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Home My WebLink About6/9 Letter from City AttorneyM'~,•°~ June 9 2U07 Tarnmy de Weerd , Crrv Cou.c,~li. Mr~~Kf~s Keith Bird Joseph W, Aorton Charles M. Rountree David Zaremba Re: Selway Apartments C.tTY T~'EPARiAtENTS Dear: City AttorneylHuman Resources Mailing Address: 33 E. Ideho Avenue I have received your inquiry and concern regarding the Selway srreer ~tddress: Apartments that are being proposed for the Lochsa Falls subdivision. Since the - 703 N. Main Street 898-5506 (City Attorney) ~~~ is still awaitin some atential Council action it is not a ate for ~ p ~ri 898-5503 (Human Resources) them or the Mayor to comment about specif c inquiries. Fax 884-8723 F~~ The Lochsa Falls planned unit development came before the City Council 540 E. Franklin Road in 2002. At that time the proposal was to build 856 single family homes, 171 888-1234 / fax 895-0390 multiple farnily dweIIings, 11 office buildings, 1 commercial building, 1 city Parks & Recrearion p~k, 1 private park, and 1 future fire station. The City Council, at that time, I[ W. Bower Strcet 888-3579 / fax 888-6854 a oved the lan and the arties entered into a develo ent a ent that was ~ P p ~ ~ approved on December 17, 2002. It was recorded against this prnperty on Planniag 660 E. Watertower Street Jan 24 2003. Neither the current Plannin & Zonin Commission, or the u~ ~ g g suite zo2 City Council and Mayor have the dis~retionary authority to deny this project. 884.5533 / fax 688-6854 Police The sewer and water infrastructure improvements are sufficient to serve 1401 E. Watertower Street these properties. The roadway improvements have been partially funde~ through gss-6678 / fax 846-7366 the impact fees that have heen paid with the development of the homes in this Public Works area. The continued widening of intersections and roadways are within the Five b60 E. Watortower Street suice 20o year work lan for the Ada Count Hi wa District ACHD The Linder and p Y ~ Y ~ ~• 898-5500 / fax 895-9551 McMillan and Linder and Ustick intersections are scheduled for widening in Z008• T'he opening of Pazamount Elementary should draw significant students - Building 660 E. Watertower Strect from Hunter Elementary that will be available to serve this development until suice ~ so another school gets built in the future. There is a future school site within this 887-221 l/ fax 887-1297 ~~ ~le that is cantemplated by the schooI district. The City's - Wastewater Comprehensive Plan and Land Use designation Map reflects this multi-family 3401 N_ Ten Mile Road po~on of this project. Most of the developments in the nor~em area of 888-2191 / fax 884-0744 Meridian came after this proposal was approved. The City did not approve large - wat~f scale subdivisions north of Ustick until the summer of 2002. This project was 2235 N. W. Sth Street 888-5242 / fax 884-1159 one of the first. For exam le, Kell Creek, the unmediatel ad acent to P Y ~P~ y .1 this proposed development, was approved in October of 2003, more than tea months after this project was approved. ~ITY I'{AI.1 33 EA 57' ID~111U AVF.;~I'F ~EIZIDIA\, in,~i~c~ R3642 (Zl?$~ KRFf-4$3~ CITYt'L1=1:K-1'AX f~C C.,121K IINAti(.'Fkl~TT1.ITYRIfI.1KG-f'AX 1cK:-4titi \1rtYOR'~(111'lC!_-FAX RS•~-311v Selway Apartments June 9, 2007 Page 2 A question has been raised about the "R-4" zoning that is granted for this site. It is true that the R-4 zoning district is primarily a single-family zone. But because Lochsa Falls was a planned unit development, the City Code, at the time, gave the City Council the authority to allow for mixed and varied uses with specific criteria defined for those allowances. This development met those standards and the development agreement that was reached between the City and the propeity owner grants this use within this zone with a required "Conditional Use Permit" (CUP). Prior to construction of these multi-family units portion a CUP must be applied for and heard by the Planning and Zoning Commission. They are the decision malring authority for CUP, unless they are appealad to the City Council. An application for a CL'P has not been made to date. The CUP will be to address the means to make this project fit into the surrounding area, but is not a means tv deny the project itself. Generally, a CUP addresses design issues, buffering between uses, landscaping, and fencing. When the property owner makes an application it will then go before the Planning and Zoning Commission for a final review to make sure alI of the reqturements are in place. ~ Many people have indicated to the City that they were personally unaware of the future plans for mulri-family dwellings within the Lochsa Falls subdivision. Unfortunatety that is often true. Private parties, realtors, and sellers of property on many occasions do not have or are not willing to provide all the necessary information to a prospective buyer. The City does hear from many individuals who were told about plans for vacant property that were speculative or completely untrue. Since the application submittal in 2002, the City has been aware of the proposed uses on this property. The apartments were pla~c~ned for in 2002, when the project was approved, and should have been available for you to see on the plat pnior to the purchase of your home. It was included in the original development plan and nothing has baen significant[y changed. The final plat that is scheduled for June 19, 2007 is a part of the process that finalizes the original proposal and approval. It is not a public hearing and the Council must only base what is the final proposal against what was originally proposed. The Council and Mayor do not have the abiiity to deny the project at this hearing either. I would be happy to discuss this matter with you further. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Yours truly, ~ Bil( Nary City Attomey/HR Director cc: Mayor and City Council Planning Department City Clerk