HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ - Narrative HAWKINS
December 15, 2025
City of Meridian
Community Development, Planning Division
33 E. Broadway Ave.
Meridian, Idaho 83642
Re: 5900 W Ustick Rd. CPAM, Annexation, and Rezone Application Narrative
Dear Sonya, Caleb, Bill, Carl, the Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission, and City
Council:
We are excited to submit our application for a Comprehensive Plan Map Amendment,
Annexation, and Zoning for a 4-acre parcel located on the northeast corner of the
McDermott Bypass and Ustick Rd. We are proposing up to 4 community-scale commercial
users on this corner. We are proposing to amend the Comprehensive Plan FLUM to
Commercial and zone the parcel to Community Commercial(C-C).
Uses of the property could include uses allowed within the C-C zone such as a gas station,
restaurant, coffee shop, oil change facility, car wash, bank, or other community-serving
commercial uses. Hawkins understands thatthere will be subsequent applications required
to permit certain land uses to assess specific impacts of specific uses (eg. CUP for drive-
through uses near other drive-throughs or residential uses).
This narrative will include 3 components. It will:
1) Make the argument for commercial development on this corner.
2) Demonstrate that residential uses are better suited for other locations in the area,
rather than on this corner.
3) Describe why the time is right to approve commercial uses here now, as opposed to
waiting until the surrounding area has developed.
Justification for Commercial/Retail Development
There are many reasons that Commercial/Retail development on the NE corner of Ustick
and McDermott Roads truly benefits the surrounding community.
855 West Broad Street, Suite 300, Boise, Idaho 83702-7154 1 208.376.8522 1 hcollc.com
• Location Adjacent to Highway 16: Ustick Road is 1 of 2 access locations between
US20/26 (Chinden Blvd) and Interstate-84. Highway 16 is a $600,000,000 taxpayer
investment in enhanced automotive travel and is estimated to accommodate 95,000
vehicles by 2040. The best place to put auto-oriented uses in the Treasure Valley(if
increased convenience and reduction in vehicle miles traveled are goals) is
immediately adjacent to an auto-oriented thoroughfare.
• Reduces Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT): Placing essential services between
Highway 16 and residential developments will decrease the need for residents to
drive elsewhere for daily needs, helping to manage traffic and reduce pollution. This
development represents the 21 st Century corner store—it caters to the regional pass-
by trips that will inevitably occur on Ustick Rd to access Highway 16 (see above) but
also meets the needs of the residential communities like Durango, Dayspring, and
Spring Day subdivisions that will develop within walking and biking distance of the
site.
• Fills Community Demand: Proposed tenants, like food service, convenience stores,
and financial institutions, identify locations of interest using extensive market
research to fill a verified demand. In July 2025, Meridian's retail vacancy rate was
1.15%, which, given standard tenant turnover, is virtually fully occupied, and
highlights the demand for additional retail services in the City.
o There are —1,000 residential units currently proposed in Durango, Dayspring,
and Spring Day subdivisions alone, in addition to other subdivisions and multi-
family developments nearby. Commercial/Retail services on this corner will
serve the surrounding community's demand.
• Commercial Development is Underbuilt Valley-wide:There is an imbalance in
commercial vs. residential construction in the Treasure Valley, with a high ratio of
residential to commercial permits, highlighting the need for more retail options.
o Per TOK's Q3 2025 Land Market Report for the Treasure Valley:
• 4,462 Residential Permits
• 118 Commercial Permits
• $1.1 Billion in Total Residential Permit Value
• $391 Million in Total Commercial Permit Value
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• Mixed-Use Regional to West is Almost Enitirely Dedicated to Housing: About 1/2-
mite to the west of this development is a 37-acre piece of land designated Mixed-Use
Regional in the FLUM. Of this, under 4 acres (11%) is dedicated to commercial uses.
The remainder is dedicated to Highway 16, multi-family uses, and townhomes.
Residential uses comprise 60%of the area.This conflicts with the MU-R FLUM,which
anticipates 10-30% of the land area as residential and up to 50% retail commercial
uses. Taken with the office uses from Durango Subdivision to the east, Hawkins'
Commercial development could provide much needed services that were
anticipated by the city in the MU-R FLUM but did not materialize because the area
was entitled with residential development.
