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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-02-27 Regular Meridian City Council February 27, 2024. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 27, 2024, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Joe Borton, Luke Cavener, Liz Strader, John Overton, Anne Little Roberts and Doug Taylor. Members Absent: Joe Borton. Others Present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Stacy Hersh, Scott Colaianni, Kenny Bowers and Dean Willis. ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE X Liz Strader Joe Borton _X_Anne Little Roberts _X_ John Overton _X_ Doug Taylor _X—Luke Cavener X Mayor Robert E. Simison Simison: Council, we will call the meeting to order. For the record it is February 27th, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. We will begin tonight's regular City Council meeting with roll call attendance. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Simison: Next item is the Pledge of Allegiance. If you would all, please, rise and join us in the pledge. (Pledge of Allegiance recited.) COMMUNITY INVOCATION Simison: Next item up the community invocation. We did have someone sign up to lead us in the invocation and -- I want to say Proshe; is that correct? Okay. It just looks a little different than the car, but there will be Proshe Kida with Refresh Church. If you would all would, please, join us in the community invocation or take this as a moment of silence and reflection. Kida: Thank you for having me. Happy to be here. If you would join me. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the City of Meridian and we just thank you for allowing prayer to be a part of these meetings. We don't take for granted the opportunity just to consult you and to seek your will in these gatherings and so, God, we just thank you for the city councilors. Thank you for Mayor Simison and his team and I just pray, God, that you bring unity into this space as the agenda items are covered and I ask that you help us to honor one another and to honor you as well and, God, I just ask that you would grant Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 2 of 14 wisdom here to the city leaders, to the City Council Members, to the citizens here in Meridian -- Meridian, to the business owners, to the citizens, to the stakeholders, God, all the people involved here in this great city, God, we just thank you that you offer wisdom to all of us and I ask that you just, please, open our eyes and our hearts to your will for this city and also just for the Treasure Valley and we just pray, God, for clarity. We pray against selfish ambition here and we just thank you for the opportunity to be a mouthpiece, to be the hands, to be the feet of just love and hope here in the Treasure Valley and in the City of Meridian and so I ask that each of us would just be a light in this room, in this city, here in Idaho, in the nation and even in our world, in Jesus' name. Amen. Simison: Thank you. Appreciate it. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Looking at the agenda, it looks like we need to remove Item No. 2, Ordinance No. 24-2048. With that change I move that we adopt the agenda. Cavener: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the agenda is agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. PUBLIC FORUM — Future Meeting Topics Simison: Mr. Clerk, anyone signed up under public forum? Johnson: Mr. Mayor, nobody. ACTION ITEMS 1. Public Hearing for Nine Mile Creek Bungalows (SHP-2023-0003) by Robin Shea, Owner, located at 2055 S. Locust Grove Rd. A. Request: Short Plat to subdivide an existing residential lot (S1119141856) into four (4) building lots and one (1) common driveway lot on approximately 1.34 acres of land in the R-4 zoning district Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 3 of 14 Simison: Okay. Then with that we will move on to our Action Items this evening. First item up was a public hearing for Nine Mile Creek Bungalows, SHP-2023-0003. We will open this public hearing with comments from Stacy. Hersh: Good evening, Mayor and City Council. The applicant has submitted an application for Nine Mile Creek Bungalows, a short plat. The site consists of 1 .34 acres of land, currently zoned R-4 located at 2055 South Locust Grove Road. The history on the property and the property was annexed in the 1990s with the Sportsman's Pointe Subdivision. The comprehensive FLUM designation for the site is limited office. The short plat proposes to further subdivide the parcel into four building lots, one common driveway lot and one common lot, in the R-4 zoning district. The proposed density of 2.99 units per acre is consistent with the density desired of three to eight dwelling units per acre in the medium density residential zoning district designation for this site. The proposed lots comply with the dimensional standards listed in the UDC for the R-4 zoning district. The existing home is connected to city water and sewer -- sewer service and is proposed to remain on Lot 1, Block 1. The detached garage slash shop and accessory structure on Lots 2 and 3 are proposed to be removed upon development of the subdivision. Additionally, the carport for the existing home is proposed to be removed to