HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-10-20 Kathi Crowley1
Chris Johnson
From:Lucas Cavener
Sent:Monday, October 20, 2025 12:30 PM
To:Chris Johnson
Subject:Fw: thoughts on growth and pine avenue
From: Kathi Crowley <kacrowley1@outlook.com>
Sent: Monday, October 20, 2025 12:27:25 PM
To: Lucas Cavener <lcavener@meridiancity.org>
Subject: thoughts on growth and pine avenue
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Dear Councilmember Cavener,
I appreciate your recent opposition to the three story town homes the council approved near Mountain View High
School. The council approved rezoning that land from commercial to residential and approved the development of 75
town homes crammed behind a pre-school and less than 100 yards from the Mountain View football stadium. Very poor
planning. The football stadium is frequently loud with music, band practice, football games, track meets – which as
nearby neighbors we enjoy – but we’re not located right next to the stadium. (I sure hope the developer of these town
homes will be required to disclose to future owners or tenants that noise will be a seasonal issue so that the city isn’t
fielding noise complaint calls.) You cited traffic on Overland Road as a consideration when you opposed that
development and you are correct. Overland Road will soon rival Eagle Road as the most congested in the region.
Tomorrow the council will consider yet another rezone and development request for land on Pine Avenue between
Locust Grove and Eagle Roads. The land is currently zoned as mostly commercial and it appears the request is an
ambitious one requesting rezoning the area to allow for fairly large-scale apartment/town house development along
with restaurants/entertainment and possibly some commercial buildings. I oppose the proposal for several
reasons: The Village is less than a mile away and it offers restaurants/entertainment, housing/apartments and is slated
for future apartment growth. The area at 10 Mile and Highway 84 is only a few miles away and will be developed to
include apartments, town homes, restaurants, entertainment and other types of attractions. Why would the city need
yet another community that mirrors those which already exist? Which types of restaurants and community attractions
would be located at the Pine Avenue development and would they stand the test of time? Are they unique offerings or
yet another McDonalds or yogurt shop?
While the Pine Avenue proposal is smaller in scale than The Village and the 10 Mile development, it truly is a small
replica of the two. Locust Grove and Eagle Roads are becoming increasingly more crowded and adding this type of
development on Pine Avenue will add to the increasingly untenable driving conditions on two of Meridian’s main
roadways. It’s difficult to discern if the urban planning team in Meridian consistently takes into account that Meridian is
a drive through city. Residents of the cities of Kuna, Boise, Eagle, Star, and Nampa drive through Meridian every day to
reach their homes and businesses. Meridian residents sustain longer periods of insufferable traffic as the roads in
Meridian are crammed with Treasure Valley residents travelling through the city. Each new development considered in
Meridian should always account for the fact surrounding cities are growing too which will add even more cars on
Meridian roadways. (I’ve often wondered if the urban planners in these cities ever coordinate since it doesn’t appear
so. Boise builds high density apartments/town homes at the borders of Meridian and then shortly thereafter, Meridian
approves high density within a mere mile or two of the Boise developments.)
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A last point on the Pine Avenue request; why does the city of Meridian have a comprehensive growth plan if we
frequently rezone/amend the plan? The city spent considerable time on the plan which included various city
stakeholders. The land on Pine Avenue was not zoned for the development being requested. It was not envisioned to
be home to the elements in this proposed plan and probably for good reason. The parties who created the
comprehensive plan may have looked at that location and recognized the constrained nature of that roadway and knew
anything other than commercial uses would negatively impact the surrounding area and roads.
Quality of life in communities isn’t tied only to schools, water supply, and roads that can accommodate multiple daily
auto trips. Quality of life in a region is also tied to access to services. Wait times to see a specialist physician in the
Treasure Valley is months and many months for certain specialties. Some veterinary practices have stopped taking new
patients because their patient load is bursting. Accessing one of the reputable independent auto shops in Meridian now
requires weeks of waiting. Who is accessing these aspects of quality of life for current residents as we keep building and
building? At some point the growth will slow down and likely sooner rather than later as people learn moving to Idaho
means less access to skilled and quality services – because the wait times are too long.
It’s exciting and fun to be part of a planning team overseeing growth. I’ve worked for one of the largest developers of
residential, retail, commercial, and resort communities in the country. We had 8 cities and one large urban county in
which we owned land and built communities. We knew which cities demanded interesting architecture, walking paths
through communities, open space, large set-backs from the street and other features that would age well and uplift the
appearance of the city. We knew which cities operated under restraint because they didn’t want to explode with
growth only to regret years later ill-conceived developments. The cities that did stand the test of time and are still
attractive, unique, and fairly easy to drive around are the ones who had the discipline to adhere to their long-term
comprehensive plans despite pressure from developers to rezone and build, build, build.
My hope is Meridian will be a city that stands the test of time. It requires vision and restraint.
Thank you for your time.
Kathi Crowley