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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter from Tuscany Subdivision Residents Summary of Comments for Public Testimony from Tuscany Subdivision Re: City Council meeting - July 11 th 2006 - Eagle Rd & Victory Rd Zoning Tuscany currently has well over 600 homeowners of record with over 1,000 residents. Approximately 600 additional homes are planned in Tuscany over the next two years, with more on the way after that. First, I want to start with something we all seem to agree on. Weare very supportive of the South Eagle Road and Victory Road Property Owner's Alliance mutual decision to come together to have all their properties zoned and developed as one larger joined parcel. This is good for the City of Meridian, good for Eagle Road, and good [or tIlt; m:ighborhoods in the immediate area. We understand and have compassion for the situation these homeowners are faced with, having to see their neighborhood transition from rural to urban, as well as having pieces of their land involuntarily taken for the widening of Eagle Rd. The preference for the majority of residents in Tuscany is for there to be no change to the Comprehensive Plan and for the residential zoning that was initially planned for this corner to take effect. We, along with our neighbors in the other communities to our north, bought property here with the understanding that the immediate area would remain residential in nature. We do not want the mistakes of Eagle Road north of 1-84 repeated again south of the Interstate. If our desire to keep this corner residential is found to be an impossible ta~k, WI;: will continue to work towards to lowest possible impact of commercial development, meaning light office uses and restricted hours. The original staff report from the October 2005 meeting was very thorough in refuting most of the Alliances claims and statements that this corner had no choice but to develop commercially. T will essentially paraphrase parts of this staff report several times this evening to support our main points. There are several major areas of concern I would like to address this evening.. 1) Commercial development will make a bad traffic situation only worse. 2) There are compatibility and design issues with the existing neighborhoods 3) There is no pressing need for further commercial development in this part of Meridian 4) What will be the impact on Tuscany Elementary? 5) This Project flaunts many of the Goals and Objectives of the Meridian Comprehensive Plan 6) Request Clarification on State Statute regarding CP As I will now go a little more in depth with each item: 1) It will make a bad traffic situation only worse- Turning this comer into commercial would negatively impact the traffic on an already very busy road. In the afternoon during rush hour, traffic backs up at the Eagle exit for sometimes a quarter to a half mile. These are people illegally pulled over onto the shoulder, just waiting to exit the Interstate onto Eagle Rd. Eagle Road is already straining from the existing traffic it gets today. Not projected traffic two years from now, traffic this afternoon. Eagle Road between the 1-84 north to Fairview Ave the most congested road in the state ofIdaho. According to the ITD, as of2004, the 1-84 Interchange at Eagle was handling more than 52,000 vehicles per weekday. The Interchange was originally designed for about 30,000 vehicles a day, which means it's currently operating at over 40% its designed capacity. Anyone unfortunate enough to be driving south un Eagle Road from the Interstate in the afternoon already knows you have to sometimes wait 10 minutes just to get south of Victory. Mr. Thomason, in his eloquent presentation to the board last month, told us that there may be as many as 9,600 homes and possibly 24,000 people living within the area south of the Eagle Rd Interchange in the next few years. We see this fact as an excellent reason why not to put commercial development at this corner_ Many of these people are going to want to reach 1-84 to get to work, and most oftheffi are going to be driving past this intersection on the way. Commercial and retail development will mean more traffic, slower speeds, more traffic lights, and more curb cuts. There are already 3 existing traffic lights between 1-84 and Victory Rd, a drive of less than a mile, and this commercial development will require even more. Prudent City planning would be place community shopping hubs away from the interstate, as shown in the 2002 Meridian Comprehensive Plan, not next to it, in order to reduce the traffic demands on these arterial collector roads for the Interstate. STAFF REPORT SAID and I will paraphrase "Transportation Issues: If an additional 50 +/- acres of commercial and office uses is constructed south of the Ridenbaugh, another traffic signal would likely be needed. However, traffic signals often function best when served by four legs of traffic. Since all of the mixed use/commercialland south of the Ridenbaugh Canal would only be on the east side of the road with no high volume east-west street to intersect with Eagle Road, it is questionable that traffic warrants would be met and/or that this signal would function as well." END PARAPHRASE 2) Compatibility and Design Issues - from the staff report "Une reason for designating specific commercial areas on the Comprehensive Plan is to minimize negative impacts upon nearby residents and the general public. This is one of the objectives of the Neighborhood Centers." AND SEPARATELY "Currently, the Ridenbaugh Canal serves as an excellent buffer and transition from the intense commercial activities in Silverstone and El Dorado business parks, to the residential uses along Eagle" 3) There is absolutely no need for additional commercial development in this part of Meridian. The Silverstone and E1 Dorado business campuses alone, within site of this very project, offer a potential total of over 2 million square feet of commercial space on Eagle Road, just between between 1-84 and Victory. Paraphrasing from the staff's comments on commercial land need: "Over-Supplv of Mixed Use/Commercial Land: By adding additional acres of land designated for mixed use into Meridian's Area of Impact, staff is concerned with a potential over. supply of commercially zoned land, especially for office uses. Meridian's 2005 office vacancy rate has been noted by the Chamber of Commerce and other local real estate sources to continue to be high. We are concerned about extending more retail and office uses south of the Ridenbaugh Canal and believe other locations are better suited for these uses. Southstone Subdivision, located at the intersection of Eagle Road and Easy Jet Drive, provides three acres (8 building lots) of L-O zoned land and Sutherland Farms Subdivision provides five + acres (est. 7 building lots) for this area. Stafffinds that between these two projects which already provide more than eight acres of non-residential uses, there is adequate commercial land supply along this corridor. In the area south of 1--84 between Locust Grove Road and a half mile east of Eagle Road, there is over 250 acres of vacant or under-developed land designated as either Commercial or MU-Regional on the Future Land Use Map. This does not include any of the Silverstone or El Dorado land or any land north of 1-84. All of this property is within a 1 ~ mile radius of the subject properties. Furthermore, there are two Mixed