HomeMy WebLinkAboutPZ - Applicant's updated application information memo HAWKINS
March 18, 2026
City of Meridian
Planning Division, Community Development Department
33 E. Broadway Ave.
Meridian, ID 83642
Re: H-2025-0007 Application Updates
Dear Ms. Allen, Mr. Miles, and the Meridian Community Development Department:
After discussion with the planning staff on February 25, 2025, Hawkins has updated the
concept plan and project zoning for the NW and SW corners of the development area. The
intent of the changes is to address comments within the staff report regarding compliance
with the Comprehensive Plan.This list of updates and the corresponding plans are intended
to accompany the previous applicant response memo, attached here for reference. Finally,
an illustrative, colored site plan will be provided prior to the Planning and Zoning
Commission hearing. Please include this memo, the previous applicant response memo,
and the updated plans as exhibits within the updated staff report.
With these changes, this project is in compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. Hawkins
has carefully balanced the requirements of the Mixed-Use Community Land Use
Designation with the reality of being located adjacent to a major arterial(Amity Rd)and State
Highway (Meridian Rd) in a suburban area with a surrounding residential density of 5 units
per acres and a large amount of vehicular traffic.
1. "The proposed development is not functionally integrated in holistic design and
integration of uses per the design principles in the plan..."
The new concept plan proposes a network of 10'wide pathways throughout the NW corner
and SW corner of the development. This network is intended to better integrate the multi-
family uses with the adjacent commercial uses. Furthermore, these pathways link
commercial, office, quasi-public, and multi-family uses within the development area with
the existing and future neighbors to the north, south, east and west.
Importantly,the 1.2-acre park that is central to our multi-family development has become a
focal point along the spine of the pathway that links the commercial uses on the corner to
the future residential developments to the south and west. This quasi-public amenity can
and will be used by future residents and commercial customers, some of whom will be one
in the same.The parkwill be used not just byfuture residents of our multi-family community,
but future residents of the surrounding single-family developments, as well. The wide
855 West Broad Street, Suite 300, Boise, Idaho 83702-7154 1 208.376.8522 1 hcollc.com
pathways are designed to accommodate a welcoming experience to and through our
development. This change solidifies the intent for the park to be used as quasi-public open
space
Finally, Hermatite Rd on both the NW and SW corners of the development area will have 10'
pathways along each side as it develops. This provides an additional, more comfortable
option for bicycles and pedestrians to travel between the NW and SW corners of the
development area and goes well above and beyond the 10' pathway network requested by
the City. It will directly link the multi-family uses on the south side of the development to the
commercial uses on the north side, and vice versa. It will also provide enhanced non-
automotive connectivity through the entire future neighborhood network.
Two factors require the commercial buildings to be located where they are proposed on site.
First, adequate parking for the anticipated uses must be maintained for those uses to be
successful. While this new development will certainly decrease the share of trips made by
automobiles due to the proximity of dense housing and the abundance of pathway options
to reach the site,the existing surrounding residential density of 5 units per acre necessitates
that many trips, probably most trips, will be made by car. This necessitates adequate,
convenient vehicle parking on-site.
Second, Merdian's UDC requires 40%of the street frontage along commercial parcels to be
occupied by buildings, not parking fields. Therefore, buildings are pulled toward Amity Rd,
Leaving the parking areas to occupy other locations on the site. Hawkins is proposing a 10'
pathway to provide a more comfortable bike and pedestrian access to the primary
commercial node on the SW corner of the development. On the NWC, pathways were
widened to create a more comfortable pedestrian environment while maintaining parking
required to serve the development.
We have attached a Commercial Parking Exhibit for the SW corner commercial to provide
context to our parking ratios. Our deep experience as commercial developers provides us
with insight into the number of parking spaces that are typically required by different
commercial users.Typically, resturants require 10 spaces/1,000 sf of floor area,while retail
or other commercial users require 4 spaces/1,000 sf. This is true especially in suburban
areas like this (where surrounding density —5 units/acre) where most people within a
retailer's trade area will drive a vehicle to the site.
In order to attract quality retailers typically most desired by the surrounding community
(based on historic revenue trends), it is critically important to provide sufficient parking for
retailers to meet the revenue targets that would be required to locate here.
2. "The SWC of the development is 72% residential with a gross density of 18.23 units
per acre, which is 22% more than the maximum allowed of 50% and 3.23 units per
acre over the maximum allowed density of 15 units per acres..."
Please find a discussion of residential density included in the previous applicant response
memo. Hawkins is agreeable to a provision that limits residential density to 15 units per
855 West Broad Street, Suite 300, Boise, Idaho 83702-7154 1 208.376.8522 1 hcollc.com
residential acre across the area covered by the development agreement. Assuredly, the
Lower the allowed density, the lower the share of trips taken by non-automotive
transportation to the commercial portion of the development relative to the density that we
are proposing. Conversely,the higher the allowed density,the higher the share of trips taken
by alternative modes of transportation.
pROJ ECT BRE AiKDOW N (RLSI UENTIAL DENSITY)
NW SW project
toner Conner Tutall
Mufti-Family Areas" t10 55 AC t17.55 AC 178.21 AC
Total Area +++#+ ±30_66 AC_ t24ASAC_ ±55.11 AC.
Total M ulti-Famiy Units 65 322 4n8
(-,rOSS Derl-sltV 0M F.Xmlh}$Re AM t8.15 u.P.A_ f18.23lJ.P.A_ f14.46 U.P.A.
Gross Densityr of Total Area .7,80 U.P 213.17 U.P.A *?40 U P A.
