I'm putting up with the traffic, so I just don't see where they have a really lot to say about traffic, traffic, traffic, when I have lived there 32 years and I never had any traffic until them. And there was one man that made the comment about people from that neighborhood maybe walk their dogs and do their dirt in their neighborhood. Well, we have people walking by our house all the time and walking their dogs and doing their dirty in our neighborhood and we don't -- you know, they say, well, we don't want people driving through our neighborhood. Well, their neighborhood -- we are still a neighborhood. We are the Magic View Subdivision, even though we have got -- to the east of us we have got commercial development, to the north of us we have got commercial development all right in Magic View Subdivision. And I feel like many of those could go to Locust Grove and go out Locust Grove. They don't have to come Wells Street. They don't have to come out Magic View. They have got a nice four lane highway over there on Locust Grove and a nice four lane highway on Franklin that would take them around to the freeway, but they don't, they come through our -- right by our house. And they also made the comment that they think that the property would be more suited for office. Well, it's really not suited for office, because it's too far from Eagle Road. It's -- the location is really not that good, and when the new Comprehensive Plan was made, my husband and I went to the first meeting, we went to many meetings, we were on a committee and our whole neighborhood signed up and we asked to have mixed use where we are at, but, then, we were told that we couldn't get mixed use and we called Planning and Zoning and someone in the Planning and Zoning department told us that they didn't feel comfortable in just giving that whole area mixed, but each project could come in and on its own merits, you know, and talk to them and consider it being rezoned at that time. And I also would like to say that I -- I drive -- I drive east most of the time and -- because they are concerned about people cutting through them. I feel that most of the people that live in that area would go to the east, hit the freeway, and go the way -- because what you're going to do -- where your shopping is -- and most of your shopping and everything is to the east of us, so I feel like the traffic would go mostly to the east. And I guess that's, really, all I have to say about -- about the traffic and -- I mean I have just as much to say about it as they do and I just want -- I drive Eagle Road all the time, I have drove Eagle Road for 32 years now. I drove it when it was a two lane highway and maybe ten cars a day, because when we moved there it was nothing but -- we were out in the country. It was just a little two lane road. And my husband and I, we just want the opportunity -- we have some horses. We want the opportunity to sell our property and move our horses and go to a more rural area, because it is a very -- you know, with all the office and with Silverstone and all those other stuff, it's just becoming -- it's not a rural community anymore. And that's all we would like is just the opportunity to sell our property and move to a more rural community and take our horses there. Rohm: Thank you. And I want to apologize, I just started going down the list of the against and I skipped right over you, so I -- Pearcy: Just so I got to have my say. Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 49 of 84 Rohm: Absolutely. Thank you very much. Pearcy: Do you have any questions of me? Rohm: Thank you. Pearcy: Thank you. Rohm: Dave Pearcy. D. Pearcy: Okay. Mr. Chairman, Commission. My name is Dave Pearcy. I live at 675 Wells Street in the Magic View Subdivision and I want to thank my wife. She did a good job, I don't know what else I could add to that. She was marvelous. But we have lived there a long time. We raised our family there and I do have the horses. I believe they were talking about horses there and that is a real concern of ours that -- because all the Woodbridge people and all the -- they come walking their dogs, they come bringing their little kids and they want to feed the horses, they want to pet the horses, and the liability could be pretty bad. I mean it's just starting to get scary having them come along there, so I know we got to get them horses out of there before somebody get bits or hurt, because it's not like it was when we first moved there. It was great then. And we have never once complained about Woodbridge. We never gave them any problem. Even when they come right by my bedroom window every hour of the day, every hour of the night, they are coming in, they are coming by, I can't get any sleep. And I have to get up so early that I try to go to bed early, I can't, because I'm a driver for Dennis Dillon, I have to get up, start working at 5:30 every morning, and I just -- I get about two or three hours of sleep is about all I get on account of the traffic, but I never complained to them and I won't complain. I never complained to none of the projects that was out there, all - - everything that's been built, all the commercial, the record will show I never stood up and complained once at all. I said, hey, people