HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-10-14 Erik MacDonald (2)
Charlene Way
From:Dave Miles
Sent:Tuesday, October 14, 2025 4:13 PM
To:Erik MacDonald
Cc:Clerks Comment; citycouncil; Mayor Office Feedback; Bruce Freckleton; Bill Parsons;
Bill Nary
Subject:RE: Oct 14 Drive-Thru Proposal from Bill Parsons
Erik,
Thank you for reaching out and sharing your email and we appreciate you sharing your thoughts about the UDC
text amendments application. Because this text amendment language is part of an open application, the Mayor
and City Council members are prohibited from commenting outside of the public hearing.
With that, we take public feedback seriously and want you to know that we have received your email and have read
your comments. Your email has been forwarded to our City Clerk for inclusion in the public record and I know that
the Clerks department has also already responded to you sharing that information. That said, I appreciate your
comments and can understand your perspective, however, there is (and has been) zero intention from staff to
allow any developer to side-step processes.
If you are interested in additional context, this application and the referenced text amendments have been an
ongoing application for some time and were not tied to, nor part of any other development project including the
Ten Mile Rd. In-N-Out application or efforts. This UDC text amendment application (including the drive-thru
elements) were discussed twice with the public UDC Focus Group in mid-2024. The recommendations from the
Group were then first brought to the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) on June 20, 2024, and then to City
Council on August 13, 2024. Given Council feedback then, additional draft edits were made and those were then
brought back to P&Z on June 26, 2025 and then to City Council again on August 12, 2025. At that time, City Council
again asked for more evaluation of the proposed amendments which is what is scheduled on tonight’s agenda.
Sincerely,
Dave Miles | Chief of Staff
City of Meridian | Mayor’s Office
33 E. Broadway Ave., Meridian, Idaho 83642
Phone: (208) 489-0532|Fax: (208) 884-8119
Built for Business, Designed for Living
All e-mail messages sent to or received by City of Meridian e-mail accounts are subject to the Idaho law,
in regards to both release and retention, and may be released upon request, unless exempt from disclosure by law
From: Erik MacDonald <eamacdon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2025 1:41 PM
To: Brian Whitlock <bwhitlock@meridiancity.org>
Cc: Clerks Comment <comment@meridiancity.org>; citycouncil <citycouncil@meridiancity.org>; Mayor Office Feedback
<MayorOfficeFeedback@meridiancity.org>
Subject: Oct 14 Drive-Thru Proposal from Bill Parsons
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Meridian City Council Members,
Thank you for your support and ‘no’ vote in denying the In-N-Out application, we in Bainbridge are incredibly
thankful for your voice and support. Having a Costco and an In-N-Out in the same location is a recipe for
chaos and late night loud mufflered cars and music right inside the neighborhood and through the Lost Rapids
to Tree Farm road connector that goes through the middle of our sub-division.
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Also, I just read that THIS EVENING OCT 14, the city planner is presenting a proposal to “simplify” the drive
thru permitting process, which may remove the city council from approving fast food restaurants and going
through the conditional use permit! This is a bad idea and unacceptable, there’s a reason we have a city
council and public input for situations just like the In-N-Out location request. Allowing one person (un-elected)
to make restaurant location decisions is not democratic and can easily lead to abuse and influence from the
developers. I’m assuming this is being done so the developer can side step the city council and their decision
(voted down twice!) to deny the In-N-Out application for the Chinden/Ten Mile location… I encourage you to
vote no in allowing Bill Parsons the ability to “make drive-thru approvals at the staff level” and remove public
input and city council’s ability to manage locations and growth.
Thank you for your time,
Erik MacDonald
From: Brian Whitlock <bwhitlock@meridiancity.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2025 7:58 AM
To: Brian Whitlock <bwhitlock@meridiancity.org>
Subject: In-N-Out Decision
Dear neighbor –
As you may know by now, the Meridian City Council voted 5-1 last night to deny the application from In-
N-Out to build a new restaurant at the corner of Lost Rapids and Ten Mile.
I appreciated hearing from you and many others who were concerned about this proposal. Throughout
the Planning and Zoning and City Council process, you and others were able to articulate the issues that
ultimately did not warrant the approval of a conditional use permit for this project.
Thank you for weighing in and being part of the process!
Sincerely,
Brian Whitlock, District 1
Meridian City Council
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