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Sheree Finch
From:
Sent:
To:
Robert Knawa [rknawa@cableone.net]
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 12:05 PM
Sheree Finch
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Subject: Pammy Cakes Childcare - Condition Use Permit
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To the City of Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission:
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Commission,
In the matter of the Pamela Minshew application for a Conditional Use Permit for a group daycare
for up to 12 children for Pammy Cakes Childcare at 672 E Baldwin Street, Bedford Place
subdivision, to be considered at your public hearing at Meridian City Hall on Thursday, December 7,
2006,
I oppose the City of Meridian P&Z Commission approval of a Conditional Use Permit that will result in
a child-care business being conducted within a residential neighborhood for the following reasons:
Safety - Contrary to the requirements of City of Meridian Unified Development Code provision 11-4-
3.9:A.2., vehicle pickup, turnaround, and parking areas are not adequately available at this quiet,
neighborhood street location.
Increased traffic, up to 48 vehicle trips per day for customer deliveries/pickups plus a number of
additional vehicle trips per day for employees and service personnel at this location, will raise the
traffic-safety-hazard level to an unacceptable level for existing residents and their children along
Baldwin Street and in the adjacent neighborhood.
Further, a neighbors' meeting was recently conducted by the Minshews, at which representatives of the
Bedford Place Homeowners Association Board of Directors and several nearby property owners
expressed their dismay at the Minshew purchase ofthis residential property specifically and precisely
for a commercial purpose, and plainly stated their vehement opposition to the proposal for a day care
facility in this quiet Meridian subdivision.
Noise - In addition to early-morning and evening noise created by increased traffic (parents dropping
off children and hurrying off to work), children playing outdoors in a concentrated location will disturb
the peace of nearby neighbors. The aggregate of such noise did not exist when adj acent residents chose
to purchase property in Bedford Place, as noise can create an unpleasant neighborhood environment.
The existence of this type of business has the potential for lowering neighborhood property values.
Precedent - Bedford Place has restrictions, covenants, and conditions that are attached to these
neighborhood properties. Property owners are legally bound to abide by these requirements, which do
not allow the operation of business in residences, especially those whose conduct would necessitate
commercial customer traffic or posting of commercial signs to identify the business location. Approval
of the Pamela Minshew application for a Conditional Use Permit would demonstrate P&Z Commission
disregard and contempt for legally established restrictive subdivision covenants.
If the City of Meridian approves the application for Pammy Cakes Childcare at 672 E Baldwin Street, it
could have the effect of establishing a precedent for P&Z Commission approval of commercial business
being conducted in residential neighborhoods anywhere in Meridian. Tax-paying citizens could lose the
peace and stability of Meridian's residential areas - a significant reason why many came to Meridian,
partly to escape similar problems in other cities where restrictions against businesses in residential areas
11/28/2006
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do not exist or are not enforced.
P&Z Commission approval of Pammy Cakes Childcare at 672 E Baldwin Street in Bedford Place would
be a step toward setting a harmful and damaging precedent for the City of Meridian and should be
denied without further consideration or appeal. I further request that the Commission recommend to the
City Council that restrictive neighborhood covenants be honored where they exist, and that commercial
enterprises not be allowed in any established residential neighborhood within the City of Meridian
unless they are private work-from-home activities of an individual homeowner conducted by electronic
communication.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert L. Knawa
2584 SE 5th Way
Meridian, ID 83642
208.898.9009
11/28/2006