got a right as well as I do. Now, I'm down to where it's maybe my turn to get out of here and do something different with my life, to take the horses out. So, that's all I can say. Rohm: Thank you, sir. That, I believe, concludes all the individuals that have signed up, but if at this time there is anybody else that feels so compelled, now is the time to come forward. Seeing none, would the applicant like to come back and offer their rebuttal. Beecham: Mr. Chairman, for the record Scott Beecham. I would ask just how -- a question of process. I'd like to split the time with Dave McKinnon. He's really the authority on a lot of the planning issues, but I do want to talk about some of the issues brought up. Is it all right in a rebuttal situation to split time? Rohm: You have got ten minutes between the two of you. Beecham: Right. Okay. I guess I would like to open with saying I'm a little bit disappointed at the tone of the way things have gone tonight. I think this is -- this group Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 50 of 84 of neighbors at Woodbridge have been very good to work with. We have had in the neighborhood of about ten meetings with them, different groups, sub groups, within that neighborhood. They have been very good to work with and I think we have got a better plan for the process we went through. The tone that I'm hearing tonight and I think you guys are hearing tonight is one of, you know, total dissatisfaction and I don't think that's representative of the meetings that we had with them and, you know, I think your staff is in the same position. They have contributed a lot of time to that as well. So, I'm disappointed, but I understand. You know, I was involved with Woodbridge. I worked for the developer at the time and I was heavily instrumental in the design of it, how it worked out. Jim Conger is here tonight. He built it. We have -- I mean we have got a great interest in Woodbridge and what kind of neighbor that is and what kind of neighbor we can be. We really want to be a continuation of that type of development. It's a good development. I think it's a great neighborhood within the City of Meridian. We want to -- we want to expand on that, but we want to introduce product that both provides a nice transition and fills a need that we see in the City of Meridian. We have made some changes to the site plan, tried to accommodate them in a number of ways. We think we have done a good job. Again, I think we have got a better project because of it. But I just want to go on the record as saying, you know, we are certainly not turning our backs on Woodbridge and what's happening there. We still have very close ties to it. And as you know, the Comp Plan has already been acted on. I think it is important to note I got a copy of a letter and I think you got it in your packets from Wanda Bucker stating -- and she lives in the Magic View neighborhood, stating her concerns in the points the Pearcys brought up that, you know, they did want a mixed use in this neighborhood and they didn't end up getting that land use designation. Again, you have acted on that, but I do want to make sure that is in the record. She is out of state and wanted to make sure she was on record. I will touch quickly on the traffic study. Dave's really the authority on that. But we met with the neighbors and they asked for a traffic study. Well, actually, we volunteered it. We said let's quantify this. Let's understand what's happening. So, we went out and we hired -- we got three bids, we didn't go with the low bid, we went with the -- a well respected traffic engineer, Dave Swett at Washington Group International and he put together a traffic plan that, quite frankly, surprised us. I didn't expect to see 90 percent going east. But he made very compelling arguments and we questioned him on that. The neighbors asked for it, we provided it at our expense, and just trying to help quantify the situation and I feel like now it's being used against us and I think Dave's record -- Dave Swett's record is a good one. Washington Group's record is a good one. We are, of course, no affiliation with them and we can't pay a traffic engineer in this valley to skew their numbers. They will only do one more traffic study in their career. That's my feeling. But with regard to the design, the two story homes backing up to Woodbridge was brought up. That's a different commitment to make. It was brought up earlier today -- and I think there was some good conversation about it. There are two story homes in Woodbridge that back onto this property. There is, actually, more single level than two story, but it could have gone the other way and in future remodels there is nothing to say that a two story addition couldn't be added. There isn't a control mechanism in the city to stop that, I guess, from the Woodbridge perspective. We think through good design, good landscaping, we can mitigate that impact. I wish I was able to say we will go to all Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 51 of 84 single levels on that site, with the reduced lot size and, again, trying to achieve this density to serve a lower price point, it's difficult to accomplish everything and I think we have made some good strides, but we