HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-04-01 Raymond Spencer
Charlene Way
From:raymond spencer <imrspencer@yahoo.com>
Sent:Tuesday, April 1, 2025 4:22 PM
To:Clerks Comment
Subject:Latitude 43 Subdivision hearing #H-2024-0059
External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments.
Hello to whom it may concern:
My name is Ray Spencer. I am a resident of the Woodbridge neighborhood, living at 600 S Woodhaven
Ave.
Our property backs up to the proposed Latitude 43 Subdivision directly to the East of us.
I have reviewed the proposal materials presented to the city regarding the Latitude 43 Subdivision
Hearing on 4/3/2025 and have some comments and questions.
A quick note about the Woodbridge neighborhood- It has an immersive quality of scale - Lots of trees,
smaller roads, undulating topography, tighter curves and compression that gives it sort of a “fairy
tale” neighborhood feel -
Residents have worked hard to cultivate and build upon this legacy to create and maintain a truly special
and unique place to live. Woodbridge is much different than many of the rectangular plan, wide street
“grid” type neighborhoods that are more common in residential developments.
Naturally we want to preserve and protect what we have worked so hard to maintain.
I do have some comments and concerns about this project and it's potential impact on the Woodbridge
Neighborhood
1: Traffic- The major ingress and egress to the Latitude Subdivision will come off of Magic Way going east
to and from Eagle Rd., which gets backed up frequently especially during rush hours so that one can
spend more than one stoplight cycle at Allen and Eagle Rd. waiting for the light and traffic to clear. We
are very concerned that additional traffic from the Latitude 43 Subdivision, as a result of this congestion,
will route itself through Woodbridge to the West to get to Locust Grove to avoid the Eagle
Rd bottleneck. This would create safety , noise and congestion issues in the Woodbridge neighborhood,
which it is not built to handle. It seems there should be a second entry/ /exit to this proposed
development to the South so Latitude 43 residents can safely and easily have better access to their
neighborhood and Woodbridge does not become an unsafe raceway during high traffic times.
2: Proper site grading and drainage- It looks like the project lots will be graded at a higher elevation than
our lots that back up to the Latitude 43 project. Our concern is that water runoff and intrusion from
Latitude 43 could flow into our yards (downhill) if not graded properly, and without the proper permanent
drainage created to avoid this. We can’t afford to have flooding into our yards and basements as result of
poor water management from Latitude 43 that may create harmful and expensive problems for
Woodbridge residents. Respectfully we would like to be guaranteed proper and permanent drainage and
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water intrusion mitigation so that everyone involved in both developments are confidently protected
from potential problems in the future.
3: Sightlines and visual intrusion- we are concerned that our backyard neighbors' homes will be
compressed against our property lines and become looming and uncomfortable visual screens that do
not match the ambience created in our neighborhood. This goes both ways- the Latitude 43 residents
also should not be compressed against our development and be forced to stare at our homes. We
respectfully ask for a written assurance of a building setback from our rear adjoining property lines that
state that the homes adjacent to Woodbridge will be one story at 20’ minimum setback to help mitigate
visual intrusion. Also, in this regard, see item #4 below regarding backyard fencing.
4: Fence exhibit- On the fence exhibit drawing, it states the existing fence (our backyard fence) on the
West side of the development property will remain.This fence is irregular and unsightly at best, many
parts not maintained and It has come to my attention that this fence meanders n plan not strictly
adhering to property surveys, undulates with the terrain and certainly will not be consistent with the new
grading of the proposed development. In light of this the developer should install a proper new perimeter
fence that looks, respects and compliments the existing Woodbridge fencing and will allow both sides of
the fence to enjoy their respective yards in privacy and integrity. Because of the grading differential
between the development and Woodbridge, it is important that this fence must be tall enough on the
Woodbridge side to create a visual screen from our new neighbors in Latitude 43.
Further examination and design must be evaluated to ensure privacy on both sides of the fence.
5: Landscaping: The landscape plans are simplistic and somewhat minimal at this point. I would impress
upon the developer to please carefully develop and be proactive with landscaping. Many developers
simply put the minimum number of trees and planting in common spaces in an uninspiring grid: this
results in flat and sparse developments that are far too common in Meridian. With some effort and
attention the developer has the opportunity to create a truly unique and special place that reflects not
only on the development but also the developer. A proper and well thought out landscape plan is often
the overlooked key. Please do your diligence in this regard , both developer and city council members.
Meridian could benefit greatly in look and appearance as a city if projects would create a strong and
unique landscape plan as part of the development.
Thank you for considering these issues and their impacts as this project moves forward,
Ray Spencer
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