HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 14, 2007 C/C MinutesMeridian City Council
August 14, 2007
Page 42 of 99
De Weerd.: I have a motion and a second,. Discussion? Staff?
Canning: Madam Mayor, does that -- the maker of the motion, is that to include the
proposed development agreement provision as stated in the staff report as well?
Rountree: Yes.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Rountree: Always.
De Weerd: Is there anything further from Council? Mr. Berg, will you, please, call roll.
Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Gorton, yea.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
De Weerd: Thank you. Item 13.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: I move that we approve Item 13, PP 07-012.
Bird: Second..
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to approve Item 13. If there is no discussion,
Mr. Berg., will you call roll.
.Roll-Call: Bird, yea; Rountree, yea; Zaremba, yea; Borton, yea.
MOTION CARRLED: ALL AYES.
Item 44: Public Hearing: PP 07-011 Request for Preliminary Plat approval for 18
commercial building lots on 18.5 acres in a C-G zone, for Paramount
Commercial Southwest by Ustick Marketplace, LLC -Northeast Corner
of North Linder Road and West McMillan Road:
Item 15: Public Hearing: MI 07-007 Request for a Miscellaneous application to
Modify the Development Agreement to remove the Conditional Use Permit
requirement for all commercial development in the C-G zone and instead
require design review approval of all commercial development in the C-G
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August 14, 2007
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zone for Paramount Commercial Southwest by Ustick Marketplace, LLC
- Northeast Corner of North Linder Road and West McMillan Road:
De Weerd: Items 14 and 15 are public hearings on PP 07-011 and MI 07-007.
Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, this is the Paramount Commercial
Southwest Project. It's located at the northeast corner of Linder Road and McMillan
Road and the applications before you tonight are preliminary plat and a miscellaneous
application to modify the development agreement in place for Paramount. The
preliminary plat includes approval. of 18 commercial building lots on 18.5 acres in a C-G
zone. They do already have the zoning. The proposed lot sizes range from 27,800
square feet to 72,000 square feet and the applicant also requests to amend the
development agreement to remove the conditional use permit requirement and to,
instead, require design review of approval on all commercial development in the C-G
zone. So, as you will recall, Paramount came through as a planned development and
they didn't have any specific designs or concepts for the commercial development at
that time, so a condition was placed upon all the commercial properties for Paramount,
that they obtain conditional use approval before any -- for any use. The design review
process would allow a more relevant and efficient evaluation of each proposed
commercial or retail or office building in the development. Under the current CUP
requirements the owner would be required to know all the potential users and designs of
all the buildings and layout in the development before applying for the CU and that was
always one of the big problems with the CU requirement was on shell and core uses,
which they didn't know what the uses would really be at that time. Or, two, they could
apply for the CUP for each and every building. one by one, which, as you may recall,
was a burden on staff, as well as Council at that time, but now just the planning
commission. By approving a modification to the development agreement that would,
instead, allow design review approval, the intended objective of both processes would
be met, but with greater effectiveness and savings in time and resources for all parties
involved. I have some elevations. The next one doesn't want to come up. The
applicant has also included several examples of architectural details in existing
buildings in Paramount that may be used in this commercial development. The
applicant states in the narrative that earth tone colors, timber, cultured stone and roof
pitches are examples of some of the architectural elements that will be used and which
are consistent with the existing Paramount buildings and facilities. Further, the
applicant states that strict architectural design guidelines and CC&Rs will govern the
development of each parcel to insure compatibility with the Paramount design theme.
Staff has reviewed the details submitted with the application and is supportive of the
conceptual elevations submitted and the building materials listed as they are consistent
with the existing Paramount development. There we go. Now they are coming up. So,
we even have the updated Walgreen's elevations and --
De Weerd: That was for someone's benefit.
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August 44, 2007
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Canning: -- and some other conceptual buildings. This is the next item.
De Weerd; Wow. That looked like an old Walgreen's.
Canning: The change to the development agreement is fairly straight forward. It would
just remove the word -- it currently states that all future commercial townhouse and
multi-family uses obtain Conditional Use Permit. We would remove the commercial at
that location and add a sentence that says all commercial uses in the C-G and L-O
zones shall obtain design review approval in accordance with design standards in effect
at the time of the development. The L-O zone refers to other areas of the Paramount
development -- .Paramount -- subject to the Paramount development agreement that are
about a mile away from here. So, there are other commercial properties involved in that
development agreement modification, not just the subject one.. The Commission
recommended approval at their July 5th, 2007, Public Hearing. Michael Marcheschi
and Jay Walker from Brighton Corp spoke in favor, as did Scott Stanfield, who is the
project engineer on the plat. No one spoke in opposition. Brad Multon commented, as
well as James Durst. And there was no written testimony. Key issues of discussion by
the Commission were the inconsistency between the proposed preliminary plat and the
conceptual site plan. I can go over that briefly. Here is the plat. Here is the landscape
plan. There is the concept plan. You know, when these commercial subdivisions go in
we pretty much know that we are going to be moving lot lines around. I have to admit
that usually the concept plan and the plats aren't quite as far apart as these two seem to
be, but we do know that they will be moving lot lines around and having to reconfigure
properties as they find specific tenants. Another issue of discussion by the Commission
was the extension of the stub street as a public street from the east property line to the
west property line and that's this stub street coming out of Paramount. We wanted to
make sure that it somehow maintained a public street status from going east-west,
whether it takes the northerly route or the southerly route, but that it does maintain the
public street status. And the proposed access points to Linder and McMillan and the
ACHD approval of access points and at that point the comments were not received from
ACRD prior to the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing. The key Commission
changes to staffs recommendation were to allow northern right-in, right-out access point
proposed on Linder Road. Oh, let's see. And the outstanding issues for City Council
was that ACHD did not approve the northern right-in, right-out access points proposed
on Linder Road. So, the ACRD comments are now included in the staff report and I
didn't notice that as an outstanding issue before tonight, so it may take me awhile to
read up on that if Council wants more information, but I will do that quickly. There has
been no additional written testimony since the staff report and to my knowledge there
are no outstanding issues before City Council. And with that I will answer any
questions.
De Weerd: Council, any questions at this point?
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
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De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: Would you change back to the preliminary plat as they are proposing it?
Canning: The landscape plan is a little easier to see.
Zaremba: And they are not indicating any streets on that --
Canning: Correct.
Zaremba: I need to think about that.
Canning: And that's why the -- that's why the condition was put in to require that road,.
And Mr. Silva would like to comment as well.
Silva: Mayor, Members of the Council, one of the concerns that both the police and fire
departments have is just the addressing within this and those streets should be at least
named streets, so we can facilitate the addressing process and emergency response to
that area. What we have experienced in other subdivisions that front major arterials like
Linder, they will want to put the back of the building -- depending on what occurs on the
lot, they may put the back of the building up against Linder and expect an address on
Linder and that's very confusing for emergency response and the addressing issues.
So, we would just like to make sure that these properties are conditioned in such a
manner that they are required to take their address at the point where they have access
from a public or private road.
De Weerd: Would the applicant like to come forward. If you will., please, state your
name and address for the record..
Marcheschi: Good evening. My name is Michael Marcheschi and I'm at 12601 West
Explorer Drive, Suite 200, in Boise. And you can see we have submitted a preliminary
plat and at the time we submitted that preliminary plat this was the -- the most efficient
and best configuration that we felt for those parcels and we have been exploring
conceptual plans -- site plans and the conceptual plan that you saw is -- is the most
recent in terms of street private and public layout. After we submitted the preliminary
.plat application we received comments from staff and from ACRD recommending the
installation of the public and dedication of the public road to the stub street there. The
development on the -- to the east is also preliminary platted. It's the Paramount South
60 Subdivision, but is not currently installed. And so the stub street connection does
need to align with two existing streets to the west of Linder, either Apgar or Deer Crest
on the west. So, that's the current jog in the public street configuration there, either to
the north or to the south. If you go back to the landscape -- or the preliminary plat, we
anticipated that there would possibly be lot line adjustments or changes in this
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August 14, 2007
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preliminary plat as we went to final plat per recommendation from ACRD and from staff
and the existing location of the -- the lot lines, for example, along the access points on
McMillan and along Linder are positioned in such a place where -- where parcels could
be -- or streets could be added that would be both shared on a -- on a parcel or publicly
dedicated.. So, the only real changes that we see at this point going forward with our
submission of a final plat would be simple lot line adjustments to allow for the public
road, allowing access to the stub street and aligning with the north -- the north full
access point and we also are in agreement with other staff recommendations, as well as
ACHD recommendations that the north full -- or north right-in, right-out access be
removed from the preliminary plat. There was. some question originally whether or not
we would have -- can you go to the conceptual, Anna, for me? The reason that we had
included that north right-in, right-out is because we did have the necessary setbacks,
the necessary distances from the full access points. Linder Road, as you know, is being
widened to five lanes and, thus, you know, we felt that that north right-in, right-out, was
acceptable, but ACRD has come back and is not in agreement and -- but because of
the public road dedication on the north we were concerned that first possible access
into our commercial retail parcel to the south of that public road wouldn't be until back
on the -- you know, pretty far back from the intersection, because it's a public road. But
ACRD has come back and allowed us to align the first access point coming in off of
Linder --
Zaremba: Excuse me. Would you use the pointer -- the light pointer.
Marcheschi: Sorry. So, originally, the access -- the first potential access point to this
commercial retail site was way back here, because of its public nature, but with the
removal of this they have allowed us to place a full access -- or an access point here in
line with that one and the parking field to the north. So, we are fine with that -- with that
recommendation and change in the preliminary plat. And I stand for any questions.
De Weerd: Council, questions?
Bird: I have. none.
Zaremba: I'm sorry. Madam Mayor, I'm still trying to get the relationship between the
concept plan and the actual plat. And, Anna, would you put the plat up, please. And.,
then, if you would., using the light, indicate where the roads go through that.
Marcheschi: Sure. So, again, this is an access point, full access off McMillan. This is a
right-in, right-out off of McMillan. This full access would continue up the -- up here and,
then, with our final plat submission we will be changing this configuration, the lot lines,
to indicate the road going to here. This is the stub road coming in and this road will -- at
staff recommendation and ACHD recommendation, now continue up to this point and
align with Deer Crest. The other -- the other road will come this direction.. So, we will
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be doing a little bit of lot line adjustment here, but -- but the number of lots should not
change.
Zaremba: Thank you.
Marcheschi: You bet.
Canning: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Canning: Maybe if I could -- we are still in the applicant's presentation, aren't we? If
Council would like, I have an idea later, so we will wait until his testimony is done.
De Weerd: Thank you. Any other questions from Council?
Bird: I have none.
Rountree: I have none.
De Weerd: You know, I -- I guess I'm kind of struggling with this one. Usually when we
approve a commercial multi-family we ask for elevations, locations to those homes, and
now I know why we don't have a full house, those homes are not occupied, which, then,
raises another question is how would those people when they buy those lots know that
there is multi-family behind them. So, it raises a lot of concerns and --
Marcheschi: Right. I think -- I think the conceptual plan and the development
agreement calls for conditional use approval of any multi-family in that northern section.
That was put there as a possible option. But in all reality and at this point we intend for
all the lots to be commercial or retail in nature. It is a C-G zone and the approval for the
preliminary plat is for 18 -- 18 commercial parcels. So, if we were to come in and
actually do any multi-family, we would have to come through a separate CUP at that
point and, then, you would have to review that separately.
De Weerd: Well, I think that comes as no great peace of mind to neighbors, even with
the CUP, so I --
Marcheschi: Right.
De Weerd.: And this is all from experience.
Marcheschi: Sure.
De Weerd: So --
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August 14, 2007
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Marcheschi: To the north, obviously, we have --
De Weerd: -- if you really don't plan on multi-family, I guess, you know, it would be nice
not to even say it on the plat.
Marcheschi: Right. Again, it isn't on the plat, so it's only on this conceptual --
De Weerd: Conceptual.
Marcheschi: Right. A conceptual site plan. To the north is Rocky Mountain High and
so -- it's quite a name. But it is the high school to the north and so in terms of
residential uses on that side, the multi-family -- not to get into that issue right now, but it
may not necessarily be an issue like you might think it might be.
De Weerd: Sorry. Every time I hear that name Rocky Mountain High I laugh. My
daughter is going to go there, so, you know, it's really -- I need to get over that.
Marcheschi: Do they have a theme song yet?
De Weerd: Council, any other questions at this point?
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Borton.
Borton: Was it correct that you had indicated there was two accesses on McMillan?
Marcheschi: Correct. There is a --
Borton: Aright-in, right-out?
Marcheschi: -- right-in, right-out here and a full access here, both of which have been
approved by ACHD and are part of the design in the road widening, which is already
taking place and along that area. One right-in, right-out access here on Linder, a full
access, and a full access there. All of which are well within the distances allowed by
ACHD for those access points.
De Weerd: When is that intersection improvement supposed to go in?
Marcheschi: So, it will be completed by May of '08.
De Weerd: And it's --
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August 14, 2007
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Zaremba: Madam .Mayor, is that similar to the Locust Grove overpass being completed
before Mountain View High School was in?
Bird: No. A private's doing it.
Marcheschi: If I could, I'd like to turn the podium over to Jay Walker, who is actually
helping ACRD with the widening and the intersection designs.
De Weerd: Thank you. And I trust they won't have the same delays that we are having
at McMillan and Meridian; right?
Walker: Hey, watch it. Jay Walker with Brighton Corporation. 12601 West Explorer
Drive.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Walker: Suite 200, Boise, Idaho. To answer your question regarding the project at
Linder-McMillan, no, we won't have the same delays. And., actually, we are -- we are
close to on schedule on McMillan-Meridian. It was just started late and so we should
have the north leg completed before school opens in a week or so. This one is planned
to be completed.. It needs to be done before the Rocky Mountain High School opens,
obviously, or else there is going to be gridlock out on Linder. That is a definite
completion date and agreement we have with the high school. So, a cooperative
development agreement that I have in place with ACRD, we are set to bid this out
September, November, and be under construction early spring as soon as thaw occurs
and currently we are working with the PUCs to relocate any utilities that need to be
relocated in that project impact area. So, we will -- I think the reason why ACRD wants
that completed by May is so that they can complete the Ten Mile -McMillan intersection
project shortly thereafter. Not being able to close the two at the same time or
simultaneously.
De Weerd: I guess, Jay, an additional question I would have, since you mentioned the
high school to the north, at this point, not -- not knowing what kind of access points they
have, I don't see anything through this development and so that leads me to believe that
the access points for Rocky Mountain High School will be only onto Linder. We have a
similar issue at Mountain View High School that there is one way in and one way out
and this is a possible alternative to get them to McMillan or to have some other access.
Walker: And I need to clarify that, Mayor.
De Weerd: Okay.
Walker: If I can just help you --
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De Weerd: That would be excellent.
Walker: We do -- if you can see on Cayuse Creek, we do have an access onto Cayuse
Creek within the Paramount development and as a part of this project and in
coordination with the Rocky Mountain High School and Wendell Bigham, we are also
installing a signal at Cayuse Creek and Linder. So, all high school students driving to
and from the school will have protected movements onto that five lane facility at Linder.
There will only be bus, staff, and parent drop off directly from right-in, right-outs onto
Linder on the frontage of Linder Road in front of the high school. Does that make
sense? So, there will be three access points. And there is also pedestrian access
provided not only on Cayuse, but through South 60, you know, the preliminary platted
residential development to the east of that commercial property that we are --
De Weerd: Mr. Bird..
Bird: Jay, on that one -- going back through Paramount, they also can go out and get to
-- and get to Chinden, can't they, by that -- through the stub there?
Walker: Yes, they can, we would --
Bird.: Prefer they didn't, but --
Walker: Yeah. We'd prefer they didn't. We have provided traffic calming measures, no
direct path, to try to calm traffic, keep lower speeds, and make it more neighborhood
friendly.
Bird..: But kids are going to find shortcuts.
Walker: Possibly. A few. We hope that only those residing in -- in Paramount that
choose not to walk that mile and they drive to the high school.
Bird.: Come on now, you know better than that.
De Weerd: Kids. We are talking kids.
Walker: Yeafi, we are.
De Weerd: Teenagers.
Walker: Status. Car status.
De Weerd: Well -- and you may want to put some kind of a traffic or choke or
something going to the east to discourage that cut-through traffic.
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August 14, 2007
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Walker: Yes. Good point, Mayor. And we have placed strategically traffic control,
including stop signs -- or primarily stop signs at the intersection of Cayuse and
Valentino and, then, also one at Valentino and Fox Run Way. So, it -- it will be a pretty
difficult maneuver through the subdivision for any high school students to access
Chinden through the Paramount Subdivision, because of the stop controlled
intersections. I guess we see it as a freer movement to come off of Cayuse and make
that right turn movement onto Linder and head directly, you know, half a mile to
Chinden and, then, take another free right movement onto Chinden and head
eastbound down to the Boise area.
De Weerd: Thank you. I know this is unrelated to this application, but it is trying to find
other routes for kids to get out of that, so it doesn't overwhelm any one option.
Walker: Very wise..l think that's a great idea.
De Weerd: So, this -- this access through fihe subdivision that is in front of us today
would not be an option for at least a southern route?
Walker: You mean right back here in the corner?
De Weerd: Uh-huh.
Walker: The school has already -- they are under construction and they have a practice
-- two practice fields. It was not a part of their site layout to include that and they were
far in advance of our concept plan and layout here. So, I guess that was never
approached and we are kind of behind the eight ball on that one.
Bird: I think the high school prefers just one.
Walker: For safety purposes.
Bird:: For safety purposes. It doesn't always work out right, as we know, but they do
and it's too late now.
Walker: Right. And we did provide a quite large curb cut and curb returns to
accommodate --
Bird: What the Mayor's getting at is, even though that is far out from the school grounds
to Linder Road., it's the same concept we have at Mountain View with -- onto Overland
Road, you got one road out and it -- it is a real mess and those guys -- you know, they
got lights there and it's -- and it's kids finding shortcuts through and parking and walking
in neighborhoods and stuff has caused a lot of trouble and it's something that we -- we
need to look at and I understand why the schools would want -- for safety reasons want
one entrance and exit, but for traffic movement -- you know, in the old days you might
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have got away with it when ten percent of the kids drove. Now 90 ,percent of the kids
drive, so --
Walker: Right. It certainly is a problem and if the Mayor and Council have any further
ideas on how we can assist this -- we have, as you can see, widened this section of
Cayuse Creek to provide that storage capacity, as well as the free flow as much as
possible and coordinated and worked simultaneously with the school to make sure that
this signal is in place and that the widening on Linder extends clear through the length
to McMillan. Now, I need to tell the Mayor and Council that we have -- we don't have
plans in place to widen Linder north to Chinden as of yet. That is still a two lane facility.
De Weerd: Yeah.. Is there -- and I'm sorry to continue this, but -- and I see a county
pocket between the school and your piece of property. Is there any chance to have
some kind of a public stub there so that if that RUT were to redevelop they would have
some connection from -- I just see a real nightmare with that high school..
Walker: You know, a good point. Currently their -- their deceleration lane for their bus
access, faculty and parent drop off commences right at the edge of that RUT. It's Don
Struckman's place. And it extends to their loop route that goes approximately like this,
with a widened frontage. As far as allowing another access to coordinate with -- are you
thinking of one that coordinates with Mouse Creek -- is that Mouse Creek? Moose
Creek. Or Divide Creek. I'm sorry. Divide Creek.
De Weerd: I don't know. I just see all of these are going out to Linder and if there is an
alternative to get them to McMillan without going out onto Linder -- it's -- it's just going to
overload that system and if there is any alternative that you can build into this plat for a
possible secondary route -- and I don't know, Jay. This is probably not the time to be
trying to design that, I just don't understand why this -- when they place a school why
they don't look at how they can connect to the various streets in that area.
Walker: Point well taken..
Bird.: The parking lot's on the north, isn't it?
Walker: The parking lot is on the north and west. I think this is primarily for staff and
this is more the drive-thru.
Bird: Yeah. And drop off.
Walker: And, then, they do have a ring road that goes back to their football field
stadium, baseball field, tennis courts, that, then, connects and I guess I will bring up as
well., Mayor and Council, that there are a few micro-paths connecting into the
Paramount Subdivision. You see one right there and one right there as well. And, then,
this Fox Run Way that comes from Chinden through will also connect to -- to McMillan.
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And there will be a micro-path into this South 60 development here, but we were -- we
were directed pretty strongly to not allow any other access points into the high school.
They wanted it controlled. And so maybe we need -- maybe that's somewhat of a
training issue that we need to help with the school districts, because I see your point. If
we have everybody discharging onto Linder Road, whether it be here at Cayuse Creek
or into the bus access points, either way it's going to -- it's going to overload Linder.
De Weerd: I don't know how this discussion, either Mr. Nary or Mrs. Canning, can look
at maybe a future connection and for our police department, if we can have our traffic
safety commission start looking at even those micro-paths and parking in those -- on
those neighborhood streets and -- I think we have learned a lot through Mountain View
High. School and -- I do, too. So, if there is anything we can do in advance of the
opening of that school and if you have some flexibility in this plat in -- in working some
alternative -- and I don't know if there is one at this point.
Canning: Madam Mayor, we actually have a suggestion, if I can -- if I may. I spoke with
Mr. Marcheschi and Mr. Stanfield and I think one thing we did miss -- I'm not quite sure
how -- but we generally require across-access to undeveloped single properties, so that
when this property eventually wants to come in the city and develop that they'd have
cross-access through the proposed lot. So, we can get a drive aisle stub access to this
northern property and continue that through at the time that redevelops, so that we have
access to that -- the bus parking facility, there would be access across -- eventual
cross-access through there. So, that's one way to get to that appropriate place. It
doesn't help with not having full street access through Paramount residential
neighborhoods, but the stub street -- the stub access is appropriate regardless of the
high school for this property, so that it's not isolated and you can make the decision
when that one requests annexation whether it's appropriate to stub that to the high
school property.
Bird: Anna, go back to the site. No, the --
Canning; That one? That one?
Bird: Yeah. That one there. That one there. The concept. How are you going to --
without -- you know, you're really -- you're killing a project by making them have across-
access up there and, you know, that -- they can stub in something in like that and that
place might not develop for 20 years and they have got dead ground up there that they
can't do a thing with. This is going to be commercial or even multi-family up in the north
end, I'm not sure I want high school kids running through it.
Canning: Sir, generally -- I'm sorry, did you finish?
Bird: Go ahead. Go ahead.
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August 14, 2007
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Canning: I'm sorry. Generally the drive aisle stubs aren't that onerous for the
developers on these commercial properties, especially if we give them latitude as to
where they want to place it, so -- because, basically, what happens is they generally
locate the building and they will have a parking drive aisle and it's just a matter of
extending that drive aisle for five to ten feet, usually. So, if we give them enough
flexibility and don't mandate exactly where it is, usually, it's not a very onerous
requirement.
.Bird: I agree with the flexibility. Yes.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Stanfield: Jump right up here, Mayor and Members of the Council. Scott Stanfield, 374
Badiola, Mason-Stanfield Engineering, project engineer. Anna and I and the developer
Michael did talk when Jay was up here speaking and it is not burdensome, as Anna
said, to put a private drive with an ingress-egress up to that north parcel. We have to
put anorth-south drive aisle in there anyway. You have to have a parking bump or pull
out for the last stall to back up anyway, perhaps it wouldn't be developed yet, there
would just be a five foot grassed area with a curb such that when the northerly parcel
dues develop and if this body sees fit to extend that through that parcel and reciprocate
the same easement on his side, then, that could be developed, because he would have
a full access to his frontage and that could potentially benefit both parties. You know,
we are not connected to the school and the school is there now and we can't go back on
the school, but we can at least do that to -- as things develop you have control of what
happens in the future. With that said, I will kind of jump right into that preliminary plat
and the history. I will somewhat hopefully calm you down on the gridedness of that
preliminary plat. We had to start somewhere. Commercial developers and buyers don't
come in with a tenant and with a building in mind. Typically you have to provide them
with a plat and, then, they do their site designs from there. So, this was a place to start
and., then, as Mr. Marcheschi pointed out, then, the comments came from the city staff
and the highway district to have a connection running east to west after the initial plat.
That's when the concept plan is generated.. At that point we still were uncertain as to
which east-west route we desired, the northerly one or the southerly one. So, we kept
the preliminary plat the same, however, we added some notes in the note section and
think it's on the lower right-hand side of the full preliminary plat, that we -- by wording we
described an east-west connection to either one of the two full accesses to the west,
again, not knowing which one we would put in, but we wanted to note that on the
preliminary plat. We also noted shared ingress-egress on all the internal drive aisles to
support the concept plan's north-south private internal driveways. So, if you're able to
read the notes, you can see somewhat that it does mirror and Michael did point out that
the really only area that's changing is that upper third and presently it's looking like that
the northerly access is the one that's most desirable for marketing. Brighton
Corporation wanted to create a focal point in that center section and so they have kind
of been doing some marketing studies to determine which is the best location. So, I
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hope that explains some of the preliminary plats and gets you up to speed today. We
have been trying to revise the preliminary plat the best we can with the notes, because
this has been a very dynamic process. And I will add., Mayor, that the residential ground
to the east is -- doesn't even have a final plat yet, I believe. So, there is no lots for sale
there, so this one should be established by the time any lots are even for sale to the
east. It just has preliminary plat approval.
De Weerd: When -- when you sell those lots, though, do they get a view of what is
being proposed in that area, so -- I guess we always assumed -- and you know what
that means -- is that people got that whole thing, especially if it was one subdivision,
and what we have learned is that's not always the case. Sometimes it's only the phase
that they are buying into. So, if you can tie this -- this piece to any closings on -- on the
residential to the east of it that would be certainly preferred.
