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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/23 Email from Vance BarbourPage 1 of 2 Will Berg From: v barbour [vbarbourl @hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 7:08 AM To: Peggy Gardner; Will Berg; Bill Parsons Subject: Letter of testimony for Oct. 23 2007 Council Meting re: ap-07-008 Attachments: Letter to Meridian City Council re 2nd Anytime Fitness appeal.doc Please distribute the following letter of testimony to the Meridian City Council and include it in the public record and agenda for the October 23, 2007 Council Meeting and the agenda item pertaining to AP-07-008 appeal by Dave Evans Construction for the Anytime Fitness CUP. Thank you. October 19, 2007 Meridian City Council 33 E. Idaho Ave. Meridian, ID 83642 RE: Anytime Fitness LLC, Appeal AP-07-008 Dear Mayor and Council of Meridian: Please accept this letter as my personal testimony opposing this second appeal of the CUP Appeal 07- 008 by Dave Evans Construction and Anytime Fitness LLC for the property located at the NE corner of Meridian and Ustick roads. As I stated by letter opposing previous appeal by the applicant, the City of Meridian zoned this corner property L-O (Light Office). These are typically clean, quiet enterprises-such as dentistry, realty and the like-which generate low traffic volume and operate roughly Sam-Spm daily five days per week. Anytime Fitness, however, does not belong in a Light Office zone due to the size and scope of its business but belongs in a Commercial Zone which is why their appeal is before you now. This Anytime Fitness ftanchise building would be much larger than the other offices and built to accommodate upwards of 1,500 members! Even as the developer claims nearby residents join the club let's say a very high percentage of 1 in 3 homes of the adjacent 600 homes have members. This means the other 1,300 members must travel from someplace else! This business would greatly increase traffic at this 2-lane intersection and at the entrances to this corner property disrupting the general flow of traffic especially at peak travel hours. This 2-lane residential road just received a traffic light last year and is not currently scheduled for any future widening or improvement by ACHD. I also dispute the necessity to have 20 hours per day of operation as Dave Evans Construction stated in its appeal letter of September 18, 2007 to accommodate "residents in the neighborhood working odd hours." They have already been granted a CUP for 18 hours of operation and unless a patron works 18 hours per day 7 days a week I find this reasoning ridiculous. Furthermore the club is only staffed Sam-Spm so all activity outside those hours are unsupervised and pose an increased risk of other nuisances for residents. Late night hours could also create more crimes of opportunity due to its proximity to Settlers Park where we have already had late night issues of curfew violations, reckless driving in the parking lot, noise and vandalism. Because of its lengthy operating hours, Anytime Fitness will create a nighttime nuisance of noise from 10/22/2007 Page 2 of 2 multiple car engines starting and running at late hours of the night disturbing our sleep and the quiet enjoyment of our own homes. In fact it's the 24 hour availability that Anytime Fitness primarily uses to attract clients which implies there are enough people who take advantage of those hours to warrant the expense of keeping their business open those late hours. Hence the obvious conclusion of a greater nighttime nuisance to nearby residents. And of course additional safety lighting needed for its late night/early morning patrons will shine into the backyards and bedroom windows of nearby residents. Another concern I have is an unintended breach of public trust on the part of the Planning Commission and City Council in approving exceptional CUP's and rezoning areas after residents relied upon modern zoning when buying new homes in areas already finalized on Meridian Planned Development and Growth plans. This corner was once 4 building lots as part of the existing residential tract. The developer later petitioned the City to rezone this corner property for commercial development and was granted L-O zoning for 12 buildings. This year Dave Evans Construction petitioned the City for a larger building and a 24-hour CUP and was granted a limited CUP for Anytime Fitness for 18 hours of operation. Now Dave Evans Construction is appealing and asking for 20 hours of operation. What should our expectation be but that once firmly established, Anytime Fitness comes back to the City to petition for 24 hours use in this L-O zone? Where does this end? In conclusion, the Anytime Fitness operation is better suited for a Commercial Zone and I ask you to derv their appeal. In fact I would prefer to see you reverse the CUP altogether and advise the applicant to find a proper location. Developers and businesses ought to respect our rights to enjoy our homes as well as abide by the zoning decisions thoughtfully made by the Planning and Zoning Commission to better our community. Please do not set an unfortunate precedent for L-O zones in Meridian. There are several other Commercial Zones in Meridian suited for businesses such as Anytime Fitness. Thank you for hearing me in this matter. Sincerely, Vance Barbour 3636 N. Alexis Way Meridian, ID 83646 Boo! Scare away worms viruses and so much more! Try Windows Live OneCare 10/22/2007 October 19, 2007 Meridian City Council 33 E. Idaho Ave. Meridian, ID 83642 RE: Anytime Fitness LLC, Appeal AP-07-008 Dear Mayor and Council of Meridian: Please accept this letter as my personal testimony imposing this second appeal of the CUP Appea107-008 by Dave Evans Construction and Anytime Fitness LLC for the property located at the NE corner of Meridian and Ustick roads. As I stated by letter opposing previous appeal by the applicant, the City of Meridian zoned this corner property L-O (Light Office). These are typically clean, quiet enterprises-such as dentistry, realty and the like-which generate low traffic volume and operate roughly Sam-Spm daily five days per week. Anytime Fitness, however, does not belong in a Light Office zone due to the size and scope of its business but belongs in a Commercial Zone which is why their appeal is before you now. This Anytime Fitness franchise building would be much larger than the other offices and built to accommodate upwards of 1,500 members! Even as the developer claims nearby residents join the club let's say a very high percentage of 1 in 3 homes of the adjacent 600 homes have members. This means the other 1,300 members must travel from someplace else! This business would greatly increase traffic at this 2-lane intersection and at the entrances to this corner property disrupting the general flow of traffic especially at peak travel hours. This 2-lane residential road just received a traffic light last year and is not currently scheduled for any future widening or improvement by ACRD. I also dispute the necessity to have 20 hours per day of operation as Dave Evans Construction stated in its appeal letter of September 18, 2007 to accommodate "residents in the neighborhood working odd hours." They have already been granted a CUP for 18 hours of operation and unless a patron works 18 hours per day 7 days a week I find this reasoning ridiculous. Furthermore the club is only staffed Sam-Spm so all activity outside those hours are unsupervised and pose an increased risk of other nuisances for residents. Late night hours could also create more crimes of opportunity due to its proximity to Settlers Park where we have already had late night issues of curfew violations, reckless driving in the parking lot, noise and vandalism. Because of its lengthy operating hours, Anytime Fitness will create a nighttime nuisance of noise from multiple car engines starting and running at late hours of the night disturbing our sleep and the quiet enjoyment of our own homes. In fact it's the 24 hour availability that Anytime Fitness primarily uses to attract clients which implies there are enough people who take advantage of those hours to warrant the expense of keeping their business open those late hours. Hence the obvious conclusion of a greater nighttime nuisance to nearby residents. And of course additional safety lighting needed for its late night/early morning patrons will shine into the backyards and bedroom windows of nearby residents. Page 1 of 2 Another concern I have is an unintended breach of public trust on the part of the Planning Commission and City Council in approving exceptional CUP's and rezoning areas after residents relied upon modern zoning when buying new homes in areas already finalized on Meridian Planned Development and Growth plans. This corner was once 4 building lots as part of the existing residential tract. The developer later petitioned the City to rezone this corner property for commercial development and was granted L-O zoning for 12 buildings. This year Dave Evans Construction petitioned the City for a larger building and a 24-hour CUP and was granted a limited CUP for Anytime Fitness for 18 hours of operation. Now Dave Evans Construction is appealing and asking for 20 hours of operation. What should our expectation be but that once firmly established, Anytime Fitness comes back to the City to petition for 24 hours use in this L- Ozone? Where does this end? In conclusion, the Anytime Fitness operation is better suited for a Commercial Zone and I ask you to deny their appeal. In fact I would prefer to see you reverse the CUP altogether and advise the applicant to find a proper location. Developers and businesses ought to respect our rights to enjoy our homes as well as abide by the zoning decisions thoughtfully made by the Planning and Zoning Commission to better our community. Please do not set an unfortunate precedent for L-O zones in Meridian. There are several other Commercial Zones in Meridian suited for businesses such as Anytime Fitness. Thank you for hearing me in this matter. Sincerely, Vance Barbour 3636 N. Alexis Way Meridian, ID 83646 Page 2 of 2