can't do it all. Finally, with common areas, again, I think we are talking about lifestyle choices. We are trying to provide -- fulfill a need in the city where people can walk and go, busy young professionals, singles, empty nesters that maybe have a second home, they don't want large yards for maintenance. We have offered some yards, but we have also offered a nice common area at the center of this project, it's equipped with a gazebo, picnic tables, barbecues, a gathering place, a place you can go and have a block party. If you don't have a private yard, it's because you made that choice, but at least you have a place you can go and I think we have programmed that pretty well and I think it works well on the site plan. With that I'll stand for any questions and defer any additional time to Dave. Rohm: Thank you. I have no questions. Any other-- Borup: Just one comment. I'm not sure you should have been too surprised by some of the comments, because I think the majority of them are the same comments that were made when Woodbridge was holding its Public Hearings by the surrounding neighbors. They had almost all the same arguments. Beecham: Yeah. Mr. Chairman, Commissioner Borup, I respect that. We just -- we went through a very lengthy and intensive process with these neighbors, so I guess -- Borup: I'm just saying the neighbors -- the existing neighbors in Woodbridge had the same concerns. Beecham: Oh, I remember that well. Rohm: Thank you. Beecham: Thanks. Rohm: Four minutes, Dave. McKinnon: Yeah. I have got about four minutes according to my running watch here. I will go fast. Commissioner Newton-Huckabay broke it down pretty quick, saying what the major issues were, and I went ahead and wrote them down. Density is the first one she said and just a couple of quick comments on density. This is the appropriate location for density. It's near jobs, it's near a transportation corridor. The Comprehensive Plan basically lines it all out. Josh did a good job in his staff report saying when you want to do density, you do it near those areas. You don't put it on the fringes of the city, you put it in the areas where those people live and work and that's what this is. I live in Woodbridge, I appreciate it, because I used to work right next to it and I worked for Meridian, I could walk to work, and when I worked at Pinnacle I would ride my bike there. Now that I work downtown I can hop right on the freeway. This is the appropriate location for this. In addition to that, allowing some affordable housing in Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 52 of 84 that area is also appropriate, because the people that live and work in those areas, the hospital and the other 22 different areas, those are people making a living wage and there needs to be an affordability for people to live and work in this area. The common space issue was the second issue. Is there enough common space? Woodbridge is approximately 20 percent open space and this subdivision is approximately 17 percent open space. It's not at the scale of Woodbridge, Woodbridge is a much larger development. This is a different type of development, but there is 17 percent open space. If this were to be a planned development there would be a requirement for ten percent open space. A typical subdivision is only five percent by code. We have gone above and beyond the requirement for this. This is not a planned development, we are not asking for any variances. We are trying to provide open space for everybody in this development and still provide a clustered development that can have the open space. The second issue -- the third issue that you brought up was the two story transition. Scott, I had a couple of slides if you can put them up really quick. Gene mentioned a couple of things. One of the things he mentioned in his comments was that there is no two story houses on Woodhaven, which isn't quite accurate. Went out this morning, as you know, driving out, this is what it looks like from the middle of the Pearcy's lot and from Bonnie and Judy's property. This is Woodhaven looking to the back. We have two stories -- there is four two stories backing up that you can see. Another one further down. And Gene Fox's house is here. There are two story houses that back up to this subdivision. On the north side of the -- of Woodhaven Road all of the houses on Woodhaven are two story, on the other -- on the north side. So, there are two story homes backing up to Wood haven. These aren't all single family -- single level homes. So, as far as the transition between that, within Woodbridge itself there are people that have two story homes that back up to single story homes. There is also two story homes that back up to two story homes. It works. there is a transition between that. People have that within subdivisions in Meridian and l'd ask that we not go further into that. The final thing is traffic. WGI, a well respected company, the former Morrison- Knudsen company. Been around for hundreds of years, there are thousands of employees. As Scott said, we went ahead and had this traffic report commissioned. Prior to commissioning the traffic report we asked them to do one simple thing for us. We said can you get us some traffic counts. We asked them