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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-11-14 Ross Anderson Charlene Way From:Ross Anderson <rosskanderson@gmail.com> Sent:Sunday, November 13, 2022 4:36 PM To:Clerks Comment Subject:Reject the Bridgetower Multi-Family CUP CR-2022-0006 application External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments. City of Meridian and ALL Parties responsible for decision making on Multi-Family CUP H-2022-0047, My wife and I recently purchased a home in Bridgetower West with the expectation that we would be living in a family- friendly, quiet neighborhood in North Meridian. We made this decision based on some of the factors below:  Safety  Schools: Example: High School (Owyhee) where our kids would go and other nearby schools.  Neighborhood charm  Amenities that are nearby (Costco, WallMart, etc.)  Community Pool  Family Oriented We've learned that there are plans to build approximately 234 multi-story apartments behind WallMart and that brings a host of concerns which I highly encourage all parties responsible for this decision to consider and alter course from your original plan.  Safety: o As a parent, safety of our children is without question paramount. The addition of 234 units of apartments puts the safety of my (and ALL neighborhood) children at risk for the following reasons:  Increased traffic:  Children walk, run, ride bikes, ride scooters, golf carts, play and use the streets and sidewalks on a daily basis. Many do not wear helmets and are simply enjoying the freedoms of their life without fear of speeders and reckless drivers. They are able to do this because of the lack of traffic and integrity of their fellow neighbors.  Given the additional cars via this proposed 234(ish) unit apartment building, there are increased high risk factors here for children to be hit by a car on Gondola, as many will be forced to use this as a main thoroughfare and many other streets simply by: (Walking to school, going to the community pool, playing in their front yard and or walking down the street.) = Unacceptable  Major streets such as McMillan and Black Cat are already extremely crowded and pedestrians are at risk of being hit by a car to cross a street and go to school, the community pool, the community park, etc. Adding more cars to this area only increases the odds of someone being seriously injured in an accident.  Citing examples of how:  The sunrise and sunset can and will blind drivers going down Gondola, McMillan and other streets which face the direction of the sun. Increasing the number of drivers and cars via Apartment Tenants (not counting their friends/family who 1 visit) only adds to the potential risk for serious injury or death of a child or an adult for that matter in our neighborhood.  Bad Behavior | Pride of Ownership:  Having lived in and or near apartments in the past, I've seen firsthand what they've done to errode a great neighborhood fabric before, (which is why we chose to live here, in an upper middle class neighborhood), bad behavior seems to be a common theme for tenants that live in apartments. They also lack pride of ownership and hardly ever take the cleanliness and seriousness of maintaining their apartment complex as seriously as homeowners who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into their home. Homeowners almost always show pride of ownership and especially here in Bridgetower West and Bainbridge where we also adhere to a strict HOA policy.  Articles that support this for examples: (Specifically in Idaho from news sources)  https://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/local/break-ins-crash-have- apartment-owners-worried-about-campus- neighborhood/article_26f59b00-5648-5fbd-98ca-b9f85e368e19.html  https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/07/02/bois-j02.html  https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/crime/gunshot-boise-maple-grove- fight-investigation/277-a38470cd-1813-4c09-9317-5e60dcc4c5fb  https://www.idahopress.com/news/local/arson-charges-possible-after- boise-police-say-men-set-off-firework-inside/article_f30c2632-cf0c- 5da3-a90f-ce222a3e7799.html  https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/crime/police-man-charged-with- setting-pickup-on-fire-at-meridian-apartment-complex/277- 9daeaacd-7695-4496-baf9-848cb9de7b9d  https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/crime/man-charged-with-abetting- shooting-at-meridian-apartment/277-41597096-f929-441c-b75d- c8627584a62d  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kb90oYQnDk  This example are the 3 common issues for apartment complex security  https://blueeyedefense.com/3-common-issues-for-apartment-complex- security/  Schools: o Owyhee High School is already at and or nearing full capacity. There are many children already living in this neighborhood who will eventually grow up to go to that high school. Pleasant View Elementary School is already over capacity. (There was a letter sent by the School District which shows this)  What is the proposed plan from the city to expand upon the physical footprint (real estate) for these schools and how do you expect to fund them?  