Stanfield: Mayor, Members of the Council, I can definitely stress to Michael -- and he's
hearing you now that in their marketing maps they do .present the full picture, because
you're right, Mayor, more often than not the sales team will just cut off at that rear
boundary to those easterly lots. So, I think Michael., with his internal staff, can share
that and., then, obviously, I share my drawings with them and create one master picture.
Now, you know, Brighton really enjoys creating communities, not just -- not just a
residential neighborhood, so I think they probably already planned on doing that, but we
can definitely stress that to them.
De Weerd: Thank you.. Any other questions for the applicant at this point?
Bird: I have none.
De Weerd: Okay.
Stanfield: Thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you. Just one final comment as part your presentation?
Marcheschi: You bet. Michael Marcheschi again. Again, we just want to stress that
Brighton does look at Paramount as an overall development and that there is a
residential component and from the very beginning there has been the intention of
creating commercial, some multi-family, some office within that overall picture and if we
had an image which showed that, I think you would see very clearly how this
commercial component is supposed to be supportive of the Paramount project and the
connections that we are making with the stub street, with the micro-path, with the
access off of the widened Linder and McMillan, all are meant to encourage using this
commercial corner for local services, which the residents out there currently don't have.
And so, you know, our intention at this point, with all development on this particular
parcel -- and as you have seen with the size of the parcels That we are describing is
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smaller commercial development, service oriented and -- to service that local
community. So, with that, thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you. This is a Public Hearing. I do have some people that have
signed up. If, when I read your name and indicate what you checked on the sheet, if
you'd like to come forward and provide testimony at that time, I would invite you to do
so. Marjorie Matthes signed up as neutral.
Matthes: Thank you very much. My name is Marjorie Matthes. I'm at 2229 West Kelly
Creek, Meridian.
De Weerd: Thank you.
Matthes: We are neighbors of the Paramount and we do appreciate the things and the
value that they are bringing to our neighborhood. I live back side on Kelly Creek to
Apgar Creek and I'm with my neighbors here, who live on Dove Creek and the other
neighbor also who is on Kelly Creek. We have had a lot of attention in our
neighborhood because of the Selway apartments, so I don't think people are paying
attention to what's happening across from us and how it's going to impact us. Linder
Road and McMillan are already impacted. We have a high school opening there, we
have a junior high school opening up on McMillan. We have another grade school
opening. over in Paramount. And we have Hunter on the other side of us. We commute
this road. We commute Linder to Chinden every day in our business. It is already
impacted.. The ingress and the egress -- one of our major concerns as brought up in the
Selway apartment complex discussions was that the Selway apartments are going to
open up to Kelly Creek on the back side of Apgar Creek. We are now looking at a
commercial endeavor that's going to be on the other side of us on Linder, which is also
going to align with Apgar Creek. Selway is going to be 171 apartment buildings as
proposed with 342 parking spaces, with multiple family dwellings. There are going to be
three and four bedroom houses there. It's not going to be two drivers in a household,
there is going to be multiple drivers in a household and thank you, Mayor, we appreciate
it. We are also concerned about the teenagers here with a high school. So, when we
are talking about the Brighton -- the Paramount kids and the kids in Paramount, we are
not talking about Kelly Creek's commute across Linder, we are not talking about the
apartment buildings that's going to be over here and that impacted area on Goddard
also gets a lot of traffic in the morning, because people don't want to go out on McMillan
with the kids coming into Hunter, nor do they -- are they going to want to go anywhere
near the high school, so they go -- they either go back to Ten Mile down to Chinden, the
people in the back are going to learn that Apgar is going to be a straight shot through to
Linder that's going to get them quickly to McMillan as an alternative to going out on
McMillan if they can't go the other direction. Apgar Creek goes on our -- it goes right by
our park in the afternoons. There are three to four major bus stops of children in there.
I know there are. I drive in the morning. There are kindergartners, little children. We
have a multitude of very young kids in our tract and this problem is going to exacerbate
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everything that we are anticipating from the traffic coming up from Apgar that's going to
shoot through Kelly Creek to get off of McMillan in the morning time. I appreciate
ACRD. We have gone to their meetings. We have listened as business owners as to
what is going to be happening down Chinden, what's happening near our area. You're
now talking about Linder being widened from McMillan to the high school, which is
going to do nothing but congest the rest of the way, because if it's not widened from
Linder to Chinden, where are they going to back up to? They are not going to choose to
go to Chinden on a two lane highway when they leave school. They are going to come
down the wider portion of Linder and this is going back up right back up to McMillan
when all the buses are coming out for the junior high, they are coming out for the grade
schools, and we are already in gridlock. You are talking gridlock now. Come talk to the
members of our community in Kelly Creek, we -- you know, we realize that -- and we
are not one of the adamant groups that go out and just scream to Selway, we realize
that this is zoned apartments. I knew it was zoned apartments. We knew that this was
zoned commercial. We are asking for reasonable controlled growth in our
neighborhood that is going to allow us to commute daily to our jobs and not have to live
with this for two to three to four years as you as a city cope with the problems with
ACRD funding, as we as neighbors and drivers are coping with that same exact
problem. We are stuck. We are. We have nowhere to go. And now we have a high
school, a junior high, and two grade schools and it all funnels in that area. All four of
those corners are going to be zoned commercial. You're just not talking to them. They
are all commercial. So, how is this going to come into play, if we are going to widen it
just 500 feet down the road,, that's not the solution and that's not the answer. Putting a
light down by the high school isn't going to alleviate our problem leaving Kelly Creek
when we can't get out on Linder. When we can't go left on Linder to Chinden, because
there is no controlled traffic or timing of lights. So, I know that this is the beginning of
this process and we feel as neighbors and are concerned about it, we felt we needed to
be here at the beginning to address it with you..
De Weerd: Appreciate that.
Matthes: Thank you.
De Weerd: Connie Reeves signed up neutral. Thank you. Barbara Garcia signed up
neutral. Okay. And Henry Garcia. Thank you. Those are the names that signed up. Is
there anyone else who like to provide testimony? Thank you. Council, any further
questions for staff before I ask the applicant for a response? Anna, anything?
Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, I did find the overall illustration of
Paramount for your ease of reference with regard to the high school. It is shown on that
property. And I think that was it. And, you know, there was some concern about the
preliminary plat not being consistent with the final plat -- or with the concept plan. If
Council wants to make that a requirement within the development agreement that would
be fine. Normally what I look for is that the lots that bound the -- the site don't change
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significantly, so that we wouldn't go from four lots along the west side to 20 lots along
the west side.. But if that's -- if it's otherwise consistent, if they are just making changes
to the interior of it, I would generally deem it to be consistent with the approved
preliminary plat. So, with that I'll answer any questions you may have, especially with --
there seems to be some interest in the overall Paramount site plan at this point, so --
De Weerd: Does it show how this connects to the neighborhood across the street,
Anna?