comply with the rear setback. Once the carport and the detached garage are removed, the existing home will not meet the required number of off-street parking spaces. Per the UDC a four bedroom home must provide four parking spaces, at least two in an enclosed garage. Other spaces may be enclosed for a minimum of a 20 -- or 20-by-20 foot parking pad. By removing the required parking from the property a CUP may be required per the non-conforming regulations set forth in the UDC unless the existing garage is retained. At a minimum staff recommends that the applicant retain the existing carport and install the required parking pad, so in the future a garage could be constructed to avoid to obtain a CUP approval for any expansion. This requires some of the lot lines on the plat to be adjusted to accommodate the carport prior to city engineer's signature on the final plat. The plat is missing the required public utility irrigation and drainage easements for each lot. For the interior lot lines of five feet along the interior lot lines and ten feet along the perimeter and rear lot lines. Additionally, the consecutive number of all lots in each block, including the common lots, should be included. The common lot depicted on the north encompasses the easement for the Nine Mile Creek on a portion of this property. Staff recommends that the applicant graphically depict the Nine Mile Creek easement on the plat to ensure that the common lot fully encompasses the entire easement. Staff recommends that the proposed 20 foot -- 25 foot easement for the landscape buffer along Locust Grove street frontage terminates at the shared property line of Lot 4, Block 1, on the northern common lot. Access to the property is provided via a driveway from South Locust Grove Road, which will be platted as a common lot for a common driveway that will provide access to all lots in the proposed subdivision. Throughout direct access via South Locust Grove Road is prohibited. The fire department has approved the design of the proposed common driveway, which shall be signed no parking fire lane per the IFC. A common driveway exhibit that reflects compliance with the standards listed in the UDC was not submitted. The applicant should submit a common drive exhibit that depicts setbacks, fencing, building envelope and orientation of the lots and structures, including the Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 4 of 14 existing home on the lot block -- Lot 1, Block 1, prior to city engineer's signature on the final plat. ACHD recently completed the widening of South Locust Grove Road incorporating a new ten foot wide pathway adjacent to the site and a 30 foot wide curb cut into the site. No additional roadwork is required for this project. A 25 foot landscape buffer is required along South Locust Grove Road in accordance with the UDC. There is existing landscaping to remain and eight new trees are proposed to be planted with rock mulch. All required landscape buffers along the streets shall be designed and planted with a variety of trees, shrubs, lawn or other vegetative ground cover. Plant materials in conjunction with the site design show licit -- licit -- licit design principles, including rhythm repetition, balance and focal elements. Staff recommends that the applicant include a variety of shrubs, along with the trees, within the planters along South Locust Grove Road. The 25 foot wide landscape buffer area north of the driveway should comply with these standards for landscaping and requires a license agreement from NMID for any landscaping in their easement. The open space standards allow natural waterways that intersect, cross or lie within the developed area to remain unimproved per the UDC. The landscape plan specifies the use of -- of weed fabric is not recommended. If rock mulch is used a weed barrier fabric shall be used beneath the rock in accordance with the UDC. There are a few existing trees on site, of which two are proposed to be removed. A mitigation plan was not submitted. However, the landscape plan includes -- included depicts existing trees that are proposed to be removed versus retained. Mitigation should be proposed on the landscape plan in accordance with the UDC standards. The applicant should provide a description outlining how the existing trees to be retained are to be protected during the construction and, furthermore, the landscape plan is missing a calculation table for the project components necessary for demonstrating compliance with the UDC requirements. There is no fencing proposed with this application. The applicant is responsible for constructing fences abutting common open space lots to distinguish common from private areas, in particular adjacent to the Nine Mile Creek to enhance safety. Staff recommends installing an open vision or semi-private fence up to six feet in height along the northern common lot in accordance with the UDC. Staff does recommend approval for the proposed short plat in accordance with the conditions and the findings in the staff report and that concludes staff's presentation and I stand for any questions. Simison: Thank you, Stacy. Council, any questions for staff? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Thanks, Stacy. Is it typical to have --just refresh my memory. Is this typical to have like this many kind of outstanding detailed items with a recommended approval for a short plat? I guess I'm just wondering what was the communication with the applicant? Usually by this point staff is saying something like the applicant is in agreement with the condition, so -- and we will hear from the applicant, but just help me understand with lot lines needing to be adjusted, public easements missing, common Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 5 of 14 driveway exhibit updated not -- not -- exhibit not updated. A tree situation. Landscape mitigation. Is it typical to have this many outstanding items when it comes to a City Council meeting? Hersh: Mr. Mayor, Madam Vice-President Strader, so at -- with some of our projects, yes. When we met -- we have met multiple times about this. First there was going to be a vertically integrated project. Then she was proposing six lots and then -- so, we had multiple pre-application meetings. The final design of this that was the last pre- application meeting was hand drawn. So, there wasn't anything for us to look at. So, when she submitted the application we were just going through and -- and there is things that are missing from the -- the plat that the applicant needs to revise. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: So, just so I understand the process, is it typical to reach this point in the process and, then, are you able to communicate with the applicant, hey, you know, you need to get some of these details finished up, maybe revise some exhibits, or did it just kind of run out of time or -- help me understand that -- that aspect? Hersh: Mr. Mayor, Madam Vice-President Strader, so there has been a lot of going back and forth with the applicant of the things that she needed to do. It basically boiled down to -- we are just taking it in and we can tell her what she needs to correct at that time. Strader: Thank you. I understand. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Stacy, first, I don't think we say this enough, appreciate your like comprehensive staff report. To Council Member Strader's questions, there is -- there are a lot of intangibles with this particular request and I appreciate the time and attention that you give to each one of them. Maybe a two part question, because we have got a couple of newer council members. I think maybe at least walking us through why, despite some of these things that are still missing, why staff is in favor of approval and, then, I do have a question specifically about the access, because it says that it's direct access via South Locust Grove was prohibited, but this is going to take access from South Locust Grove and when I -- when I read your staff report it looks like they are going to a common driveway, but I guess I'm struggling to see how that public drive -- or that common driveway wouldn't take access off a Locust Grove. Hersh: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Cavener, so I think with that we were just -- basically the existing house isn't going to have its own access off of -- and maybe it could have been Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 6 of 14 written more clear -- off of Locust Grove Road. Everyone is taking access off a common drive. So, that's to clarify that point. Cavener: Okay. As far as the items that need to be corrected, staff really thinks they are minor things that we see all the time on plats and final plats that are submitted in coming through the process. So, it really has just followed what we have been doing. As far as the garage and that's more of a bigger issue. We asked for the carport to remain and to adjust the lot lines, but as far as people leaving easements off and that sort of thing or not having the correct landscaping, that's normal. Cavener: Thank you. Simison: Council, any additional questions for staff? Would the applicant to come forward? Good evening. Can you state your name and address for the record, please. Either -- either one. Shea: Good evening. My name is Robin Shea and I have owned the property for 18 years and I have worked with Meridian Planning and Zoning to get this all put together and it has been a lengthy process. It's been incorporated into the ACHD road widening project. So, it was sorted through as we were working through the road widening project, which is now complete. That was true back in 2017. Initially I wanted to make it something different than what it is now and, then, I simplified it into a development that isn't requiring any zoning changes or -- it's not far reaching in what the end result is. My house is -- and there is a PowerPoint. Did you guys get a copy of that PowerPoint? I will just go ahead and talk about it. So, the house is the original farmhouse on the 160 acre section and it's all been whittled away since the year 1913 and I'm the last remaining original parcel. So, it's 1.344 acres in size, with full irrigation. We recently abandoned our well and septic. I abandoned the septic in 2007 and I abandoned the well in 2021. So, the house is currently connected to city services and it's in excellent condition. That house has been completely gutted and renovated. I did that in 2020. And so, then, as the road riding project took