When there is no longer space in the existing school structure available for students, is the plan to put portable buildings onto the campus  What's the safety hazard associated with that?  What's the give and take with this action?  Will students lose out on outside open space for recess, Physical Education, Sports?  Will there be ample space available for Students and Faculty for their Safety in the event of an emergency such as a Fire, Natural Disaster, Etc.?  What is the proposed plan to ensure that our children are receiving the very best education which starts with a proportionate teacher to student ratio in the classroom?  Increasing students into these schools via a 234(ish) unit apartment complex will only continue to overload the schools, increase teacher to student ratios and 2 take away from valuable interactions students require from their teachers to learn.  The traffic during the morning and afternoon drop off and pick up is really bad which is a public safety issue on its own.  Families who have purchased homes that live within Bridgetower West and Bainbridge will be forced to go to other schools by increasing students in a 234(ish) multi-unit apartment complex.  How is it fair for homeowners who have families which have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to live in this neighborhood, plant their roots and have a long term family strategy to have their children's school option forced away from them with families who are renters, short term tenants? NOTE #1: All of the above questions in the Schools section are critical as our children are our most precious resource. Eroding their educational opportunity based on overcrowding is a terrible idea. NOTE #2: Who subsidizes the costs for extra teachers, first responders for safety, portable buildings for added classrooms, etc.? The answer is us as taxpayers. Burdening taxpayers even more given the economic conditions and poor planning of the location of this apartment complex is unacceptable.  Traffic: o Our infrastructure simply does not support and additional 234 units of apartments  As a homeowner and citizen residing in this area, I can cite first hand knowledge and witness to the traffic situations which are already beyond reasonable levels.  Adding 234 units of apartments if you average 1.5 - 2 vehicles per unit will without question, break an already congested infrastructure  Let's not forget about friends and family members who will visit the Apartment Tenants. That is an unimaginable increase in traffic. o Existing Traffic conditions are congested as is. Oftentimes it's a challenge to pull out on to Black Cat or McMillan. Increasing cars via the proposed plan will only add to that and be a public safety hazard.  Parking: o The neighborhood has charm and is maintained by good neighbors following rules (HOA) and upholding a neighborly integrity by, parking their vehicles in their garage and or driveway  What rules are in place to ensure that the Apartment Tenants AND their Friends/Family follow their rules and DO NOT spill their parking into our neighborhood streets? The plans do not depict enough parking spaces for the tenants. How will this problem be solved? o What recourse do we, as homeowners have when these tenants decide to overflow our streets and park their cars all around our neighborhoods?  They don't pay into our HOA. Most of the tenants will be short timers and with high turnover rates.  First Responders: o First Responders are paid via our taxpayer dollars via property taxes as a large financial contributor. o First Responders are stretched thin and will be increasingly so, having to call on 234 units in a multi story apartment complex. o Has the city thought through what this looks like and how it's able to sustain given the addition of the 234 units? o What about traffic accidents, crime, drugs, and other aspects that are inherent to multi-unit apartment complexes? Here are some alternative options for the use of this land:  Senior Assisted Living (the originally proposed plan) 3  Commercial o Food, Grocery Stores, Doctors Offices Concerns from the last commission hearing regarding this project:  Outdated Data provided from the ACHD and used for this project: o During the last commission hearing (which is public record) the commission admitted that the obsolete and outdated data being used today and provided from the ACHD was 4-5 years old. We had a neighbor (private citizen) capture data on their own and provide it to the commission, only to be told that it was not admissible or able to be used and that the data utilized today and for this project is 4-5 years old. In addition, the commission stated that the ACHD has the responsibility to provide current data to them. I hereby DEMAND as a tax paying citizen that the data be updated ASAP and provided to ALL Parties Responsible for this decision making process. Using obsolete data is negligent and unacceptable. Our family loves the neighborhood we live in at Bridgetower West! We urge the decision makers to alter course and with the help of home owning citizens/neighbors (US) and come up with a different utilization plan for that land. Best, Ross Anderson 4