HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-05-23 Joshua Smith - Vetrinary office
Charlene Way
From:Chris Johnson
Sent:Saturday, May 20, 2023 2:00 PM
To:Charlene Way
Subject:Fw: Please Read! New Family Veterinarian to Meridian!
For the record.
From: Joshua Smith <joshsmith5806dvm@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2023 5:32 PM
To: Robert Simison
Cc: Bruce Freckleton; Chris Johnson
Subject: Re: Please Read! New Family Veterinarian to Meridian!
External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments.
Thank you Mayor Simison for the response. Bill Parsons was quick to respond and answered my questions.
Have a great weekend!
Joshua Smith, DVM
On Fri, May 19, 2023 at 5:08 PM Robert Simison <rsimison@meridiancity.org> wrote:
Mr. Smith,
Thank you for your note. As I read your email and realized it is an open application, I wanted to be careful as
myself and City Council do not comment on these issues outside of the public hearing process. As you were
questioning some operational items I went ahead and forwarded your email to our Community Development
Director so he could help address the issues you raised. I did want you to know it was received, and I’m also
copying this correspondence to our City Clerk so that it will also be included in the hearing record for your
applictation.
Respectfully,
Mayor Robert Simison
City of Meridian
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From: Joshua Smith <joshsmith5806dvm@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2023 2:17 PM
To: Robert Simison <rsimison@meridiancity.org>
Subject: Please Read! New Family Veterinarian to Meridian!
External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments.
Dear Mayor Simison,
My name is Joshua Smith and I am a veterinarian who recently moved to town this past August. My wife grew
up in Boise, and now that we have young children, we wanted to move closer to family prior to starting a new
business. We just bought a home off of Locust Grove and Fairview, and are settling into the community. I
have always wanted to open my own veterinary practice and was/am excited to potentially be able to do this
in such a great town as Meridian. As KTVB reported this past fall, the Treasure Valley is facing a shortage of
veterinarians and I am hopeful that I can help be a part of the solution, particularly in Meridian ( Link
here: https://www.ktvb.com/article/life/animals/treasure-valley-clinics-facing-veterinarian-shortage-high-
demand/277-fa5ff3bc-3953-410e-913b-4311f17c64d6)
I am currently working with a third party company called Blue Frog. Blue Frog purchases the real estate that I
select, builds a new free-standing veterinary clinic on the property, and I lease from them until I am able to
purchase the real estate myself in a few years. We started this process by putting an offer in on a piece of
land at McMillian and Ten Mile last November. Blue Frog will not purchase the property until the Conditional
Use Permit is approved. Blue Frog submitted the preliminary application on 1/27/23 and the completed
application on 3/21/23 which was accepted on 3/21/23. Per the City of Meridian’s website, the conditional
use permitting process should take 3 months from start to finish, and regardless of which application date
you count from, we are past the 3 month mark.
With the delays, I have already had to ask the broker twice for an extension. Placating the broker the second
time required that I increase my earnest money to $10,000, and as such my family is at risk of losing both
$10,000 and the property if the City of Meridian is unable to finish processing my conditional use permit
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application by July 31. I do not believe the broker will agree to a third extension. I have attached a
document showing the timeline of this process since November 2022.
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For what it is worth, Blue Frog has repeatedly reached out to the city and the explanation they have been
given is that the planner my business was assigned to is new, and she told them she has 70 days to review the
application, and would be leaving on vacation for most of May (5/11-5/25) so it would be lucky to make it
onto her calendar in June, possibly July. Attempts to reach the senior planner have gone unanswered.
Surely, the City of Meridian is within the City Mayor’s purview, and at the very least you could shed some
light on what we can expect between now and the end of July. If I am overstepping, I greatly apologize. I just
do not want to give up without trying every possible thing that I can, considering the possibility of losing out
on my dream of practice ownership.
Thank you!
Joshua Smith, DVM
740-248-6930
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