Canning: I'll have to go to the zoning map for that. I had to reboot. Sorry. It froze on
me.
De Weerd.: Oh.
Canning: The Selway apartments would be further south here. No. No, they wouldn't.
They are over here. There we go. They are right here.
Bird: And that's Kelly Creek right next to it.
De Weerd: Council, any questions for staff?
Bird: I have none.
De Weerd,: Would the applicant like to come forward with wrap-up comments or --
Walker: Thank you. We are doing the juggle act here, but just to respond to the
neighborhood concerns, ACHD has made it a priority to widen Linder to Chinden to a
five lane consistent with our cooperative development agreement, what we are doing for
the properties adjacent that we have control of. The party north of Paramount on Linder
is owned by somebody else, otherwise, we would be continuing that widening to
Chinden. Now, to the south we are -- Frank Variel is one of the participants in this
cooperative development agreement with ACHD. We are widening down to the
widened section that already occurs on South Linder and, then, we are currently
widening McMillan to a three lane section to its ultimate build out. With these
improvements you will see a substantial capacity -- the bettering of capacity being
provided for these -- for these arterial streets adjacent to these developments and the
reason why we are making these improvements in a joint effort with all these adjacent
developers, including ACHD as a government agency, is through our traffic impact
studies we have seen the need for this to happen prior to the school coming on line,
prior to our development -- the commercial development, as well as the residential
development. It's all part of a -- a general plan improvement to accommodate the traffic
and, yes, the two lane has been insufficient and, yes, stop control is very limiting and
most of the delay occurs at those stop controlled intersections. I think there will be a
great improvement with the five lane section and the intersection signalization that's
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occurring. Traffic flow will be much better. And I appreciate Mayor and Council and
their recommendations and hearing our plat today. Thank you.
De Weerd: So, Jay, I guess what you are saying is the intent is that if you could you
would do the road improvements from McMillan to clear north to Chinden? Can you do
that up until the point of the property that you don't own and that can be a condition if
and when that -- that would develop?
Walker: Part of the problem is we don't -- ACRD doesn't own that right of way. All three
of those parcels that --
Bird.: Show the overall map.
Walker: If you show the overall map -- well, let me just -- can we go back to that overall
Paramount map?
De Weerd: Well, even as far as -- if you look at it in terms of the intersection
improvement that you're already doing, if you brought that road up as far as the property
that you do --
Walker: We are. It's a five lane section --
De Weerd: Oh, you are doing it up until there?
Walker: To here and, then, Mr. Molton, who you heard last time, and Doug Stewart,
who resides here on this three acres, and., then, this is owned by Hewarts, Joe Hewart,
and we don't have any control of this right of way from this point to Chinden and that's --
ourtransition is ending at this point right here.
De Weerd: So, what you're saying is when you do this intersection improvement at
McMillan and Linder, you will be bringing that improvement clear up to where
Paramount ends to the far north --
Walker: To our frontage..
De Weerd: -- of your --
Walker: Yes.
Bird,: And., then, they are also bringing it south of the -- Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Bird.
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Bird: As I understand, they are also bringing it south from McMillan with Mr. Variel
down -- what is it, a half mile, quarter mile, or --
Walker: Yes. About a quarter of a mile.
Bird..: Where their property is, where they can get the right way.
Walker: And, then, we are taking it west, the extent of Jim Durst's property, and, then,
we are taking it east to our Fox Run Way tie in and deceleration lane requirement that
we have as part of our Conditional Use Permit.
De Weerd: Okay.
Walker: And I will just point out that those two outparcel properties of -- are both listed
on the MLS. They have those up for sale. And, then, I think you're well aware of the
Mewert's desires and their preliminary layout that they presented to the neighborhood
meeting just on last Thursday evening.
Canning:. And, Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, we received that application
this afternoon, so --
Walker: So, I think that's a priority and they would love to have that five lane section
completed prior to '08 August when the school comes on line.
De Weerd: Do you .know on the other developer driven intersection at McMillan and
Ten Mile, what year that is --
Walker: That would be shortly following -- I think plan to --
De Weerd.: Is that immediately following this intersection improvement?
Walker: Yeah. That's why they have set the deadline of completing this intersection
and widening project by May of '08, because shortly thereafter they will commence that
Ten Mile -McMillan.
Bird: .Madam Mayor, I think we were told fall of '08 for McMillan and Ten Mile right after
this one.
Walker: Right.
Bird: I think it was going to go Meridian, Linder, Ten Mile.
Walker: Right.
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De Weerd: Yeah. I'm just not seeing that on a plan, so -- and that always concerns me.
Bird.: Madam Mayor, I do have one question for Jay. Jay, your west boundary, you do
have a nice meandering sidewalk to get to the school; right? From the intersection?
Walker: Yes.
Bird: Okay.
Walker: We have partnered up -- there are a couple of outparcels that we are still -- one
of them is -- is Mr. Struckman right here and, then, there is the Lukeharts that are
currently right here that we are still in negotiation with, but other than those two parcels
we have pedestrian amenities planned for the extent of the project.
Bird: Because there is some freshmen that don't -- aren't able to drive that might have
to walk.
Walker: Right. And, obviously, pedestrian -- ped buttons will be included at both
intersections and crosswalks provided for any of the pedestrians.
Bird: Thank you.
De Weerd: But on the RUT you just said that you would be doing the road improvement
clear to that north of Paramount.
Walker: Right.
De Weerd: So, apparently, right of way is --
Walker: We are bagging 13 feet from him. He hasn't agreed yet. Close. ACHD is
dealing with right of way acquisition on that parcel particularly.
De Weerd: Anything further from Council?
Bird: I have none.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd.: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: Just a comment and., if I understood., I think it was a question that Director
Canning asked. I understand that lot lines have the potential of moving as you find
tenants or other stuff. I'm uncomfortable with a plat that doesn't establish firmly where
the roadways are or where the common areas are, which would be the landscaping.