to put down traffic tubes, they are tubes that count the vehicles that go in and out of a subdivision and at what homes and it keeps track of that on an 24 hour basis. We asked them to put them in for 72 hours. One on Magic View and one on Woodbridge Drive. Woodbridge Drive is the east -- Magic View is existing east, Woodbridge Drive is the road that exits to Locust Grove. So, we went ahead and did that before we did the traffic study, just so we could get a number. These aren't numbers that we have purchased from anybody, these are numbers that we actually went out and counted. I, myself, over a number of periods -- over the time period, I drove over these myself a number of times. Sometimes going to the City of Meridian, sometimes going to Winco, sometimes heading to the office. So, that's where the numbers came from. Then they have to interpolate that. It's an engineering process where they say here is what the averages are and here is how they work. So, that's how the traffic study came up. Now, the interesting thing that we talked about just briefly was what would happen if this went all office and this is kind of fun. Trip generation. This is handled by ACHD and ACHD came up with these numbers. Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 53 of 84 They have a trip generation chart out of the trip generation manual and they say for residential per units, so the type of development we are doing, is 5.8 trips per unit or with having a hundred homes, multiply that by a hundred -- 580 vehicle trips per day. WGl's traffic report said we are going to be putting about ten percent or 58 -- we will call it 60 vehicle trips per day back through Woodbridge. The Meridian Comprehensive Plan as it was drawn up, it is written up to have interconnectivity. They didn't want to say let's push all the traffic to the arterials. There is supposed to be some interconnectivity between subdivisions. If we go to professional office, if this were to go for professional office, it is -- for every 1,000 square feet of professional office you get 11.01 vehicle trips. If you have 12 acres of land, is approximately 25 percent coverage, so taking the same 12 acres that we are developing, three of that would be 25 percent of coverage, multiply that out, that's 130,000 square feet of office. That would generate approximately 1,439 vehicle trips per day. If, as it was suggested, this should go to medical office, the numbers get even more staggering. These are from the ACHD's trip generation manual. You end up with 36.13 trips per thousand square feet in medical office or approximately 4,721 vehicle trips per day. Now, if you take the information that you received from the City of Meridian, the majority of growth in Meridian is taking place in north Meridian. Those people coming to these jobs would take, again, the path of least resistance. If this property were to develop with the medical office or an office, my guess is if they are coming from north Meridian, they are going to come through Woodbridge. This, actually, would decrease the amount of vehicle trips coming through, as opposed to the office that could be there or medical office that could be there. I have no argument against the weekend vehicle trips, as Mr. Flecker pointed out. It's the weekend. We are talking about peak hours and peak trips and this is usually, typically, between Monday and Friday. I'd ask for your approval tonight. We spent a lot of time on this and I appreciate your time for volunteering on this and we ask for your approval tonight and ask if you have any questions of me. Sorry I had to go so fast at the end there. Rohm: Thanks, Dave. Any questions of the applicant? Okay. Thank you, Dave. McKinnon: Thank you. Rohm: Before we comment on this, I'd like to just say that we, as the Commission, appreciate each and everyone of you for your testimony and I can assure you that everything was listened to with the intent of coming with the best decision back and I appreciate taking time out of your evening to come in and testify and it will receive its due consideration. So, with that being said, Mr. -- Commissioner Zaremba, would you like to provide some comment? Zaremba: You want me to start. Okay. Well, I certainly would agree with your idea. I appreciated the well thought out presentations from all sides of the discussion. To have it presented in an orderly manner is very helpful for us in our consideration. And it's kind of a difficult thing to consider. I generally am supportive of not making changes to the Comprehensive Plan. And this is a case where a change does have to happen to the Comprehensive Plan before this can even be considered. As I recall, I did vote in Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 54 of 84 favor of moving the Comprehensive Plan amendment forward to the City Council and also involved in asking the City Council to hold and wait for this project to come to it. The things that I see changed in this presentation represent to me all the things that I think that were mentioned by us and neighbors and everybody else involved during that Comprehensive Plan amendment discussion before us. I realize it hasn't been to the City Council yet. But I realize traffic is always an issue. I realize mixed use, if you look at one single piece of property this is not necessarily mixed, it's all residential. But considering the neighborhood around it, if it's all office or all commercial, that's not mixed either. This creates a mix in the neighborhood to me. I think the applicant having closed off the entrance that was going to be on the north street -- I can't read it right at the moment. Newton-Huckabay: Magic View Drive. Zaremba: The Magic View Drive makes it even less likely that traffic from this development will travel west. Once they are already going south or east, it's counter intuitive to reverse direction that much. I feel the flow is going to be east. I, too, am surprised that it's 90 percent to ten percent, according to the experts, but I probably wouldn't have guessed it too far off from that with the northern exit no longer existing. My feeling is that I would support this project in this new configuration and I would be willing to send it on to the City Council recommending approval contingent on their decision on the Comprehensive Plan amendment. Rohm: Thank you, Dave. That was well stated. Commissioner Borup, do you have comment? Borup: Yeah. Well, not much more to add, other than I think this is a good location for this type of development. It is near employment centers and even though it's been a few years ago, I think -- I do remember there was -- there was a certain amount of discussion on the Comp Plan designation about not having it all office and I don't remember why that wasn't -- there wasn't a decision to mix that up a little bit, but, obviously, there wasn't and I think part of it probably was, as one of the -- as was stated, that they said that would be an opportunity in the future if -- if developments came in requiring that. So, that is what they are here to do. That's alii have got. Rohm: Thank you. Borup: Other than it, obviously, is something way different than we have seen in multi- family -- I mean it's different than other higher density projects as far as the architectural style. Rohm: Thank you. Borup: Very nice on architectural. Rohm: Commissioner Newton-Huckabay. Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4. 2006 Page 55 of 84 Newton-Huckabay: I have a couple comments. I'm not sure how relevant this one is, but Mr. Pearcy made me think of something. I learned to ride a horse on Eagle Road, so -- at Franklin and Eagle Road, as a matter of fact. This is the type of a high density development that when we go to all the training on good planning and what high density should look like and the type of homes you want to offer for the market, this is the type of thing that they put in front of you is this type of development and, then, a lot of times what we get in front of us as a Commission is a bunch of four-plexes that are all made out of the vinyl siding or something. So, I really do like the way this turned out. I have to agree with the rest of the Commissioners, I think part of the city is where we do need to see higher residential. I -- the Mayor's vision, if I understand it, is that most of the east side of Eagle Road will develop into a fairly substantial medical community and as the hospital grows that's going to increase demand for higher end homes for urban level professionals and the Comprehensive Plan does state that we want to provide a mixed type of housing and we do not have this type of housing much to offer in the city. I have more than one colleague at the moment who are looking for this type of home in Meridian and cannot find it in the city and they are moving to other locations trying to find it and I think that if we want to keep people living where they are working, this is the type of development I would like to see and I -- and traffic is always a problem and I don't know what the right answer is for the traffic, other than if we could build all the infrastructure before we develop, but I'm not sure we would push that through either if that was an option. So, I'm in favor of it going onto City Council myself. Thank you. Rohm: Commissioner Moe. Moe: Mr. Rohm, I don't have any more to add than the other Commissioners have, other than the fact I would like to make the point that I do appreciate the fact that the applicant did listen to the comments early on and did go back and make the changes. Quite frankly, it was good to see that staff was very supportive of the project and that, basically, all items that we had discussed had been taken into consideration. It's very much appreciated. I guess the only other thing that I'd like to add that the biggest problem I see in traffic right now -- and this is an ACHD problem more than anything else, and that is they have got to do something in regards to Magic View and Eagle. Basically, I think if something's not done in that area it could be a problem with the traffic going east, but at the same point they can always pick up the street that's just -- Borup: Well, yeah, they said it's a right-in, right-out is what will be the designation. Moe: Yeah. So -- but other than -- I do -- I do support this project as it is. Rohm: Thank you. And I think that each of you have done a good job kind of covering some of the bases that we try to make good sound decisions from and \, too, view this project from its location to the interchange on the freeway as good development. I think that to put something like this at the far reaches of the area of impact makes little sense and putting it close to where people can go east-west on the freeway and north-south Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 56 of 84 on Eagle Road is the best location for this type of a development. So, that being said, that's the end of comments. Zaremba: Mr. Chairman, I would only add one more comment and that's sensitivity to -- I don't know how to put this. Apparently, ACHD, Ada County Highway District, does not feel that the requirement to provide notice about public meetings applies to them. We hear time after time that an ACHD meeting has happened on a project and nobody knew about it. As a Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council, we have three different levels of notice that we have to give to affected property owners within 300 feet or in the newspaper or signs posted on the property. And it still amazes me that that does not apply to ACHD, that they should notify people that a public road that is in their neighborhood, they are considering changes on it, so -- I don't have an answer for that, but I guess that's a legal question and an Idaho state law question. But, again, I'm surprised that they do hold hearings without people knowing that it happened and you're absolutely right, they do. They don't give notice in any manner that I'm familiar with. So, that's just a comment. Mr. Chairman, I move we close the Public Hearing on AZ 06-017, PP 06-017, and CUP 06-012. Moe: Second. Rohm: It's been moved and seconded that we close the Public Hearing on AZ 06-017, PP 06-01, and CUP 06-012. All those in favor say aye. Opposed same? Motion carries. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Zaremba: Mr. Chairman? Rohm: Commissioner Zaremba. Zaremba: After considering all staff, applicant, and public testimony, I move to recommend approval to the City Council of file numbers AZ 06-017, PP 06-017, and CUP 06-012 as presented in the staff report for the original hearing date of April 20, 2006, with no modifications and with the addition of notice to the City Council, as they already know, that this approval recommendation is contingent upon their acceptance of a previous Comprehensive Plan amendment that's related to it. Borup: Second. Moe: And the ACHD report. Do you want to include that in -- Zaremba: It's not covered? I thought it was. We need to add -- Borup: It was covered on the verbal -- Zaremba: Okay. I forget. Did they have any requirements that we didn't already have? Meridian Planning & Zoning May 4, 2006 Page 57 of 84 Hood: April 26th is -- their commission acted on this application. I will insert those comments anyway. You don't need to necessarily make it part of your motion, but I will. We just recently received those, so I will add them for City Council. Zaremba: I would note for the record that we did have comments from staff about the ACHD record and those will be included when it goes to City Council. Rohm: We have a motion. Borup: Second.. Rohm: We have a motion and a second to forward onto City Council recommending approval of AZ 06-017, PP 06-017, and CUP 06-012, to include all staff comments for the hearing date of May 4th, 2006. All those in favor say aye. Opposed same sign? Thank you, everybody, for coming in. MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES. Item 14: Public Hearing: RZ 06-002 Request for a Rezone of 0.22 acres from I-L (Light Industrial) to Q-T (Old Town) zones for Stan Lantz by Stan Lantz - 608 West 3rd Street: Rohm: At this time we'd like to continue the hearing this evening and start with opening up the Public Hearing for RZ 06-002 and begin with our staff report. Hood: Thank you, Mr. Chair, Members of the Commission. I'm going to make this really brief. This is a pretty cut and dry application. If you notice the arrow on the screen there, there is a small piece of property, it's 0.22 acres, it's currently zoned I-L, as you can see. The OT that's right by it -- there are some parcels in this area that are zoned OT. It's an industrially -- for the most part industrially zoned area, but there are a lot of residences in here. Those residences are nonconforming uses, because the I-L zone does not allow single family homes. The subject property owner would like to sell this property and the home that's on the property. The financing people will not give them financing for this sale, because if the house burns down in an I-L zone, we will not allow them to rebuild the house, because it is in an industrial zone. So, they have applied to rezone this property to 01. That is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, single family uses are allowed in the OT zone, and staff is recommending approval with no conditions. So, I will stand for any questions you may have. Rohm: Caleb, that was very nice. Thank you. Any questions of staff? Would the applicant like to come forward, please. Lantz: Hi. Mr. Chairman, Members of the Board, my name is Stan Lantz, I live at 1892 North Monico Way. I started this process -- I first talked to Caleb quite some time ago when I first decided to sell that property. Never realized how tough it was. In the