Use Neighborhood Centers noted along Vic.tory Road. Staff has not seen commercial development plans for either of these centers. This would generally indicate that there is not a very high demand for non-residential uses in the area. " end of staff report comments We would also like to comment for a moment on the commercial developments already south of the canal in Southstone and Sutherland Farms. Both ofthose were done without ever having to go through the formal rezoning process. They're sitting on residentially zoned land. One was done on an exception and the other on a variance. Homeowners just woke up one morning to see commercial office parks springing up next to their property. If signs had been placed and we had been noticed these were going to be built, we would have shown up to oppose them. Now their presenee on Eagle Rd, outside of their assigned zone, is being used as justification by tht: Alliancl; tu [urce commercial further down this corridor outside the guidelines of the existing Comprehensive Plan. Additionally, the Alliance has stated that several real estate appraisers have told them their land as residential is not its highest and best use. We'd like to make the point that just because an appraiser believes a parcel is not currently zoned for it's best use, does not automatically make it so. I'm guessing that the land and buildings that St. Lukes occupies might be worth more commercially as a multi-story corporate headquarters than as a hospital, but it's not zoned for such use, so it doesn't matter. By that way of thinking, most land at any major intersection would be worth more commercially than residentially. 4) How this change in zoning will affect the future Tuscany Elementary School, currently projected by the Meridian School District to open in the 2008-2009 school year. Within a few years, thcrc will be an Elementary school opening less than ~ mile from this intersection. The school board already owns this land; it's not a matter of if it will open, but only when. This will not he a high school, not ajnnim high, but all elementary school. The young children that live in Thousand Springs, Sutherland Farms, Tuscany and the future Medford Place will in many cases be walking to this school. This means children as young as perhaps 5 having to cross some of these roads. Turning this corner into commercial does not help to create a safer enviromnent for them to get to back and forth to school every day 5) This development contradicts the Comprehensive Plan Guidelines- some of these points were addressed in the October staff report as well - Thp 2002 Comprehensive Plan contains a variety of goals, objectives, and action items relevant to this CPA application. . Allocate and identify locations/inventory for industrial and commercial business parks. The primary tool to accomplish this action is the Future Land Use Map, which was created in 2002 after more than 18 months of public workshops and hearings. That map designates the industrial and business park areas and, staff believes, represents an adequate land supply for the total build~out population of Meridian. The subject area was not designated for such uses and residents and prospective buyers have made purchasing decisions based on the fact that it is planned as a residential area. . Plan for a variety of commercial and retail opportunities within the Impact Area. Staff believes commercial opportunities have been planned and that the subject property is not one of them nor should residential land be removed from the Area of Impact to accommodate additional commercial land in this area. · Protect existing residential properties from incompatible land use development on adjacent parcels. This policy touches on one of the primary objectives of zoning - to protect the public health and welfare. It is the City's obligation to ensure existing properties (both county and city) are protected from harmful, disturbing or unnecessary encroachments. END QUOTES 6) We also request verification from the City of Meridian on the following State of Idaho code: Idaho State Code Title 67, Chapter 65 We would like to know when was the last date that the P&Z Commission formally recommended CPA amcndmcnts to Meridian City Council. The Compreheu~ivt: Plan, by statute, is not something that's even permitted to be amended more often then twice per year. To wrap this up: The way this whole project has been moving forward is problematic in nature. In order to have an Amendment to the Comprehensive plan, local municipalities providing essential services and nearby neighborhoods are supposed to be consulted to give input. Since the Alliance will not end up being the final developer of the property, they are primarily seeking just a zoning change. Their originat application did not include an annexation request or a deve1upmt:nt plan. Without a formal development plan, the municipalities serving this area cannot comment or give proper input to Planning & Zoning. This is not how the process is designed to work. It is our opinion that the Alliance is seeking a change in zoning first and foremost for financial reasons. They're only now applying for annexation and submitting a development plan to achieve a zoning change, by their own admission at the March meeting. We do not doubt their desire to work with their fellow neighbors in piecing together a large parcel to be developed together. We applaud them for it. But they have financial reasons to do so as well. The parcels joined as a whole are worth more than individually. They're also worth more commereially than residentially. They already somehow convinced ACHD to pay commercial rates when selling residentia11and for right of way on Eagle Road, and they now waut l;UIIlIUt;n;ia1 ratt:s for all the rest of it as well. They're attempting to cash out, selling their rural and residentially zoned land at commercial prices, and they're going to leave the neighbors to deal with the aftermath of commercial development. In closing: We have identified several standard guidelines the City uses in approving commercial rezoning that are being violated with this CPA, annexation, and rezoning application package. 1) It will worsen an existing traffic problem 2) This is a strip type development 3) It is commercial development surrounded by existing low density residential neighborhoods 4) It is one side of the street only commercial development. The west side is all remaining residential. 5) It has not been proven that there is a compelling need for additional cnmmerrial development in this area of Meridian 6) There has been overwhelming opposition to this plan from both adjoining and nearby properties owners. To our knowledge, we have not spoken to any homeowners from the 3 subdivisions that they either need or desire these shopping options for greater convenience 7) Tuscany Elementary is being planned right down the road that has not been taken into consideration 8) It goes against the City of Meridian's Planning and Zoning department's own staff report recommendation that keeping and developing this area residentially is the best use of this land. We ask you to reject these commercial development plans for this corner. We are quite confident in saying that most opposition to this development would cease if they decided instead to develop this corner with low to medium density residential units. Thank you again for your time and consideration from the residents ofthe Tuscany subdivision.