HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000 02-15MERIDIAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 15, 2000
The regularly scheduled Meridian City Council meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. by Mayor Robert D. Corrie.
Members present: Robert Corrie, Cherie McCandless, Ron Anderson, Tammy deWeerd, Keith Bird.
Others present: Shari Stiles, Gary Smith, Bill Nichols, Bill Gordon, Ken Bowers, Will Berg.
Corrie: All right. I’ll open the Meridian City Council meeting for Tuesday, February 15, 2000, at 7:35 p.m. Mr. Clerk, will you do the roll-call, please. All right. Thank you.
I want to welcome everybody here today. There are still some seats up here if you want to come in and sit down. The Fire Marshal I think is home, so he might not be too – well, we’ve
got the Fire Chief here so we might have to work on that one. I also want to welcome Troop 151 and Troop 176 here tonight and hope you guys get a good education in how the city government
works. If you get confused a little bit, don’t feel bad. We might be a little confused ourselves sometimes. Again, welcome all of you here this evening, and glad to see you here.
The more people, the better it is for us.
Item A. Approve minutes of February 1, 2000, Special Pre-Council meeting:
Item B. Treasure Valley Economic Development $5,000 Commitment:
Item C. Approve minutes of February 1, 2000, City Council meeting:
Item D. 1998/1999 FY Audit:
Item E. Development Agreement: AZ 99-013 Request for annexation and zoning of 1.9 acres to R-2 by Charles Crane – 3610 W. Ustick Road:
Item F. Development Agreement: AZ 99-018 Request for annexation and zoning of 7.25 acres to C-G by Overland Mini Storage, LLC:
Item G. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: AZ 99-019 Request for annexation and zoning of 4.34 acres to C-G (Walgreen’s) by Hawkins Smith Management, Inc. – NW corner of Fairview
and Locust Grove:
Item H. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: CUP 99-034 Request for a Conditional Use Permit to construct a single-tenant commercial building with a drive-thru window (Walgreen’s)
by
Hawkins Smith Management, Inc. – NW corner of Fairview and Locust Grove:
Item I. Tabled from February 1, 2000: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: VAC 99-005 Request for vacation of the easement lying adjacent to the lot line common to Lots 6 and
7, Block 3, Thunder Creek Subdivision by Thunder Creek Partnership, LLC – south of Cherry Lane, east of Ten Mile on Gray Cloud Way:
Item J. Tabled from February 1, 2000: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: AZ 99-022 Request for annexation and zoning of 10 acres to L-O for proposed Magic View Office Complex
by W.H. Moore Company – Eagle Road and Magic View:
Item K. Tabled from February 1, 2000: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: CUP 99-040 Request for Conditional Use Permit to provide multiple buildings on a single site and an
ancillary restaurant in proposed L-O zone for proposed Magic View Office Complex by W.H. Moore Company – Eagle Road and Magic View:
Item L. Tabled from February 1, 2000: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: CUP 99-033 Request for Conditional Use Permit for 81,000 s.f. mini-storage on Lot 2 of proposed Overland
Mini Storage Subdivision by Overland Mini Storage, LLC – 1230 East Overland Road:
Corrie: Council, you have the Consent Agenda in front of you. What is your pleasure on this one?
Bird: Mr. Mayor. I move that we approve the Consent Agenda with pulling Items F, pulling Item G – no – Item H, not G. I’m sorry. Items J and K and L and also Item No. 1 on the Regular
Agenda to 3-7-00 and adding Item M which is the Randy Ware agreement with water and sewer. I hope I got that right.
Corrie: Okay. Mr. Bird, I think you want – J and K you want to pull and put on the regular agenda?
Bird: Okay. J and K comes to the regular agenda, the others go to 3-7-00.
Corrie: Okay. Items F, H and l and Item 1 on the regular agenda. Item G we’ll put also in the –
deWeerd: No. We’ll keep that –
Corrie: We’ll keep it on the regular agenda, the first part of the regular agenda.
deWeerd: Consent.
Bird: No. He’s keeping (inaudible).
Corrie: Oh. If you want to keep it on Consent –
Bird: No. We’re pulling it to the regular Item 1A, and J and K is Item 1B on the regular.
Corrie: Okay. I believe G, Mr. Anderson had one correction with that, so we can put that on the first part. Okay.
Bird: Yes, we did. That’s 1A and the other one is 1B, J and K.
Corrie: Okay. All right.
deWeerd: I second that.
Corrie: Okay. Motion has been made and seconded to approve the Consent Agenda of Item A, B, C, D and E, I and an addition of M which was the agreement which is on the revised edition
on the agreement with Randy Ware for the sewer and water hookup, and that Items F, L, and Item No. 1 of the regular agenda be tabled until the March 7, 2000, meeting, and also H; Item
G and J and K will be the first Items of the discussion at the opening of the regular agenda. Okay. Any other discussion on that? All right. Mr. Berg, if you’ll give the roll-call
vote on that.
Roll-call vote: Anderson, aye; Bird, aye; deWeerd, aye; McCandless, aye.
Item G. Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: AZ 99-019 Request for annexation and zoning of 4.34 acres to C-G (Walgreen’s) by Hawkins Smith Management, Inc. – NW corner of Fairview
and Locust Grove:
Corrie: Okay. Thank you. With that, we’ll open the regular agenda and tackle G, the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, request for annexation and zoning of 4.34 acres to C-G,
Walgreen’s, by Hawkins Smith Management, Inc., northwest corner of Fairview and Locust Grove.
Bird: You want to take it, Ron?
Anderson: Sure. Mr. Mayor, maybe we could have staff explain the letter that came in today and what the disagreement with the Findings of Fact were from the applicant.
Stiles: Thank you. Mr. Mayor and Council, on the annexation and zoning, the applicant has requested two of the items to be revised. We would agree with the second item on Section
3.6 to change it from “two smaller building pads” to “multi-tenant retail building” and to leave the last sentence, revise that to read “applicant shall be required to vacate these easements
and apply for a lot-line adjustment.”
Anderson: Did you say leave that sentence?