place that's when I worked with the surveyors and the engineers and the geo techs to create a super simple subdivision, which is a total of four lots. So, the existing house will remain. The six bay shop will be demolished. That's Lot No. 2. There is an old outbuilding that had been a bathroom and a washroom for the 160 acre farm. That will be demolished. That will be Lot No. 3. And, then, there is Lot No. 4, which I have already promised is for my daughter. And, then, there is a common lot and on that common lot it includes the driveway and, then, the floodplain of the irrigation ditch, as well as the easement for Nampa-Meridian Irrigation and, then, there is a landscape buffer that fronts Locust Grove and in that landscape buffer Ada County Highway District, when they did the road widening project, they put a permanent easement on my property, so a significant portion of that 25 foot landscape buffer sits within ACHD's road easement where they have got their ten foot sidewalk and so I'm left with kind of a minimal amount of space to landscape. The -- the property is 250 feet wide, so it has 250 feet of frontage on Locust Grove. Of that 250 feet Nine Mile Creek makes a corner, so there is a big bridge on my property for Nine Mile Creek, which is really just a water drainage and then -- then there is the area where Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 7 of 14 we are putting -- we will put in the picnic table and the mailboxes and -- and it's the common area for the neighborhood and, then, the four lots just make a little fan around there. I have worked with Nampa -- excuse me -- Meridian fire, who said I didn't need to put in a fire hydrant, but they did want it to be posted no parking so that the fire trucks can come in. They can get in easily. And the questions you were asking about things that were not completed prior to the staff report that was written on February 16th, everything is completed except for the change on the survey and the surveyor wanted me to do this meeting before he wrote all the easements for the utilities, because he wanted me to be approved before he took the time to write the easements, of the setbacks and the utility easements and nobody can build on the storm drain and things of that nature. And Stacy had put into her report that she wanted it to be stated on Lot No. 4, which backs up to Nine Mile Creek, that there would be a -- what's it called, a visibility fence. Great. That's the lot where my daughter lives. She wants a nicely fenced yard also. So, that visibility fence is no problem. It's already been drawn into the landscape plan. The landscape architect also added the table that Stacy had requested, as well as designating the landscape buffer for the city, which does sit on the ACHD easement and, then, tomorrow morning I walk the property with Nampa-Meridian Irrigation just to verify where they want us to have plants and not have plants, because they enlarged the bridge so much that it's -- their easement is three feet from the centerline of the canal and I think on my plat that we matched that 30 foot mark by designating Lot No. 4, but with that being said, I walk it tomorrow morning at 11 :00 with the gentleman from Nampa-Meridian Irrigation just to make sure I don't put any trees or bushes in their easement. Everything we are doing is a big improvement to what it's been. With it being a farm house with a six bay shop on an acre and a half, I have tenants with large trailers and I think it's pretty messy around there. So, it will look a lot better when this is all implemented and completed. Diamond Contractors is the company that will be bringing in all the infrastructure. Lumens is bringing in the high speed internet. We have got the joint trench with Idaho Power and Intermountain Gas. I'm not a developer. I graduated Meridian High. I'm completely local. I didn't want to sell my property to a developer, so I worked with the city to create something that, you know, I can pass down to my kids, since things are so exorbitant in prices, and I also steered away from high density residential, which a lot of people encouraged me to do, because I don't like looking at it myself. So, I'm building something that I would like to look at. So, hopefully, I have answered the questions and -- and the few things that were left undone on the 16th of February, they are -- they are all done except for the surveyor didn't want to draw up those easements for the utilities and the setbacks until after I had done this meeting and when he draws that he will also draw a garage pad for the existing house. I think we have answered your questions. Simison: All right. Thank you. Council, any additional questions for the applicant? Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 8 of 14 Strader: Thank you. I think I see where you are coming from. I appreciate you being a local resident, taking -- taking the process on and I think it's great. It sounds like -- I just want to make sure you are in agreement with the conditions in the staff report and, then, I want to check with you specifically regarding the required parking. So, staff is recommending that the existing garage be retained and that you retain -- sorry -- that you retain the existing carport and install a required parking pad. So, if you can just address that condition -- and the other conditions if you are in agreement with those, please. Shea: So, the way the house is currently designed there -- at the back of the house there is a covered patio and, then, the roof lines are connected and it goes from the covered patio to a carport. So, that carport currently is concrete and, then, in front of that carport currently is asphalt. So, there currently is four parking spaces with that carport. The problem is that that carport is too close to Lot No. 2. So, with the setbacks that the city requires we would have to peel back that carport. So, that, then, there is a 15 foot setback into Lot No. 4, even though they are all reasonably large lots. The lot size requirement was 8,000 square feet and we are close to I think 20,000 square feet, because the smallest lot is .24 acres. So, they are, essentially, third acre lots, except for the one smaller lot. So, they are big lots. But with that being said, so the six bay shop is being demolished. The tenants are very sad about that and the carport currently will remain while we get that concrete pad built in the yard of the existing house on Lot No. 1 and I'm not planning to pour a lot of concrete right there, I'm just planning to pour drive strips for the driveway and, then, the garage will sit there. So, we are -- the tenants are currently parking under a carport. While we are doing construction they can continue to park into that carport and while we are doing construction we will get that garage pad poured and, then, we have satisfied all the parking requirements that would be there. And, then, we will peel off that carport. So, when I'm selling the two remaining lots that carport wouldn't be there. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Just want to make sure I understand and I think we are going to need staff to help, too. So, it sounds like you are in agreement to retain the existing carport, which was one of staff's recommended conditions, and, then, you are also okay with installing a required parking pad in the future. It sounds to me like what staff is saying is that if you do something outside of that, that requires a CUP. Can staff, please, help clarify? Hersh: Mr. Mayor, Vice-President Strader, the applicant is basically wanting to not keep the carport and -- and build a garage eventually. So, the carport will stay and that time -- this is what we spoke about earlier today when her and I spoke on the phone. So she's actually going to come into full compliance and -- she doesn't need -- she needs a CUP if she gets rid of the carport. If she requested from City Council that she didn't want the carport and there was nothing for the cars to park under, other than a 20-by-20 parking pad. What we are saying is to prevent her from applying for a future CUP, that Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 9 of 14 she at least has to keep the car carport and a 20-by-20 parking pad. But she is going one step above and going to be installing a brand new garage for that house. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Yeah. So, just so I understand, considering that the applicant has a plan that's in compliance with our requirements, do you recommend that we have an additional condition as part of the approval if it's approved tonight? Is that -- is that part of staff's recommendation or help me understand kind of how -- how we are going to get from where we are at to make sure that we end up where we need to be. If she does something different she has to go through a CUP process; right? So, do we need a condition? Hersh: Mr. Mayor, Vice-President Council Woman Strader, so, she -- so, she if keeps the carport -- Strader: Okay. Hersh: So, essentially, in order to keep the carport and the 20-by-20 parking pad it's going to stay there, but she's decided to build a garage. So, therefore, she wouldn't need a CUP in how it's written, because she can add on to the property by keeping the carport, but she's doing one step better by adding a garage. So, if she were tonight to request removal of the carport completely and the garage, then, she would need a CUP to add onto the property. But she's eventually going to want to add a garage and get rid of the carport, so we are not going to require a CUP. And that's up to her. She can keep the -- the carport as it is now and the parking pad and, then, later on, once all of the utilities and everything are done, in the common lot decide to apply for a building permit for the garage and, then, remove the carport. But the garage has to be built prior to the carport being removed. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Just to make it super simple. So, it sounds like we don't need to add any additional conditions and just to check with the applicant, Mr. Mayor, if you will permit me. Simison: Yes. Strader: It sounds like you are in agreement with the staff report and you have a plan that doesn't require you to do this additional process. So, it sounds like you are in agreement with all of staff's conditions. Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 10 of 14 Shea: Correct. Strader: Fantastic. Thank you. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Is it Robin? Shea: Yes. Cavener: Robin, thanks for being here tonight. Shea: Uh-huh. Cavener: Not a question about your project -- and which I'm very much in support of and appreciate your work and your history in Meridian. Our process is largely geared towards professional development organizations. Shea: Yeah. Learned that. Yes. Cavener: That's why I tip my hat to you for doing the process on your own. That's that Meridian ingenuity we like to talk about. So, I appreciate that. That said I'm really proud of our Planning and Development Department, but as a citizen who has went through that process, do you have any feedback for the Council, context, things that went well, things that you think we need to be aware of from your perspective? And certainly we are not trying to get after anybody. I think that we are -- again, we are a community that's always looking to improve and not rest on our laurels and I think that your experience would be helpful for us as we look for ways that we can improve to be more accommodating to citizens like you who want to do this work on their own. Shea: It was a huge learning curve. I'm sure I'm not done with my learning curve. When they give a bulleted list it's explicit. I started out thinking it was vague. Stacy will attest. I did submit a hand drawn landscape plan, not realizing I needed to hire a landscape architect for it. So, every step required professionals, even if you know what you want to do. So, that was a learning curve for me. My property is flat. So, hiring a geo tech was kind of a mind blow for me. But we got her done. The city was wonderful. They really were. They did work with me. And, you know, I had a fire underneath me, because ACHD was doing the road widening and I really needed to get the city hookups in place while the road was torn up, because, otherwise, there would have been a five year moratorium on it. All I can say is that bullet list was really explicit and so I wish in the very beginning I had realized one by one I need to follow the line items exactly. Yeah. Cavener: Thank you. I appreciate you being here. Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 11 of 14 Shea: Certainly. Is that it? Simison: Council, any additional questions? Okay. Thank you very much. Shea: Thank you. Simison: Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone signed up to provide testimony on this item? Johnson: Mr. Mayor, we had a name listed, but they didn't mark they wanted to speak. Simison: Well, if there is anybody present who would like to provide testimony on this item, if you would like to come forward at this time or if you are online -- there is just staff. I don't think our staff wants to speak on this item. But if there is anybody present that would like to come forward please do so now. Not seeing anyone come forward, would the applicant like any final comments or do you waive closing? Do you need to come back up and say anything else? If not, you can just say I'm good and we are good. We can't have you speak from back there, but we can have the clerk run through it. Shea: I don't think I have any closing arguments or anything to say. I think that it's been explained what it is. But this PowerPoint that's maybe ten slides. It is -- it is informative. It is kind of helpful to just see the -- the details of what's to come. The surveyor, the engineer and the contractor are all ready to finalize it. One interesting thing was that with my 30 foot wide driveway it had always been 30 foot -- 30 feet wide and, then, when ACHD did their plan they reduced it down to 20 feet, much to my dissatisfaction and there was a lot of discussion about that driveway last year. ACHD made me engineer what they built. They made me hire the engineer to draw what ACHD had built and, then, they made me hire the engineer to draw what would be built for my development. They needed to show a before and after of what they had just done. And so I did -- I complied with everything that was asked of me. So, at any rate, can remove the power pole to facilitate that 30 foot driveway. We moved the hookup lines of water and sewer and the natural gas to facilitate that 30 foot driveway. We are putting in more trees than what is actually asked of us. You did ask about the mitigation of the two trees that are being removed and if you drove by the property you actually would probably ask me to, please, remove those trees. They are back behind the shop. They are Scotch pines that we have never watered. There was a tenant who had goats. Those trees are begging to not live there anymore. So, there is not really anything to do as far as mitigation. We are literally going to come in with a chainsaw and take down those trees and they are just going to fall on our wide open property back there. So, it's not complicated or the neighbors are all going to say thank you, because, then, we will put some nice trees there and we will take care of them. So, I think that's it. Simison: Well, I will just say -- I have been driving by this property for years. The impacts about them putting in the bridge really transformed your property and I'm not going to say good or bad, it just really made it -- made an eye opening different when they did that. It really impacted your property. Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 12 of 14 Shea: It did. That waterway's changed a lot. That waterway, you know, was super natural before and now it's much wider. They actually expanded the canal and, then, they put in all that infrastructure of the ginormous concrete wall and it's really well done and so I'm excited to landscape it, because it will all look really nice when it's completed. And, then, the other thing to note is behind the fence is the park for Sportsmen Pointe and so currently I'm -- I'm right beside the irrigation ditch and the kids from Sportsmen Pointe Subdivision travel that irrigation ditch bank and, you know, kind of walk through my property to get over to Mountain View High and, truthfully, when they put in the Nine Mile Creek ditch new bridge, they made that walkway a little bit better, because it was a little bit hairy scary in that one little spot. It will be great to eliminate the cinderblock building that had been the farm washroom, because kids do naughty things in that room, because their parents aren't around and they think nobody's watching. So, I'm really excited to eliminate that building. But I just think from an aesthetic perspective it's, essentially, been a contractor's yard the entire time I have owned it. I bought it from an excavator. He put that 1 .34 acres into a gravel lot and the six bay shop, which had been a farm shop, (ended itself to an excavator and I will say to all the tenants that I have had over the past 18 years, even if they don't have trailers when I rent to them, by the time they leave they all have trailers. They love that six bay shop. So, we are definitely changing the face of that property. It wasn't zoned to be a contractor's yard, but as long as somebody was living in the house and the shop was being used for their personal purposes it was within the zoning compliance, but now it won't be a high density neighborhood, but I think it will be a really attractive neighborhood and because my kids are going there it matters to me that it's an attractive neighborhood. So, having that irrigation ditch, having that walking path, having that park, making the fencing attractive, making the trees attractive, I think it will be a good thing for the city. Simison: Well, good luck with your conversation with Nampa-Meridian. I'm very curious to see how -- their viewpoints on what you would like to put there. Shea: I think they are going to tell me just to honor that 30 feet and plant as much as I want as long as I don't get within that 30 feet and they made the ditch so big that that's easy to accomplish. Simison: Okay. Shea: Yeah. Simison: All right. Council, any additional questions? All right. Thank you very much. Shea: Thank you. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 13 of 14 Cavener: I move that we close the public hearing on Item No. 1, SHP-2023-0003. Strader: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to close the public hearing. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the public hearing is closed. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: I love this. The community continues to get bigger and bigger. We still have this kind of small town approach and credit staff with working with the applicant and, Robin, for your passion for our community and the history. This is a fun one. There is always something new with the City Council. So, Mr. Mayor, I move that we approve Item No. 1, SHP-2023-0003, as presented on the staff report for February 27th. Include all staff and applicant testimony. Strader: Second. Simison: Have a motion and a second to approve Item SHP-2023-0003. Is there any discussion? If not, Clerk will call the roll. Roll Call: Borton, absent; Cavener, yea; Strader, yea; Overton, yea; Little Roberts, yea; Taylor, yea. Simison: All ayes. Motion carries and the item is agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. FUTURE MEETING TOPICS Simison: Thank you and good luck. All right. We -- our next item up is future meeting topics. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: Just a suggestion. There has been some back and forth with staff and with some constituents that have been trying to work through challenges near the Challenger school. Kind of a situation where we have a private road and a private development and it's not technically a roadway, but where -- it might be beneficial I think after we Meridian City Council February 27,2024 Page 14 of 14 resolve that issue to have staff make recommendations for conditions to future development agreements, so we could avoid similar unsafe situations for students. So, I was just hoping we could get a short -- maybe like a five minute update from staff once you have had a chance to work through that, if they have any takeaways for us from a broader perspective. Simison: Thank you. With that a motion. Strader: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Strader. Strader: If there are no other future meeting topics, I move that we adjourn. Simison: Motion to adjourn. All in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it, we are adjourned. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 5:34 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) 3 / 12 / 2024 MAYOR ROBERT E. SIMISON DATE APPROVED ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK