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Home My WebLink AboutPZ - DevCo Response to staff comments 8.14.24 DEVCOLL, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT August 14, 2024 City of Meridian Planning Division 33 E. Broadway Ave Meridian, ID 83642 Dear Planning Staff: This is a written response to staff's comments 8.6.24 to our Skyranch development application. Comment 12: Existing Development Agreement: Per the existing development agreement, Section 5, 5.1.6 states the following: If a rezone application is submitted in the future,the City' s Comprehensive Plan and Future Land/ Use Map designation for the subject property will be considered when determining if a rezone is appropriate. The FLUM identifies parcels S1131336050 and S1131336031 as Mixed-Use Regional (MU-R).The purpose of this designation is to provide a mix of employment, retail, residential dwellings, and public uses near major arterial intersections.The intent is to integrate a variety of uses together, including residential, and to avoid predominantly single use developments such as a regional retail center with only restaurants and other commercial uses. Sample zoning for this zone include R-15, R-40,TN-C, C-G, and M-E. The city annexed those parcels in 2016 and zoned them R-4. (Medium Density Residential). We request that these parcels be rezoned R-15,which staff cites as an acceptable zone for parcels designated MU- RG in the FLUM. If you are asserting that the property to south will be all commercial, you will need to provide a concept plan showing how the commercial portion integrates with what you are proposing. Preliminary talks with the owner of those properties indicate that they envision a commercial development. We don't own the parcel to the south, so any concept plan we submit would be purely speculative on our part as that owner might have different ideas.The existing zoning(R-4) and comprehensive plan designation (MU-RG) will apply when that owner submits a development plan. 4824 W. Fairview Ave. • Boise,Idaho•83706 208.336.5355 Revise your plat map for parcels S1131336050 and S1131336031 to meet the MU-RG requirements as discussed at the preapplication meeting for this project. We have followed the intent of the Meridian Comprehensive Plan in designing this development and relied on the Plan's Section 1-8, Using this Document as a guide.The Comprehensive Plan is not a parcel-by-parcel guide but rather a vision for the region.The plan envisions this region to be mixed-use due to the intersection of Hwy 69/Meridian Road and Lake Hazel Road, and,to that effect, has designated over 219 acres in this area as mixed-use (MU-RG). The Comprehensive Plan states that mixed-use (MU-RG) is to have a significant residential component. "Residential uses are expected to comprise between 10%and 30%of the development area, with gross densities ranging from 6 to 40 units/acre(of the residential area)." The proposed Skyranch Neighborhood in the MU-RG would cover only 11%of the 219 acres, have a 6.5 unit/acre density, and comply with the Comprehensive Plan's vision. It will serve as part of the required residential component but still allow future regional developments to have a significant residential component with over 40 acres remaining. I willir Sk Ranch 25 Ac. 79 Ac. 11.5% 9 Ac. omm i 41 Ac. 65 Ac. T� Mixed Use Regional 219 Total Acres Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 2 We have explored numerous options to build a commercial development. After discussions with commercial real estate experts and site locators,we determined that the site is problematic as a mixed- use development because it lacks frontage visibility and access to HWY 69. Idaho Transportation Department will deny all access to the highway unless it is at the mile and mid- mile points. Unfortunately,frontage access, which is crucial to commercial success, is not possible. ----------- 14 Li 1. k 0 Full Access Intersection No Access O Limited Access Right-in, Right-out N - .d Future -- Commercial U-turn In addition,the Rawson Canal prevents access to the intersection at HWY 69 and E Lake Hazel Road and limits visibility, which is also crucial for commercial use. The two commercially viable parcels south of Rawson Canal, which are approximately nine acres and have access to HWY 69 and E Lake Hazel, will still be able to develop as commercial properties. Preliminary talks with the owner of those properties indicate that they envision a commercial development. Comment 11: Wastewater Modeling *Must provide 12 inch line to S1406212500 *Must provide 8-inch line to S1131346750, S1131346650 and S1131346850 Please clarify this comment. We are assuming this is for the 12" water line? Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 3 Comment 13: Your narrative does not clearly describe the modification you want to make to the existing development agreement. Please revise and be clear on the changes. We propose to discard and replace the original development agreement, similar to the Windrow Development. Parcels#S1131336050 and S1131336031 are zoned R-4 and have already been annexed into the city. We are requesting to rezone those R-4 parcels to the R-15. Comment 14: The rezone document should show the rezone going to the center line of S. Meridian Road and E. Lake Hazel Road. Revise the drawing and resubmit. Attached is a new rezone document. Comment 15: Provide the articles of incorporation for parcel#S1131346925 stating you have the authority to sign off on the property. Attached is the Affidavit of Legal Interest for C4 Land LLC. Please clarify your comment. Parcel#S1131346925 is owned by C4 Land LLC, which we represent. We didn't provide articles of incorporation for the other parcels (Hubbard 1 LCC and Eagle 1 LLC)that we represent. This item was not provided because it is not on the City of Meridian Checklist for Preliminary Plats, Annexation, or Development Agreements, which are the applications we are applying for. https://meridiancity.org/com m unity-development/planning/current-pla nning/a pplications-a nd-checklists/ Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 4 Comment 16: Per the comprehensive plan, R-15 allows for a mix of dwelling types including townhouses, condominiums, and apartments. It appears that you are only proposing single family detached homes. Revise the building concept plans to show a mix of housing to meet the comprehensive plan objectives. The purpose of the R-15 zoning is not for just single-family detached homes, it is for a mixed of housing types, mainly attached. The Skyranch development has two comprehensive plan designations, Mixed Use Regional and Medium High Density. 