Stiles: They asked for it to be stricken entirely, but I think it would more accurately reflect the record if it was as I read it “applicant shall be required to vacate these easements
and apply for a lot-line adjustment.” On Item 3.12, Page 17, they – I’m not sure what the record reflected. It would be unreasonable to ask them to install the curb and sidewalk before
construction begins. Typically they would get that done as they are building the entire site. If that could be reworded to “the applicant shall install all curbs and sidewalks before
obtaining a certificate of occupancy.” That’s all I had on the annexation and zoning Findings.
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. I would like to attempt a motion. I would like to move to approve the Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law for the request for annexation and zoning of 4.34
acres to C-G by Hawkins Smith Management with the noted changes on 3.12 that it reads “the applicant shall install curbs and sidewalks before obtaining a certificate of occupancy,” and
also in Section 3.6 to strike “two smaller building pads” and add “multi-tenant retail building,” and that the sentence that begins “applicant shall be required to vacate these easements”
to delete the rest of the sentence and add “and apply for a lot-line adjustment.”
Bird: I’ll second it.
deWeerd: And instruct the instruct the city attorney to draw up the Development Agreement.
Bird: I’ll second that.
Corrie: Motion’s been made and seconded. Any further discussion? Hearing none, the motion as stated was in Section – On Item G, request for annexation and zoning that in Section 3.12
that it states that the applicant shall install all curbs and sidewalks before obtaining a condition of occupancy, and in Section 3.6, it’s to read that – striking out “two smaller building
pads” in the third line and put in “multi-tenant retail buildings” with “the applicant shall be required to vacate these easements and apply for a lot-line adjustment,” ask the attorney
to draw up the new Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law with those corrections and also the Development Agreement. Any further discussion? Hearing none, roll-call vote.
Roll-call vote: Anderson, aye; deWeerd, aye; McCandless, aye; Bird, aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Item J. Tabled from February 1, 2000: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: AZ 99-022 Request for annexation and zoning of 10 acres to L-O for proposed Magic View Office Complex
by W.H. Moore Company – Eagle Road and Magic View:
Item K. Tabled from February 1, 2000: Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: CUP 99-040 Request for Conditional Use Permit to provide multiple buildings on a single site and an
ancillary restaurant in proposed L-O zone for proposed Magic View Office Complex by W.H. Moore Company – Eagle Road and Magic View:
Corrie: Thank you. Now we’re at Item J, and I think that was tabled from the 1st of February; Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law, AZ 99-022, request for annexation and zoning
of 10 acres to L-O for proposed Magic View Office Complex by W.H. Moore Company, Eagle Road and Magic View. Staff, can you give us some information on this, Shari?
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, I haven’t had time to review the applicant’s request for changes. I don’t know if legal counsel has.
Nichols: Mayor, members of the Council, Ms. Stiles, I don’t have any requested changes in my file at all, so if they sent them to us, I didn’t get them.
Corrie: I think they came in – Mr. Berg, didn’t they come in this afternoon?
Bird: February 15th.
Corrie: They did. Will the Council like to have a couple of weeks to go through this and to have the attorney look at it? Recommendations? Feel a little more comfortable if the attorney
at least had it. I think there’s some minor changes, but there is a couple of major ones here, too. It’s about that road, St. Luke’s.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I would make a motion that we table Items J and K due to the late correspondence and the fact that our Council hasn’t had a chance to review them, and Council
members have just received these today and haven’t had a chance to digest these, I move that be tabled until March 7th.
deWeerd: Second.
Corrie: Okay. Motion is made by Mr. Anderson, seconded by Mrs. deWeerd to table J and K until the 7th of March of this year. Is there any further discussion?
Bird: Mayor, I’ve got one question. When did they receive this so they could reply? I see the City received it on February 11th, we passed this on January 18th. We passed it on January
18th. I wonder what the holdup was if it went out – if the City received it on February 11th, evidently the applicant did at that same time. That was Friday, so that would give him
basically one day to return – I don’t like getting the things in – we had made a statement two or three months ago that anything that came in Tuesday of the Council meeting, we weren’t
going to look at. I go along with the motion, but I wonder why it was until February 11th that this – this is when the City received it.
Nichols: Councilman Bird, Mayor, members of the Council, I believe this was the February 1st meeting that this was handled and not the 18th of January, according to my notes.
Corrie: That’s correct. It was February 1st.
Bird: We passed it on February 1st? Uh-huh. We tabled it February 1st because there was a holdup on the legality of who owned the property. This was passed on January 18th by the
City Council, Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law, Decision of Order. Yeah. January 18th. First page. Mr. Mayor –
Corrie: I got it February 11th here is when we received it.
Bird: Mr. Clerk, would that have been when it went out to the applicant?
Berg: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, yes.
Bird: No more questions.
Corrie: Okay. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: Okay. That takes care of the Consent Agenda items.
Item 2. Ordinance No. 858: AZ 99-013 Request for annexation and zoning of 1.9 acres to R-2 by Charles Crane – 3610 W. Ustick Road:
Corrie: All right. The second Item on the regular agenda is Ordinance for request for annexation and zoning of 1.9 acres to R-2 by Charles Crane, 3610 West Ustick Road. Mr. Clerk,
if you’ll please read the Ordinance by Title only at this point and then give us an Ordinance No.
Berg: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It’s Ordinance No. 858:
ORDINANCE NO. 858: AN ORDINANCE FINDING THAT CERTAIN LAND LIES CONTIGUOUS OR ADJACENT TO THE CITY LIMITS OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, COUNTY OF ADA, STATE OF IDAHO; AND FINDING THAT THE
OWNER HAS MADE A REQUEST FOR ANNEXATION IN WRITING TO THE COUNCIL; AND THAT SAID LAND BE ANNEXED TO THE CITY OF MERIDIAN AND ZONING DESIGNATED RURAL LOW-DENSITY RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT
R-2; AND DECLARING THAT SAID LAND BY PROPER LEGAL DESCRIPTION AS DESCRIBED BELOW BE A PART OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, COUNTY OF ADA, STATE OF IDAHO; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS,
ORDERS OR PARTS THEREOF IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; AND DIRECTING THE CITY ENGINEER TO ADD SAID PROPERTY TO THE OFFICIAL MAPS OF THE CITY OF MERIDIAN, IDAHO; AND DIRECTING THE CLERK OF THE
CITY OF MERIDIAN TO FILE A CERTIFIED COPY OF THE ORDINANCE AND MAP OF THE AREAS TO BE ANNEXED WITH ADA COUNTY RECORDER, AUDITOR, TREASURER AND ASSESSOR AND THE STATE TAX COMMISSION OF
THE CITY OF IDAHO PURSUANT TO IDAHO CODE SECTION 50-223 AND SECTION 63-2215.