As discussed previously, this density meets the guidelines of the Comprehensive Plan if the
entire 55-acre development is considered as one.
There is no question that the City's Comprehensive Plan states: "contiguous Mixed Use
identified areas that are bisected by an arterial or highway are considered separate and
independent areas for use and design integration and will be evaluated independently of
each other."We are not arguing about the existence of this statement.We also acknowledge
that it is rare for two large parcels separated by these types of barriers to be considered for
development by the same ownership at the same time. This creates a unique opportunity
for the City and Hawkins to work on a truly integrated plan for an area of great future impact.
The reason the Comprehensive Plan typically forbids sites across arterial or highways to be
considered together is a fear of the unknown-if the a developerfrom one side of the highway
provides only commercial uses, for example, then the developer on the other side must
provide all residential. This puts the City in a sticky situation. The City cannot compel one
developer to make up for the lack of mixed-use by the other.
In this case, however,the City asked Hawkins for an integrated concept plan so that the City
could consider the development of the 55-acre site together, governed by a single
development agreement. This is the proposal before the City today. If the City wanted
these areas to be considered separately, they should not have requested that they be
planned together.When the City communicated to Hawkins that the site was to be planned
across both corners in a cohesive effort, governed by a single development agreement, an
expectation was established that we could consider the area as a single, cohesive
development.
855 West Broad Street, Suite 300, Boise, Idaho 83702-7154 1 208.376.8522 1 hcollc.com
3. "The proposed C-G zoning district is too intense for the MU-C designated area..."
See the attached, updated, proposal for zoning designations on the NW corner of the site.
There will be no C-G zoning across the development area. Areas that were previously zoned
C-G have been designated as C-C or L-O. The areas intended to have office, personal or
professional services, and studio space have been designated as L-O.While this will require
a CUP for things like martial arts or yoga studios, it will prevent retail uses in the area.
4. "A mix of three U different land use types (i.e. commercial, office, residential, civic
and industrial) are required to be provided in the development area..."
Because of the enhanced integration provided to/from the commercial areas, residential
areas, and surrounding neighborhoods,the 1.2-acre park centralto the development should
be considered as a distinct civic land use, separate from the multi-family development.
When considered in this way, each of the corners, separately, has at least 3 different land
use types. Thus, the proposed concept plan is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.
5. "Community serving facilities such as hospitals, clinics, churches, schools, civic
buildings, or public safety facilities are not provided in either development, which
increases service and transportation network impacts."
This development creates space for those services that the community demands,while not
duplicating community services that exist nearby.An elementary school exists'h-mile to the
east, one church exists adjacent to the site, and another is planned 1/4-mile to the west. A
branch of the Meridian library exists a mile to the south.A police station is located 2.5 miles
north, and fire station is planned, per the Comprehensive Plan, directly east of the site
across Meridian Rd.
The NW corner includes buildings (-21,000 SF as shown) and lots (-3 acres) specifically
designed to accommodate dental offices, clinics, schools, daycares, personal and/or
professional services or any other civic use.Therefore,we are committed to providing space
for these uses, if one of these uses is interested in locating here. This offer extends to the
City of Meridian.
The SW corner provides significant amounts of space within shops buildings (12,000 SF in
buildings C and D) for the uses listed above. Space in these buildings is not designated for
specific uses, any of these uses listed above could locate here.
Finally, by definition, community-serving uses are uses that serve the surrounding
community. These uses could include restaurants, bars, retail shops, coffee shops, a gas
station, car wash, or bank in addition to hospitals, clinics, churches, schools, civic uses,
etc. All of these uses might choose to locate within the development (on the NW and/or SW
corner). The implication of their location decision is that they believe, and we believe, that
they will successfully serve the community surrounding the site.
855 West Broad Street, Suite 300, Boise, Idaho 83702-7154 1 208.376.8522 1 hcollc.com
6. "Supportive and proportional outdoor public and/or quasi-public spaces and places
such as parks, plazas, outdoor gathering areas, linear open spaces and schools, do
not comprise a minimum of 5% of the development area on the SWC. These areas
are not located between residential and non-residential uses to provide integration
and transition between uses in either developed area."
With the enhanced connectivity network on the SW corner of the development, it should be
clear that the parks, gardens and plazas located on the SW corner of the development are
intended to serve everyone in the community—this included customers of the commercial
services (by definition, community members), residents of our multi-family development,
and future residents of the surrounding developments. Between the central park (1.19
acres), community garden area (0.18 acres), park/plaza entrance northeast of the multi-
family clubhouse (0.37 acres), and commercial plaza shared by Lots 3 and 4 (0.18 acres),
roughly 7.5% of the SW corner area is quasi-public parks and/or plazas. This excludes the
pathway areas connecting these spaces.
Overall, this project complies with the guidelines of the Comprehensive Plan. At the City's
request, we included both the NW and SW corners in our Traffic Impact Study and
subsequent land use application. This project has one owner, has been analyzed by ACHD
and ITD as one project, will likely leverage a STARs agreement that considers the project as
one, and will have a single Development Agreement encompassing all 55 acres. Therefore,
this project should be considered as a single, cohesive development.
Thank you for considering these changes. We hope that these alleviate the concerns
expressed by staff about this project. Please let us know of any additional concerns with our
updated proposal.We look forward to collaborating with the City of Merdian on a successful
mixed-use project and await your recommendation of approval.
Sincerely,
Ethan Mansfield
Hawkins Companies
855 West Broad Street, Suite 300, Boise, Idaho 83702-7154 1 208.376.8522 1 hcollc.com