1) Mixed Use Regional The Comprehensive Plan (Section 3-23) states that Mixed Use Regional's "sample zoning includes: R-15, R-40,TN-C, C-G, and M-E"so R-15 is an acceptable zone for property designated Mixed Use Regional. The UDC established R-15 to be the zone consistent with the Comprehensive Plan for Medium High- Density Residential (11-2A-1) Comprehensive Plan (Section 3-12) Medium High-Density Residential This designation allows for a mix of dwelling types, including townhouses, condominiums, and apartments. We comply with the Comprehensive Plan,which allows for but doesn't require a mix of housing types in the Medium High-Density Residential (R-15). Please clarify where the Comprehensive Plan or the UDC states that "the purpose of R-15 zoning is not for iust single-family detached homes, it is for a mixed of housing types, mainly attached." 2) Medium High Density Residential The UDC established R-15 to be the zone consistent with the Comprehensive Plan for Medium High- Density Residential (11-2A-1) Comprehensive Plan (Section 3-12) Medium High-Density Residential This designation allows for a mix of dwelling types, including townhouses, condominiums, and apartments. We comply with the Comprehensive Plan,which allows for but doesn't require a mix of housing types in the Medium High-Density Residential (R-15). Please clarify where the Comprehensive Plan or the UDC states that "the purpose of R-15 zoning is not for iust single-family detached homes, it is for a mixed of housing types, mainly attached." Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 5 Comment 17: Revise your block face length exhibit and show the length of all the roads. Block lengths need to be measured on both sides of the street. Some of the roadways extend the 750 allowed block length. Per UDC 11-6C-3F.5, block face shall be measured from the near edge of right-of-way to near edge of right- of-way of streets and/or alleys as appropriate. Some of your block face lengths do not go the edge of the right-of-way. Per the staff's request,we followed UDC 11-6C-3F5 to create a new block-length exhibit. The longest block is 608 feet. We will work with ACHD to provide any traffic calming measures that they may require. Comment 18: Mailbox placement.The applicant shall provide a letter from the United States Postal Service stating that the mailbox location(s) for the development has been approved. Submit letter from post office. This item was not provided because it is not on the City of Meridian Checklist for Preliminary Plats, Annexation, or Development Agreements, which are the applications we are applying for. https://meridiancity.org/community-development/planning/current-planning/applications-and-checklists/ Comment 19: Show all utility easements including PUDI easements. This item was not provided because it is not on the City of Meridian Checklist for Preliminary Plats, Annexation, or Development Agreements, which are the applications we are applying for. https://meridiancity.org/community-development/planning/current-planning/applications-and-checklists/ In the past, we have provided PUDI easements only on Final Plats. Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 6 Comment 20: The lot for the existing home has frontage on two streets. Please revise the plans to remove on the of street frontages. The current access point for the existing home is Tarega Lane, and they will maintain the same access point on Street D.The rear of the existing home's property abuts Street H. There are two options 1) If that satisfies the staff's concerns,we can move the cul-de-sac to the west and create a common lot with landscaping to serve as a buffer with the existing home.The common lot would be between Block 5, lot 45 and lot 36. The downside of this option is that the Homeowners Association will own the new common lot. If the owner of the existing home attempts to develop in the future and wants to extend the street H across this property to connect to Street E,the owner will need the new common lot,which the HOA will control, and they might not allow it. Move the Cul de ,�z. Sac to the west ' � �, I U and create a eLOCK s '11 common lot =' [ ---sTReET ri—New Common Lol . ..••• r ....... ...... Possible Future Road C+ 2) To protect the existing home's property rights, we could allow the existing house to have frontage on two streets.This is common in the City of Meridian when one street is a dead end, like the cul de sac Street H. Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 7 Comment 21: Lot 13, Block 5 abuts two common driveways. Staff would like to see a redesign of this area. maybe open space where Lot 13 currently resides and Lot 13 accessing the common drive (lot 19). Please clarify your comment. Lot 13, Block 5 is approximately 200 feet from Lot 19 (common drive), with residential Lots 15 & 18 between them. Vehicles at Lot 13, Block 5 will access the street network by using the common drive (Lot 14).The rear of the property doesn't abut the common drive (Lot 36), as it will have a six-foot vinyl fence and landscaping as a barrier between it and the home at Lot 13. - - - STREET H - - - 27 2E 29 30 31 32 33 34 33 36 39 BLOCK 5 I 33 fa +s 13 I I 37 + 19 —— + + 1fi 14 12 I + 11 • _ _ _ _ 1D 9 8 7 6 :I ZI r STREET - m m The Skyranch Neighborhood Development provides 7.49 acres of open space (17.1%), plus another 0.72 acres of non-qualifying open space (0.72%).This exceeds the City Code of 15%open space. Benari Neighborhood-Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 8 Comment 23: Staff has concerns regarding the location of the sports court being close to E. Lake Hazel Road. Relocating it away from Lake Hazel to the open space at the corner of Street K and N would be more appropriate for safety reasons. Please clarify your comment. Please specify the safety standard in the municipal code that you are referring to so that we comply with it. Public safety is paramount for our residents and drivers along Lake Hazel Road. To that end, we have designed the pickleball court with the following safety features. • It is located over 110 feet from Lake Hazel Road. • A four-foot earthen berm with a six-foot vinyl fence at the crest, for a total of 10 feet, surrounding the courts on the south and west sides. • The area between Lake Hazel Road and the pickleball court berm/fence will be landscaped with evergreen trees (Karl Fuchs Cedar, Gold Cone Cedar, Norway Spruce, Layered Colorado Blue Spruce,Taylor Juniper, Weeping White Spruce, and Vanderwolf Pine).These trees have a mature height of between 20-30 ft. Vanderwolf pine has a mature height of 40 feet, Layered Colorado Blue Spruce has a mature height of 60 feet, and Norway Spruce can reach 80 feet. REEN B TREE(TYP) I H BLOCK 1 W Y 1 32 31 F r 4'eart en bean `^ 6'vinyl fence Total feet LAN ,r i E30UL DE %F (Tl'P) r Evengreen .. ., Trees Lake Hazel Road The pickleball courts are popular amenities and provide four amenity points to the project. The project has 30 amenity points, while the city code only requires nine points. If the staff insists,we can remove the pickleball courts. Without the courts,the project's amenities would still greatly exceed the City's requirements. Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 9 Comment 24: The parcels that abut the properties to the north of the proposed plat need to be larger to integrate with the future zoning designation of low and medium density residential. Revise your plan to show the larger lots. The current Meridian Comprehensive Plan designates parcel #S1131336050 to be Mixed Use -Regional (MU-RG), directing abutting the neighboring Low-Density Residential parcel#R7824220180. Currently, #R7824220180 is a vacant lot with no homes. MU-RG is very intensely use and allows for 40 units/acre plus retail and non-retail commercial uses. By requesting to rezone this parcel to residential (R-15) with only 6.5 units/acre,we are downsizing considerably to integrate with the neighboring low-density residential parcels. We are sacrificing significant density and housing units to be good neighbors. Rezoning parcel#S11331336050 to residential (R-15) is the best way to integrate into the existing community. Low Density Residential #S113133fi050 Mixed-Use Regional 40 DU/AC V #R784220180 F -w p Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 10 Future Solution The planning principle of transitions of land use intensity is an important one that we take seriously. Land use intensity and density should change gradually in both directions. The existing fifteen-home neighborhood of Shafer View is located on Ada County land and is zoned Rural Urban Transition (RUT). Properties in Shafer View range from 0.7 acres to 1.7 acres. The existing residents of Shafer View should expect that the city and county follow good planning principles and that neighboring parcels will be similar in density and intensity. Fortunately, the Shafer View Terraces development, directed to the north of the Shafer View neighborhood, offers a perfect example of land use transition.The City annexed and rezoned Shafer View Terraces in June of 2021. Parcels there range from 0.218 to 0.5 acres. Luckily, parcel#R7824220180 is vacant land. In keeping with best land use practices,this parcel should be rezoned R-4 with lot sizes similar to those of Shafer View Terraces to serve as a transition. Shafer View Terrace(R-4) Annexed into the City in 2021 h Existing Shafer View Neighborhood(RUT) {9 Ada County Future rezone to R-4 and annexation Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 11 If this were to happen,then the land use density along Meridian Road would be: 7 -77 Y Prevail Neighborhood(R-8) 5.63 DU/AC Annexed into the City in 2021 T1Shafer View Terraces(R-4) 1.73 D U/AC CD Annexed into the City in 2021 I Hk I Existing Shafer View Neighborhood(RUT) 0.7-1.7 DU/AC 0 Ada County Q ! Vacant Land-could be rezone to R-4 — Proposed Skyranch(R-15) 6.5 DU/AC Land Use Density DU/AC 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Prevail Shafer View Shafer View Vacant Land Proposed Max Density Terraces R7824220180 Skyranch allowed in MU-R This is a textbook example of the transition of land use density. Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 12 The Meridian Comprehensive Plan designates the properties to the north of our proposed plat (parcels #51131346750,#S1131346700,#S1131346830, #S1131346850) as Medium Density Residential. Our parcels (#51131346925,#51131346935,#51131347001) are designated Medium High-Density Residential in the Plan. We request that they be rezoned to Medium High-Density Residential R-15 to comply with the Comprehensive Plan. These are comparable residential densities adjacent to each other. T-� i j Medium Density Residential `; ; Medium-High Density Residential Sincerely, Laren Bailey, MRCP Benari Neighborhood—Phase 1 Final Plat DevCo LLC,Real Estate Development Page 13