Corrie: Okay. We’ve heard the reading of the Ordinance No. 858 by Title only. Is there anyone from the public that would like to have the Ordinance No. 858 read in its entirety?
Okay. Hearing none, I’ll entertain a motion of the Council on Ordinance No. 858.
Bird: Mr. Mayor, I move that we pass Ordinance No. 858 with a suspension of rules, and the attorney to draw up the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and Decision of Order.
Anderson: I’ll second it.
Corrie: Okay. The motion’s made to approve Ordinance No. 858 with suspension of rules. Roll-call vote.
Roll-call vote: Anderson, aye; deWeerd, aye; McCandless, aye; Bird, aye
Corrie: Okay. Motion is carried.
Item 3. Tabled from February 1, 2000 meeting: FP 00-003 Request for final plat of Gemtone No. 4 Subdivision – 6 buildable lots on 7.84 acres in an I-L zone by Thomas T. Wright located
in the NE ¼, Section 8, T3N, R1E (west of Hickory Avenue between Pine and State):
Corrie: Item No. 3 is tabled from the February 1st meeting, FP 00-003, request for final plat of Gemtone No. 4 Subdivision, six buildable lots of 7.84 acres in an I-L zone by Thomas
T. Wright located in the NE ¼, Section 8, T3N, R1E, west of Hickory Avenue between Pine and State. Staff, report?
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, this was before you at the last City Council meeting; however, since the applicant’s representative was not available at that meeting, he asked that it
be continued to tonight. The parcel in question is located – this would be the Blue Cross building on Eagle Road. The City has a well lot here, has the trucking companies and the meat
company, The Food Services of America. The previous plat that was submitted, there was a final plat submitted for No. 4 that was acted by the Council in May of 1999, that would give
them until May of this year to record the plat. That will be their deadline for recording this plat. They resubmitted – this was the previous plat. If you can see, they have shown
the dedication of right-of-way here, dedication of State here, and also showed the dedication of Pine clear to the westerly boundary of the property. The revised final plat that they
submitted has deleted all of the Pine Street dedication. If this was the applicant’s desire, staff would recommend that it be denied. The applicant’s representative is here tonight
to make a presentation before you, but as we all know, it’s very important that this Pine Street be dedicated and extended as soon as practical, and we’re afraid that if this is not
dedicated, it will cause further delays in the extension of Pine Street. The applicant did indicate that they didn’t want to dedicate that at this time because none of these lots will
have frontage, they will not be able to access Pine. Ms. Bowcutt is here tonight, and she can make her presentation to Council.
Corrie: Thank you, Shari. Is the applicant here?
Bowcutt: Becky Bowcutt, Briggs Engineering, 1800 West Overland in Boise. As Shari indicated, in May of 1999, we submitted a final plat to you. It was approved. It looked like this.
This fourth phase that we have is bounded on all sides by right-of-way. We’ve got to construct East State Avenue, extension of Hickory Avenue here, and then it’s bounded by Pine; however,
it’s restricted for no vehicular access to Pine, and there’s a half of a right-of-way on this section at this point. We processed this through the Council. We did our construction
plans, got some construction estimates for our clients. They did not have a buyer for this property, and the only reason that they were submitting this Phase 4 is to get their preliminary
plat approval valid. When we discussed the costs, they decided that their preference would be to go this route and then build the rest of Pine in Phase 5. I brought a copy of the preliminary
plat. Sorry it’s kind of dark. This is the Phase that you see right now, Phase 4. Phase 5 comes down along and connects this lot here, so there will be a Phase 5. I spoke with Mr.
Tom Wright today. I passed on Staff’s concerns about the Pine Street extension, and I said, you know, these are their concerns that they want to see Pine extended in the near future.
His statement to me was, well, you know, we’re only running this
plat through because we want to keep our preliminary plat approval alive, and he said, secondly, we have no problem with building Pine and dedicating that right-of-way, but we don’t
have any purchaser or buyer at this time; therefore, we would be willing to do it prior to the issuance of building permit on any of those lots. So, you know, I don’t know what to tell
Council. I guess if they have some concerns over that, then I think our only choice is to probably come back and ask for a time extension prior to May 4th of this year and try to wait
until they can get – find out who their users are going to be. Do you have any questions?
Corrie: Mr. Bird.
Bird: Mayor and Becky, we have never, since I’ve been on the Council, allowed a plat like that where there was a road that didn’t go through the complete deal. I would – my opinion
is to come back and get an extension on the preliminary. I for one, to be truthful, am not going to vote for it unless Pine Street goes all the way through at this plat right now.
Bowcutt: Yes, sir. I understand. This is an unusual situation where we have this phase bounded on three sides by public rights-of-way. It’s very strange. I’ve never faced it before.
I can understand your concern. Mr. Wright will understand. So I guess, then, I would like this probably to go ahead and withdraw this application, and then we’ll submit for a time
extension, come back before you and give those guys a little more time if that’s acceptable.
Corrie: Comments from Council?
Anderson: I would agree with Councilman Bird whole-heartedly. Pine is one very important street for us to interconnectivity and to be able to develop a thoroughfare through. That’s
something that we’re going to look for, so I’d appreciate if you’d do that. Thank you.
Bowcutt: Thank you.
Corrie: Okay. That being the case, then (inaudible) withdrawn from the Council agenda.
Item 4. CUP 00-001 Request for Conditional Use Permit for proposed temporary parking and product storage on adjacent lots zoned C-G by Gary Bodily – Bodily RV – Meridian Road between
Franklin Road and Gem Street:
Corrie: Item No. 4 is a request for Conditional Use Permit for temporary parking and product storage on adjacent lot zoned C-G by Gary Bodily, Bodily RV, Meridian Road between Franklin
Road and Gem Street. Staff, comments?