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And at the moment we are presented with three uncompatible -- there is a plat that
shows no roads or landscaping. There is a landscape plan that doesn't have things in
the same place. And a concept plan that has something else. And I would rather at
least see a plat that establishes where the roads are, where the common areas are,
understanding that the lot lines may not stay there, but these aren't even close, because
once you put a public road in, those lines aren't going to be square and that's
uncomfortable for me and I don't know if that is the question that Director Canning was
asking, but I would have to say I certainly understand and expect this -- it's already
zoned C-G, so it's not a surprise what you're talking about going there. But I would like
to see a preliminary plat that has the roads and has the common areas defined, then,
where ever you draw the lot lines doesn't really bother me, because I understand they
like to move. I'm just -- I'm uncomfortable with having to interpret from three different
pieces of paper what the plat's likely to be.
Walker: Councilman Zaremba, wouldn't -- wouldn't the staff condition of approval to
dedicate the public right of way connection of the roadway be sufficient? I mean as long
as that's in there, then, we are required to do that and Iwould -- I guess -- I would hope
that -- Mayor and Council, that you would provide us the flexibility to place that without
knowing the tenants at this point and nailing down that specific --
Zaremba: Madam Mayor -- and this may be a hold over from my time on the Planning
and Zoning Commission, but as much as I trust you and trust the staff, I like to see it.
Rountree: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes, Mr. Rountree.
Rountree: I don't disagree with Mr. Zaremba. I'm sitting here trying to figure out words
to say about my feelings on this and I guess my feelings are., well, conceptually I can
approve it or conceptually I could deny it. I don't know what I'm approving. I think staff
is somewhat comfortable that they can make it work, but this is a first for me that you --
you approve a preliminary plat and a grid and you have a concept that doesn't follow the
grid -- I don't disagree that it's commercial, I don't have any problem with that at all. I
just would be way more comfortable if you would have done your concept and, then,
done your preliminary plat, because at least with the concept and a preliminary plat,
you'd probably do some traffic engineering to find out whether or not those right-ins and
right-outs are going to work or whether or not those street accesses are going to work.
So, I guess I'd like to see something more concrete in terms of a preliminary plat, as
opposed to it's kind of conceptual. And, again, it's -- it's kind of a -- do I trust you? Yes.
Could you flip the property tomorrow? Yeah. Have I had that happen to me as a City
Councilman? Too many times. And it's not you and it's not your company, but, you
know, we could do this conceptually tonight and we could see a developer that hasn't
got the foresight that you have, hasn't got the depths of design detail that you want,
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come in and build something that when we drive by three years from now and look at
that and say that isn't what we approved.
De Weerd: And that's happened.
Rountree: And I just did that. Just.
Walker: Well -- and I think that's why we presented the somewhat conceptual plan and
we have some letters of intent and are moving that direction. It's hard at this point to --
to secure everything to that detail for us at this point and maybe I can let Michael -- he's
done a lot more of the research and if you wouldn't mind him just responding to that,
Councilman Rountree, if that's all right.
Marcheschi: Thank you. They are great questions and I think they are great concerns.
Again, we have submitted this preliminary plat showing the required landscape. There
aren't any common lots necessarily in the development. There is the required
landscape easements around development, as we are showing. The landscape plan
that you see and the preliminary plat are consistent in terms of where the access points
are to private drives and the private drives internally would be, obviously, placed either
in the final plat that we submit and any internal landscaping would be done by individual
parcel when they come into -- for approval and permit for building and through
compliance with the zoning and through design review, which is what we are asking for
tonight. So, in terms of inconsistencies in the -- the only inconsistency that I see is what
was originally submitted as our preliminary plat and staffs and ACHD's
recommendation and requirement to include a public road through the development and
so what we have done with the conceptual plan -- and by submitting that conceptual
plan to you tonight is to show you how we think that could be achieved.. You know,
coming off of that stub road., there isn't a straight street across to line up with Apgar or
Deer Crest, so there needs to be some adjustment in that road, some curvature to it to
align with Apgar or Deer Crest. Other than that, all the lots that you see in this
preliminary plat in the conceptual plan would fit -- would fit, other that those adjustments
just to these lots, you know, again, off of the stub street, you know, that could easily
come over and just move that direction, this -- these two lots and those lots would adjust
to allow for the public -- the public street. So, our intention I think has always been to --
you know, per staff and ACRD recommendation, to add those, you know, as a
requirement going forward in our final plat application. So, again, Ithink -- and also if
may address some of the neighbors' concerns just quickly.
De Weerd: Uh-huh. Please.
Marcheschi: Development -- commercial development around residential is a sensitive
topic and rightfully so and I think at Paramount we are especially concerned with that
and so the nature of development in this particular commercial area has always been
smaller scale and we had included in our application images from the Paramount
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Professional Center, which is just north of Cayuse Creek, also one of our developments,
to show you the type of architecture, the scale of the architecture, the per capita of the
architecture, which we intend in this particular development. And the access points
along Linder, the access points along McMillan, the proximity and connection to
residential neighborhoods, as one who helped write the neighborhood center guidelines,
you know, we are very aware of the -- of the need to make those pedestrian and
immediate connections to residential and commercial developments. And so I think that
in the design of this whole development we have been sensitive to trying to place, you
know, access to residences. What we are essentially doing is providing services to the
high school students and services to the residents, so they don't need to drive up to
Chinden and out to McMillan or down Linder into downtown Meridian. We are providing
services very close to the needs and so with the widening of the road, both at Linder
and McMillan, with the access points on Linder and McMillan, we are providing I think a
very efficient flow of both pedestrian and vehicular access within close proximity of the
needs. So, you know, as we talk about traffic and traffic calming and trip generation, if
anything, I think we are helping in that immediate area to reduce generation and bring it
closer to the residents. So, thank you.
De Weerd: Thank you. Questions?
Zaremba: Madam Mayor, I would. Am I understanding that including the landscape
buffer that would be along McMillan and Linder, the individual property owners will be
responsible for their portion of that?
Marcheschi: The landscape buffer around the property is a landscape easement for
which those particular owners would be responsible, but as part of the easement -- I
mean there would be, obviously, a development agreement and CC&Rs in place and an
organization in place to maintain all the landscape areas and each parcel would pay pro
rata, you know, shares for the maintenance of those areas as per most developments.
Zaremba: They would not have the option not to do that.
Marcheschi: Correct.
Zaremba: It still seems to me it would be easier to put it in a separate common lot, the
business owners association handles that. That's pretty much what we have been
doing everywhere else, isn't it?
Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, Councilmember Zaremba, on
commercial properties we found a lot of times that they wanted to just put it in an
easement, instead of in a separate lot. Generally, the homeowners -- or the business
owners association still maintains that or has specific provisions for the maintenance of
that landscaping, but it hasn't appeared to be a problem on commercial properties as of
yet. On residential properties it's avery -- very much is an issue and we actually require
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it be in a lot in those instances. Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, in recognition
of both -- some of the concerns I have heard expressed by Council and that were also
expressed by the Commission, there was a lot of discussion about the inconsistency
between the plat and the concept plan, but ACHD hadn't taken a final action on this
project at the time of the Commission hearing. Ithink we moved it forward through the
planning commission because it had been Ithink -- I believe stalled at ACRD for a little
while. So, in recognition of that they did try and move it through. It may be appropriate
to continue this item for three weeks to allow the applicant to revise the preliminary plat
to be consistent with the concept plan or the approvals of ACRD and staff and to show
the major drive aisles and the public street dedication as well. That way we have a
more -- a less conceptual item for Council to take an action on.
De Weerd: Thank you, Anna. Council?
Rountree: I have no questions.
Bird: I have no questions, Madam Mayor. If the applicant wants to take it on three
weeks -- I have no -- I have no problem with -- with their concept or -- and I understand
that ACRD hadn't made up their final decision on it, so I'm flexible either way.
Marcheschi: Just so I'm clear, tonight we have a preliminary plat before you and as
conditions for approval of the preliminary plat one of the requirements would be for us to
insert a public roadway, which would alter the configuration somewhat. So, I don't know
if it's necessary to continue this for three weeks or if it's okay to do it tonight -- I mean
we have to do it anyway, right, before we would submit a final plat, but --
Canning: Mr. Marcheschi, Ithink that Council is really reluctant to approve the
preliminary plat right now. I'm just proposing the continuation, really, for your benefit,
because I think that you need it.
Zaremba: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Zaremba.
Zaremba: The director has interpreted correctly. I would not approve this plat. That
doesn't mean I can't be out voted by others who would, but, frankly, I need to see
everything combined on one plat. The elements that I expect to see on a plat are the
roadways and the accesses. I'm satisfied that it being a commercial project, if it doesn't
have to be common area, I can live with the landscape plan and your promise that there
will be CC&Rs that require everybody -- I need to at least see the roadways and where
they access and the final decisions about that.
Marcheschi: So, you'd like to see the public roadway; is that correct?
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Zaremba: Well, I would like to see the public roadways fixed and anything that's going
to be a private roadway at least concept --
Marcheschi: Right.
Zaremba: -- you know, even if it could move and a decision made about whether the
public roadway is going to swing north or swing south -- actually, I hadn't realized until
you said that that it was a choice. I was assuming the public roadway was going to be a
Y --
Marcheschi: One or the other.
Zaremba: -- and both of them would be public. So, those are the kind of things that I
want to see nailed down on the plat.
Marcheschi: Okay.
Zaremba: For me. I may be the only one, but --
De Weerd: I believe --
Rountree: No.
De Weerd: -- I have heard similar things from Councilman Rountree in his comments
and saw nods or heard nods from the others. Or at least maybe not him.
Zaremba: So, Madam Mayor, if we are going to continue it, then, we need to give the
reason for the continuation, I think. If it isn't obvious, what I need to see -- I don't have a
problem if you're going to tell me the property lines are going to move --
De Weerd: But how much time?
Zaremba: Uh?
De Weerd: How much time would you need to do that?
Marcheschi: We could do it before your next Council meeting.
Canning: Madam Mayor, in consultation with the engineer that needs to make these
changes --
Zaremba: Ten days. Staff needs to see -- have ten days --
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Canning: Right.
Zaremba: -- at least.
Canning: Three weeks.
Rountree: Three weeks. The 4th of September.
Bird: The 4th of September. Is that okay?
Marcheschi: Sure.
Zaremba: Is there anything else we are looking for besides roadways and --
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Yes.
Borton: Councilman Zaremba and Councilman Rountree certainly hit it on the head and
I think Director Canning's guidance is well taken. I think how the landscape plan
incorporates with the -- with the road placement as well and also the drive aisle issue, if
there is any way to show how that might actually line up when I look at the Paramount
block as a whole and, actually, it looks like there might be an opportunity to line up
straight into their loop. Whether or not that's ever an option, but how that -- we might be
able to preserve that potential later on, would be helpful.
Marcheschi: Thank you, Councilman.
De Weerd: Anything else, Council?
Rountree: I have nothing.
Gorton: It's not a requirement, but I probably speak for the whole Council that we
recognize as we kind of been through the process and you have listed a laundry list of
item and things that you have done to try to improve the roadways and make the best of
really difficult challenges, so I commend you and your company for doing that. Those
are not small items that you list and not small minor improvements, so it should be
recognized and appreciated that those are big efforts to try and improve these difficult
places.
Marcheschi: Thank you.
De Weerd: We'd like to turn over all north Meridian roads to you all to get it done.
Meridian City Council
August 14, 2007
Page 68 of 99
Borton: Second.
Rountree: Put in a bid for that.
Borton: Madam Mayor?
De Weerd: Mr. Borton.
Borton: I would move that we continue Items 14 and 15, PP 07-011 and MI 07-007, to
Tuesday, September 4th.
Rountree: Second.
De Weerd: I have a motion and a second to continue Items 14 and 15 to September
4th. All those in favor say aye. All ayes. Motion carried,.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES.
Item 16: Public Hearing: VAR 07-014 Request for a Variance to UDC 11-3D-7a
to exceed the 4 square foot area maximum for a public service information
sign to allow a 19 square foot LED reader board sign for Meridian
Elementary School by Meridian Elementary School - 48 West State
Street:
De Weerd: Our next item is Item 16. It's a Public Hearing for VAR 07-014. I will open
with staff comments.
Canning: Madam Mayor, Members of the Council, sorry, I turned the page too early. I
was confused. The application before you tonight is for -- I apologize, I need to find my
notes. The application before you tonight is for Meridian Elementary School and it's
located at Pine and Northwest 1st Street and this is a variance application. The
applicant is proposing a reader board that would be a public service identification sign
for Meridian Elementary School and it would be nine feet wide and two feet two inches
in height for a total of 19 square feet and it's roughly illustrated here on the -- before
you. And it would be right above the main entrance going into the school. The UDC
allows public information signs to be no greater than four square feet currently and no
more than four feet in height. So, its location above the ground is not anticipated -- or
was not anticipated by the code, nor was the size. In calling it -- or in suggesting to the
applicant that we deal with this as a public service identification sign, they did agree that
they wouldn't change the message on the reader board more than once a day, so that it
wouldn't become -- it would be more like a static reader board that you see at schools
typically, instead of a dynamic rolling one where it changes text constantly. Staff is
recommending approval for the variance for a couple different reasons. We feel it can
meet the findings. Specifically two of the findings are in question. The third one is not.