• Economic Benefits:The development is expected to create new jobs and generate
sales, property, and income tax revenue, which can be reinvested into the
surrounding community.
• Buffers Residential Areas: Commercial developments along busy intersections can
create a beneficial transition zone between the heavy traffic and quieter residential
neighborhoods.
Justification Against Residential Development at This Location
• Traffic and Safety Risks:The intersection is expected to be extremely busy, with up
to 35,000 vehicles daily, making it a potentially hazardous and uncomfortable
environment for residents.
• Quality of Life Concerns: Residential units at this location would be subject to
noise, light pollution, vehicular exhaust exposure, and safety concerns due to the
proximity to a major, busy intersection.
• Illogical Location for Housing:As part of our coordination with Durango
Subdivision, Hawkins and our consultants took care to integrate our commercial
uses with the office uses to the east.To the north, the Sky Pilot drain forms a natural
buffer between our Commercial and Durango's residential uses. We plan to create
pedestrian connectivity between the two uses, while maintaining a buffer to
eliminate any negative impacts on the homes to the north. To construct medium-
density residential uses in this location would place single-family homes with Ustick
Rd - a major arterial-to the south, McDermott Rd -a collector-to the west, Office
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uses to the east, and the Sky Pilot drain to the north. This isolates the single-family
homes and will be inconvenient and illogical for the residents of these homes.
• Economic Expectations not in Alignment: The economic expectation of the seller
is that this property will be developed with commercial uses. The seller of this
property is asking for a price that makes it prohibitively expensive to construct
medium-density residential uses on this parcel. Given this, housing is unlikely to be
developed on this site, because other nearby parcels, away from the heavy traffic of
the Ustick/McDermott interchange,are more suitable for residential development for
economic, safety, and quality of life reasons. These other parcels will be priced
appropriately for residential development.
Timing of Development
• Seller is Selling Now: The seller of the property lives in a house on the land he is
selling. Because of improvements being made to the roadway network in the area,
the seller no longer wants to live on this corner due to concerns expressed in the
previous section. ACHD is widening Ustick Road and ITD is completing the
interchange on Highway 16'/a-mile away. Because this work has already started or is
starting imminently, the seller is ready to move away from the corner now, not later.
• Coordination with Durango Subdivision and Toll Brothers Developments:
Hawkins has coordinated closely with Durango Subdivision, which wraps the site, to
identify shared access points and utility provision. Similarly, Hawkins is coordinating
with Toll Brothers to ensure sewer service can reach the property. This coordination
cannot happen if there is not a development concept to coordinate with. This would
Leave a 4-acre square on the corner of a very busy intersection without roadway or
utility connections or entitlement for any development.
• Five Year Pavement Cut Moratorium on Ustick Road: ACHD has designed
improvements to Ustick Road to serve the high volume of traffic that is anticipated
with the Highway 16 interchange. Once this widening is complete, "cutting ... is
avoided whenever possible" for 5 years. Therefore, the time to coordinate water and
sewer utilities to service the property is now. As noted above, Hawkins understands
this and is actively coordinating with the seller, Durango Subdivision, Toll Brothers,
the City, and ACHD to ensure adequate utility provision before the moratorium takes
effect.
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• By the Time the Commercial Development is Constructed, There Will Be
Significant Development Surrounding It: Because of the time it will take to entitle,
design, permit, and construct any development on this land, there will already be
significant residential development surrounding it. It will not be an island of
commercial uses in a sea of farmland. It will be a commercial project that fills a
Logical space within the fabric of residential neighborhoods. Dayspring and Spring
Day received entitlements in June and has agreed to provide sewer to their
developments via Ustick Road. Two residential developments'h-mile to the west are
entitled and permitted (Boise Hunter Homes) or under construction (Pacific
Companies). Ideally, Durango subdivision will be completed concurrently with our
development so that roadways and utilities can be considered together. Because the
entitlement process takes time,we are starting it now so that we will be readyto serve
the future surrounding community.
We look forward to your review and approval of our application and are happy to answer any
questions.
Sincerely,
Ethan Mansfield
Pre-development Manager
Hawkins Companies LLC
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