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, this is for a request for an expansion of the existing Bodily RV facility located between East First and Meridian Road. They have exceeded their expectations
on their business. They’re doing extremely well. They are looking for a permanent site to locate in Meridian that will accommodate their needs. In the meantime, their facility has
expanded into adjacent areas, so we did ask them to come in for a modification of their Conditional Use Permit. The areas are not paved, they’re not landscaped. You have our staff
comments. We did ask that if this were approved, they be required to pave a minimum of 30 feet into their driveway approaches so that they weren’t having the migration of the gravel
out onto the street and that it be fore a certain time limit; that it not just be an indefinite period of time. Also, another condition that we had included in our comments was this
is not to be used for RV storage. It seems that people bring in their RVs at the end of the season, and rather than use storage facilities elsewhere, they just leave it over the winter
and come pick it up. It’s very convenient for them. So we ask they not use it for that purpose. But otherwise, for a set period, staff would recommend approval of the temporary Conditional
Use Permit.
Corrie: Thank you, Shari. Is the applicant here this evening?
Vance: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, my name is Michael Vance. My address is 825 East State Street in Eagle. As Shari indicated, this is for a temporary conditional use unlike
most of the others that come in. Mr. Bodily is asking that the adjacent lot to the south be used for parking of vehicles while they’re being worked on. There is certainly no indication
from Mr. Bodily – there will not be any permanent storage of any RV vehicles there. I think as Shari also indicated, Mr. Bodily is also looking for another site in Meridian, and you
will probably see that probably within the next year for him to move off of this site that he is using now. We certainly agree with all of the conditions of approval, and we respectfully
ask that you approve this conditional use. I’d be happy to answer any questions.
Anderson: Mr. mayor. How many existing lots around there are you guys using now? Are you using any of the others?
Vance: There is a lot to the north right there, originally was a paved lot that Meridian Ford used his store for parking. That area where the arrow is being used today, and the area
to the south where the most part is being used – probably half of it is being used today. That area to the north on the other side in there, is being used today.
Anderson: Just a general comment, I guess. You guys are located on one of our major entryways into the City, and one of the things that the City is trying to do is clean that up and
try to make that look decent. The property looks pretty good from the back, and I see there are some improvements taking place on the back, but I guess I would just ask that if any
of those areas that you do use that the
weeds be cleaned up and kept up, because those are pretty eyesore from the back, especially from the street right now. No further questions.
Corrie: Any other questions? Council? All right. Thank you. All right. I’ll entertain a motion then for Item No. 4 for the temporary conditional for the parking and storage request.
We’ll need the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and also the Order at the same time.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. I move that we approve the request for Conditional Use Permit temporarily, for parking and product storage on adjacent lot zoned C-G by Gary Bodily of Bodily RV, Meridian
Road between Franklin Road and Gem Street and for the counsel to draw up the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and Decision of Order.
Anderson: I second that.
Corrie: Motion is made and seconded to approve the temporary Conditional Use Permit for Bodily RV and the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and Order be drawn up by the attorney.
Roll-call vote.
Roll-call vote: Anderson, aye; deWeerd, aye; McCandless, aye; Bird, aye
Corrie: Thank you. Motion is approved.
Item 5. Public Hearing: AZ 99-010 Request for annexation and zoning of 150.79 acres to R-4 by Bear Creek, LLC – east of Stoddard Road and south of Overland:
Corrie: Item No. 5 is the public hearing, request for annexation and zoning of 150.79 acres to R-4 by Bear Creek, LLC, east of Stoddard Road and south of Overland Road. At this time
I’ll open the public hearing on Item No. 5 and have staff comments first.
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, since the City Council had originally ordered Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law on this annexation and zoning, the applicants’ legal counsel had
proposed some changes that were not part of the public record. It was the Council’s order that this be opened back up for a public hearing so that some of those items could be discussed
and made part of the public record. Gary Smith has also received some additional correspondence that would need to be entered into the record and will also affect the layout of the
plat as it is currently proposed. Do you want me to address the next Item, too, or just –
Corrie: Let’s take it one at a time. We’ll probably have to continue it anyway. Gary, any comments at this point?
Smith: Mr. Mayor, Council members, the information that Shari shared with you a moment ago has to do with a letter that I wrote to the Ada County Highway District on January 21st, and
I also sent a letter to Nampa Meridian Irrigation District that same day asking for some clarifications on both traffic issues from ACHD and the location of the Ruttlege Lateral as it
is presently – excuse me, the Kennedy Lateral as it is presently piped and the rural outlines of the boundary of Bear Creek that is adjacent to the Elk Run Subdivision. I just received
the responses to those two letters today. One was faxed to me at a quarter after five from the Ada County Highway District, and I believe Nampa Meridian hand-delivered their response
to my letter of inquiry to the City Clerk today. I have copies of those responses to my letter along with a copy of the letter that I sent that I would like to distribute to you this
evening. Those are the only comments that I have, Mr. Mayor.
Corrie: Okay. This is a public hearing. We’ll hear from the applicant first.
Spink: Thank you, Mayor Corrie, members of the Council. My name is Mike Spink, 101 South Capital in Boise. I really have very little to offer tonight except to note that the changes
to the proposed Findings and Conclusions that were submitted to the Council by my partner, JoAnne Butler, really just indicate three, and two, primarily, areas of concern. The first
has to do with the language surrounding the discussion of the donation of the park site, and the type of language that’s used in Findings of Fact and in Conditions affects the tax treatment
from the Internal Revenue Service. I think it’s in the best interest of both departments and the developer in this case that we find compatible language, and that the Findings are consistent
with the intent of the applicant which throughout this entire process has been to donate the property, not to have the property be required as a park. I think there is sufficient guarantees
in the fact that the park is reflected on the preliminary plat that construction couldn’t commence without the park actually being provided. The second area that is addressed involves
the creation of a reimbursement agreement of some sort dealing with the cost and capacity created by the developer in the Ten Mile sewer above that necessary to accommodate this development.
I know this is a conceptual issue, but the Council is looking at it on a broader basis. We would like the language in the Findings to be consistent with the treatment that the Council
expects to give to other applicants in the affected area. The language that we have requested in which it’s my understanding was circulated to you attached to a memo from the city attorney
simply suggests that the City and the developer enter into a reimbursement agreement. The final point that’s reflected in the proposed language changes are that the owners of Lot 1
which are not the developer be reimbursed for costs of construction through impact fees for improvements made to the public park when it is built. We have representatives of the developer
here tonight to answer any questions you might have, any additional questions. I would also note that although I had a brief discussion with Mr. Nichols this afternoon with respect
to the information that Gary Smith just addressed, the applicant has not yet had an opportunity to see either Mr. Smith’s
letter to ACHD and Nampa Meridian, nor have we seen or had an opportunity to comment on the responses. Thank you.
Corrie: Thank you. Any questions at this point?
Bird: I’ve got one. Excuse me, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Spink, would you restate your third item there?
Spink: It would be better if I read it.
Bird: Okay. Read it.
Spink: It is the final change that’s attached to the memorandum from the city attorney, and I’ll read more than I read before. It says: Such gift of the park is not a requirement
or condition for approval of the preliminary plat. The owners of Lot 1 shall be reimbursed for costs of construction for such public park through park impact fees. It’s my understanding
that what’s being referenced there is the cost of the irrigation system, the parking lot and the grass. I think that that’s all we’re talking about.
Bird: Okay. Let me ask you a quick question. Now to follow-up with that, if that isn’t a requirement of the approval for the park site, why then do we even have to put in the impact
fees to approve it for improvement for the – if it is not a requirement of the park? If that wasn’t a requirement in your conditions, then why is the reimbursement a requirement?
Spink: The – neither one of them is what I’d call a requirement. The semantics that we’re talking about with respect to whether the park is donated or required is language that’s used
for no purpose other than to obtain the tax treatment that any donator would require to donate this or other future parks based to the City.
Bird: That’s true.
Spink: That doesn’t mean that the developer isn’t committed to providing the park; in fact, it has always been a part of the application. So, the requirement of – I guess I wouldn’t
even call it a requirement of impact fees, it would be part of the agreement between the City and the developer for the development of the park which would occur, I believe, consistent
with the policy of the City regarding impact fees.
Bird: Not being an attorney, I just don’t understand how one isn’t a requirement, but the other part is a requirement. I mean, it isn’t a requirement to give us the park in the Findings,
but yet, it is a requirement to be reimbursed for it. Maybe I’m not understanding it right.
Spink: You’re not making it a condition of approval. It’s just something you’re agreeing to do.
Bird: We’re agreeing to do it which was part of the condition of approval is the way our Findings were. Am I right? I’m not a lawyer, so I’m just asking questions.
Spink: I think we may be just quibbling over semantics.
Bird: Okay. That’s what I needed to know.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor, Mike, I sat here during the first presentation on this, and I guess I’m seeing this as a complete reversal. My understanding originally was you guys were going
to donate the park space and you were going to pay for the development, and I don’t remember any discussion about reimbursement from park impact fees and those types of things. This
seems like a complete 180 now to me. Was I off base originally? Wasn’t that what the original proposal was?
Spink: If you were here at the original proposal, you’ll know that I was not. So I’d invite, if I might, Becky Bowcutt to address that.
Bowcutt: Becky Bowcutt, Briggs Engineering. When we did our presentation to the Council, we discussed that this was going to be donated, the land was going to be donated, and specified
exactly what improvements we were willing to do. I handed out a letter from Mr. Johnson, it was signed by him, it laid out what the costs would be for that park site, and at every hearing
we’ve gone through all the past public testimony, we have always stated that we have wanted eligibility for park impact fees. Those park impact fees related to our project. In that
letter that I gave the Council, I did a breakdown and showed that park impact fee credit, and I discussed that quite thoroughly in all the meetings. From the very beginning when I met
with the parks director, he stated, well, you guys are going to be the first. This is new ground for us. We talked that this would be a donation, we would like some impact fee credits
for it, it’s been done by other cities. I explained it to him and even provided him with documents that other cities have used as far as agreements between the developers for what improvements
they intended to make and what the donation entailed. So I guess to answer your question, Mr. Anderson, this is not a 180. We’re just trying to get the Findings clarified. The park
is part of the first phase as we stated in the hearings. The improvements are the same.
Anderson: I guess it was just an interpretation on the impact fee credits. I guess I envisioned that we waive the park impact fees in lieu of you building the park, but I guess I didn’t
understand that you were looking for park impact fees to pay for development of the park.
Bowcutt: I think it would have the same impact – I believe how the impact fees work is they’re paid by the developer when they pull a building permit – the builder, excuse me, when
the pull a building permit, and then those credits are reimbursed, most cities do them quarterly or bi-annually, something like that. So it would be the same. I guess – if you charge
none other than it’s done at the building permit process.
Anderson: It’s going back to the actual builders that build on the lots versus the developer?
Bowcutt: Right. That’s right. You’re giving them credit where they didn’t make any of the donations or construct any of these improvements.
Corrie: So it would also be less expensive to have the developers doing some of this and the City going along with it, same as the one done in Boise. The cost of you putting that park
in would be a lot less than having us go back and then taking that raw land and putting the park in. (inaudible) would be cheaper.
Bowcutt: Yes, sir. That’s correct. There’s documentation by one of the little league groups in the valley, they went ahead through donations and go enough money to build their fields,
and they said they did it for 50 cents on the dollar compared to what Boise Parks Department could have done the same thing for. It’s always that way. I don’t know why, but it is.
That’s their system, I guess.
Corrie: In defense, with Ron and I, he doesn’t need my defense here, but I had kind of the same interpretation that he did at the beginning, and I think it was explained to me a little
better of what we’re trying to do here. Any other comments?
Bird: Yes. I’ve got a question for Becky. Becky, at what point on these reimbursements of the park fees – how do we determine the cost?
*** End of Tape 1 ***
What are we determining when we stop – you stop getting reimbursed for the park fees and we start getting them? At what point or how are we going to determine that cost? If you want
them up-front –
Bowcutt: Well, you wouldn’t get them up-front.
Bird: I mean as it’s going. I’m sure there are going to be builders in there buying permits faster than the park’s going to get developed.
Bowcutt: Well, if we’re putting in the – if we’re making the improvements, it would be developed before the builders start pulling permits.
Corrie: That’s correct.
Bowcutt: And we’d be bonding for the park improvements to make sure that they’re done according to plan. I think, in my discussions with Shari, she talked about that in your Ordinance
it talks about doing a special agreement with the Parks Department for this very thing. You know, putting all this down, and I think that’s a great idea, and that’s what we did with
the City of Boise, and I provided an example to Tom Kuntz probably six months ago for his review and stated, you know, this work just slipped because it stated everything that was going
to take place. Everything went through the Parks Department, all plans and everything, and it worked well. I’d recommend we do that. I think Shari had a good point when she recommended
that your Ordinance states a similar requirement. I think with this – with these Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law, I think we need to have the integrity of what we’re trying
to do and all the specifics that we can put in that parks agreement. If you have any better solution, we’re the first ones, and this is – it’s always tough. I was the first one in
Boise, too, and it was tough.
Bird: The only thing I want to make sure that you guys, you know, can get your tax credit. We get a park and everything else. I think we need to have our legal counsel’s ears and
ours work out the wording. Now what the legality of that is with our Findings and stuff, how they’re stated now and how we have to change them, you just can’t go in and negotiate Findings
of Facts and Conclusions of Law after they’ve been done publicly.
Bowcutt: Yes, sir.
Bird: I mean, we as the Council have to re-define and then we pass on it, and that’s the main thing – that’s why I asked Mr. Spink those questions. You know, we’ve got – I want you
guys to get the tax credit to which you’re entitled to. We appreciate the park. We want you to develop it. You’re entitled to the park fees, but not throughout the whole development,
up to a point. But we’ve got to do it in a legal way so that something don’t come back and bite us.
Bowcutt: I agree.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I guess when I think of parks, I think they’re always under construction. There’s always something new that you want to add to a park every year whether it’s
a shelter or whatever. So this is more of a question for Tom, our Parks and Recreation Director, regarding – it says here that the park site would go through a park master plan. So
would we know everything that we’re going to put into this when we develop it, or are we going to develop it bare bones initially so that the developer is then done with it and the City
over the next whatever years can add different elements to the park, or how would this work? I guess I’m asking that question just for curiosity’s sake.
Kuntz: Mayor and Council member Anderson, my recommendation to you is that this park go through a master planning process as all of our future parks will. I’ve discussed that issue
with Becky and, verbally, they agreed to that. What that allows us to do will be to set sites or pads aside where restrooms will be going, shelters, playground equipment, so forth and
so on. That way we can stub electricity, sewer, water, whatever’s necessary to those sites, and that would be part of Phase I of this park prior to any sprinklers or seeding being done;
those types of things. Council member Anderson, I would like to comment, though, on your original question that you had because we have a letter dated December 20th, and I think the
confusion is when we discussed this project with the developer and with Becky, our understanding was that they were donating the land and would donate the grass and the irrigation system
in exchange for the impact fees from this development only. So that’s not what I’m hearing tonight. What I’m hearing tonight is they want further relief from other impact fees, and
I think that needs to be clarified, because it’s a really important point.
Anderson: From additional phases? Is that what you’re talking about?
Kuntz: No. From other developments. Our original agreement was that we would exchange their impact fees for their 336 houses in exchange for the park and the grass and the sprinkling
system. That was the original agreement.
Bowcutt: Mr. Kuntz is correct. That was the original agreement, and we are here tonight to state that it is restricted to the confines of this project, Bear Creek only, the 328 single-family
residential lots. There was discussion about the park serving beyond this – more of a regional or something. Further discussions with Tom and Shari and everything, we got that all
straightened out, and I got my clients back what they’re – what we originally were. So we were clear subject to this project only. As far as the master plan, Tom and I did have a discussion
on that. He said, you know, we have some time to master plan that. I said, yeah. I think it’s the best thing. We don’t want to install things, then you guys go back two years from
now and tear out. We want everything to be just the way it’s going to be as far as long-term and when it’s developed 100 percent. You know, when it’s got the play equipment and the
picnic gazebos and all that stuff. I think it can be done, and we’ll cooperate with Mr. Kuntz, we’ve said that from day one, as much as we can to make sure that this is the way that
he wants it.
Corrie: Okay. Any other questions?
Bird: I have none.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor, I have a question of Gary, I guess. There was an issue about the sewage and what the costs per lot was going to be. Has that been resolved?
Smith: No, Councilman. That number has not been finalized, yet. The Black Cat sewer trunk fee? No, sir. It has not been finalized yet.
Corrie: Do you recommend that that be done before this annexation takes place?
Smith: Well, I think that the language in the Findings is approximately $1500. As Brad Watson, I think Brad Watson related to everyone that it’s got quite a range, but his feeling
is that it’s going to be in that area. I just don’t want it tied to $1500 per lot. I – the applicant needs to understand that that is a best guess at this point and it’s not a number,
a final number.
Corrie: Okay. Let the record show that Mrs. Bowcutt was shaking her head yes. All right. Since this is a public hearing, I’ll invite the public to testimony at this time. How many
are here for this project? Okay. Is everybody wanting to testify? We do – I would hope that you would keep it at about three minutes, then, because it’s going to be a long night.
I’ll invite the first one up that would like to come up first. If you’ll give us your name and address, please.
Sale: My name is Charlie Sale. I’m president of the Meridian Heights water and sewer – I’d like to hear a few comments about – we are doing very well on our own. I’d like to hear
a few comments whether this is being built to accept anything farther south.
Rauch: My name is Chuck Rauch. My address is 911 North Stonehenge Way in Meridian. I’ve been to several of the Planning and Zoning meetings and a couple of the other meetings regarding
this project, and it was my understanding the developer was going to donate the land and do some development at his expense and not require the City in the ultimate taxpayers of Meridian
to bear the cost of that development, and now what I’m hearing today is he’s asking for a reimbursement which in essence is the City not receiving those funds, but they are going to
be reimbursing them back to the development, and believe that prior recommendations from the developer was that they were going to provide this park and the development at their cost.
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. May I – Mr. Rauch, just our impact fee is put in place to mitigate the impact of new developments, so by crediting them development costs from the impact fees,
it’s not from the taxpayers’ money. It’s actually – they can in the case of a development in Boise, the developer was able to do it at 50 percent of the cost of what the City was able
to do it at, so, you know, I would assume that the City would come out well ahead because if they were to develop the land, it would cost twice as much. So they’re asking for credit
back from the impact fee that their development would be getting which would have to be used to service parks in that area anyway.
Rauch: I understand those criteria, but the City requires would be – have zero cost if the developer is doing that and then still pay the impact fees without getting their reimbursable
credit toward those fees. So the City would be paying zero, and now they are paying in a reimbursement which would be monies that they would receive for those impact fees. Now, instead
of receiving those funds, they’re actually giving credits back. So, in essence, they are paying for it, they’re just paying the costs of the developers’ fees versus paying the costs
of someone else trying to develop that park.
deWeerd: I don’t – Councilwoman McCandless and I weren’t here when City Council passed this, but I did sit on Planning and Zoning and I think that was pretty much the understanding
at the P & Z level that they would be credited the impact fees up to a reasonable cost of development, but I don’t know. I guess that was always understood.
Rauch: The understanding I have is that those were discussed, and the agreement was that they would not ask for impact fees in the final meetings. That was something that (inaudible)
given up and would go ahead and develop that park to a certain level, and then the City of Meridian would then take the park over and maintain it based on the community development group
association, if you will, that would be responsible for maintaining the quality of that park, and so the City of Meridian would still not be charged the cost of maintenance on that facility,
that that would be taken care of by the local housing or community association, that it would be set up for that subdivision.
Corrie: Any questions? Okay. Thank you. Anyone else would like to issue testimony? No one? Developer? I’m sorry. Hold on.
Montgomery: Yes, I’m Dennis Montgomery at 855 West Seasonal Creek Lane across from the development. One of my primary concerns is not so much the park, but it’s the traffic situation
that’s going to arise because of all this development. I understand that the developer is doing some improvements on Stoddard Road which the subdivision does border; however, on Overland
Road where we have heavy traffic, as a matter of fact, all 7:30 to 7:40 in the morning, traffic is backed up almost to Stoddard already, and that’s without another 300-something houses
going in there. There’s not the availability to handle anymore traffic in that area, and as I understand it, there’s not going to be anymore improvements made in that area, either.
I’d like to just voice the concern on that. Thank you.
Corrie: Anyone else? Becky, anybody want to answer some questions?
Bowcutt: I’ll be quick. Concerning the cost as far as the park dedication and the improvements that we’ve outlined, the costs just for the land alone if you just capped it at $20,000
an acre is $375,000. Then the improvements that we’ve listed is, I think, around $400,000. I don’t have that document in front of me, but
if I recall correctly, we were close to $800,000. The maximum allowable credit we could get was like $176,000 approximately, that’s the approximate number. So the investment by the
developer to the community is far greater than what he would be reimbursed. I was told that Tully Park cost almost $950,000 to develop. So you know, this is very, very expensive.
I feel that we can do it a lot more efficiently with less cost, and we’re glad to do it. We want our neighborhood to benefit from this development. Impact fees by each individual house
is to pay for their proportionate share of the City providing parks. In this instance, the developer’s paying for their proportionate share. So we’d be double-dinged if we got hit
for the impact – the park impact fees for each home in this development.
Corrie: Do you have any comments on the traffic?
Bowcutt: My statement on the traffic is we did a traffic study. We went through Ada County Highway District’s rigorous review through their staff. We consulted with them in draft
form multiple times, and we went before the Highway District Commissioners, and it was approved. It was determined that capacity exists in their facilities to accommodate this development.
I’ve talked to Mr. Sale on multiple times about upgrading those intersections along Overland, Highway 69, Locust Grove, he told me one of their priorities is that Highway 69 and Overland
intersection. I think the date he kicked out was like 2001, and then they’re thinking of doing Locust Grove 2002. But it seems like every time they quote a year, then the next time
you talk to them the year’s changed.
Corrie: It’s changed to 2004 now (inaudible).
Bowcutt: That’s what I said. You never know. They’re changing their priorities, they told me every 90 days. Thank you.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. While we’re on that subject of Highway District, I’d like to note that the return letter by Terry Little to Gary says January 15, 2000. I think that means February
15, 2000; right?
Smith: Yes.
Bird: Okay. I just wanted to get that in the record.
Corrie: I’m going to allow you to some testimony. Let it be known here now that if we call for a public input on it, everybody wants to talk, talk. Because the last person has to
answer the question, that’s the developer. So I’ll do it this one time. I think – were you here when I was calling it for testimony? All right.
Yerrington: My name’s Kent Yerrington, I live at 8830 Morning Mist, Boise, Idaho. I have a question on the four streets that will come out of this subdivision and enter onto Stoddard
Road. Ada County Highway District reports they’re supposed to have center turnlanes with 100-foot storage with shallow tapers for
both approaching and departures. One of the streets, Silver Tip Way intersections is 30 feet south of the Ridenbaugh Canal. So I was wondering how they were going to get 100-foot taper
and center turnlane over a bridge. Thank you.
Corrie: Thank you. Do you want to answer that?
Bowcutt: Becky Bowcutt. There are three intersections on Stoddard. The Silver Tip Way, he’s talking about the one that is south of the Ridenbaugh. The volumes do not warrant a center
turnlane on that one. The two in the mid-section are required for center turnlane, and then we have to install a center turnlane at the intersection of Overland and Stoddard. I don’t
know if Shari’s got a copy of the – right there. As you can see, the two main entrances require center turnlanes. If he’s talking about that one south of the Ridenbaugh, that one right
there, that one doesn’t warrant a center turnlane because there’s only a handful of homes on that.
Corrie: Okay. Council, with request of – we’ve got some other materials that we’ve just received. Discussion? Let me ask a question for the City Attorney. Where do we stand as far
as working out an agreement with the attorneys of the City and also the developer and this gift program and being able to make sure all these things come to pass before the annexation?
Do we need to look at that? I know we do, but do we need to continue the public hearing for that?
Nichols: I don’t know that we need to continue the public hearing because it’s not necessarily new information. It’s just a matter of figuring out a way to get it done. We think we
can.
Corrie: Do (inaudible) new things that came in from the City Engineer, is that any new information at all?
Nichols: I believe it should be treated as new information, but I don’t know that – basically what you can do is if we can figure out, which we believe we can, the information with
regard to the language that fits the intent to gift and protects the City so that we’ll receive the gift, then the issue becomes do these change your initial decision with regard to
why your Findings are.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. Mr. Nichols, if we change the wording and stuff in the Findings, then do we have to come back and get new Findings?
Nichols: Councilman Bird, Mayor, members of the Council, I’m not certain at this point that you will need to change the Findings. If it turns out that you need to change the Findings,
we will make recommendations to you with regard to what those changes would be, and then you can adopt new Findings after the close of the record.
Corrie: Any more discussion? (inaudible) any more questions? Okay. Then I’ll entertain a motion to close the public hearing, then.
Bird: I move that we close the public hearing.
Anderson: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to close the public hearing at this point. All those in favor of the motion say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: Public hearing is closed. Further discussion and comments? Hearing no other comments, I’ll entertain a motion.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. I move that we table the request for annexation and zoning of 150.79 acres to R-4 by Bear Creek, LLC, east of Stoddard Road and south of Overland to March 7, 2000,
and let the attorneys from both sides get together and work out the wording and bring it back to us and see if we can’t work out a deal that’ll be satisfactory for both entities.
deWeerd: Second.
Corrie: Motion made by Mr. Bird and seconded by Mrs. deWeerd to table Item No. 5, request for annexation and zoning and have the attorneys work the verbiage out and table it to March
7, 2000, meeting. Further discussion? Okay. Hearing none, we’ll have a roll-call vote.
Roll-call vote: Anderson, aye; Bird, aye; deWeerd, aye; McCandless, aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: Okay. The motion is approved and Item No. 5 is tabled until 3/7/2000.
Item 6. Public Hearing: PP 99-010 Request for preliminary plat for proposed Bear Creek Subdivision - 326 single-family lots on 150.79 acres by Bear Creek, LLC - east of Stoddard Road
and south of Overland:
Corrie: At this time, I will open the public hearing again for Item No. 6 which is a request for preliminary plat for proposed Bear Creek Subdivision, 326 single-family units on 150.79
acres by Bear Creek, LLC, east of Stoddard Road and south of Overland. At this time, I will open the public hearing and invite staff comments first. Ms. Stiles.
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, in addition to the comments that were previously received by the Council, in light of the letter we received from Nampa Meridian Irrigation District,
I would like to ask that you make as further conditions that the unencroachable area of the Kennedy Lateral be a common lot and not included in the lots. Their letter indicated that
they need 25 to 30 feet from the centerline of that lateral in order – because of the depth of the pipe to allow for repairs to be made, and also they haven’t – they’ve shown the Harden
Drain going through existing lots. I would like the applicant to address where that is going to be relocated because there is an existing easement on that that is now going through
lots shown on the plat. Also that the plat -–one of the conditions of the plat is that the fencing along the Ridenbaugh be no closer than five feet from the top of berm to allow for
maintenance. Top of bank. Yeah. I don’t know if Tom has any additional comments to add. He did write a letter previously regarding the plat and the park, but he may have some items.
Kuntz: The only additional item, and we’ve talked to the developer, is a continuous wrought-iron fence that will border the homeowners and the park with no gated entrances from private
homeowners.
Stiles: That’s all I had.
Corrie: Okay. Since this is a public hearing, we’ll open it up for the developer’s comments.
Bowcutt: Becky Bowcutt, Briggs Engineering, 1800 West Overland in Boise. That Kennedy Lateral is piped right in this area here. I did a lot additional depth for those lots to accommodate
the easement for the Kennedy Lateral. If staff feels that it should be in a separate lot, we’ve done that in other projects. I think we can probably accommodate that. I don’t believe
it’s in a separate lot here for Elk Run. There’s an easement across those lots, a substantial easement, because it’s the – the pipe’s on their side, not on our side. As far as the
Harden Drain, the Harden Drain traverses like this through the property. We – I don’t know if you can see it, it’s so tiny. We’d bring it out here, we’ve allocated some common lots
and we had a route in which to take it through there and pipe it along this perimeter. So keeping it right on the edge of the park and outside rear yards. If I had the bigger one,
I could show you. Will’s got it. So we will end up dealing with Nampa Meridian on their – they would relinquish their right to their existing easement in lieu of us granting their
new easement and them approving the relocation and the piping, et cetera. Tom’s comment on the fencing around the park, we have had discussions on fencing. We all agree that we do
not want site-obscuring fencing because we find that when we put six-foot cedar border around a city park, it increases the chance of vandalism substantially. Mr. Johnson indicated
that he did not want chain-link because it just doesn’t have a nice look, that he was looking either at wrought-iron or vinyl, and I thought we were going to kind of work with Tom in
figuring out what’s the best type of fencing, you know, for the park. We did agree no gates because we’ve provided
pedestrian pathways on all sides of the park within probably 350 to 400 feet from all lots, that’s the furthest point. So they have ample access through those designated entrances,
and we don’t want to encourage back gates.
Corrie: Council, any questions?
Bird: I have none.
Corrie: All right. Thank you, Becky. This is a public hearing. I’ll entertain public invited to testify here. Mr. Hepper.
Hepper: Mr. Mayor, Councilmen, my name is Tim Hepper, I’m at 448 West Victory. We’ve got a piece of property that’s about eight acres just to the east of that property there, and you
know, it’s right there – right where that point is right there. A couple concerns is I don’t see any street stubs from that subdivision to any of that property going to the east.
I’m wondering if there’s any future growth considerations there for maybe some of that other property being developed in the future and how they would interconnect the roads and stuff.
Usually most subdivisions have some sort of street stubs, particularly the long, skinny piece of property there is not hardly wide enough to run a street in there in the future if they
ever decided to, and especially to have two access points to it. Same way with mine, you know. If I did ever develop it, which I don’t have any immediate plans, I probably have access
on Victory Road, but there should be another street stub or another access into that property. The other question would be on the street stub is possibly hook up to City services, sewer,
water. If the sewer would ever be stubbed into the edge of that property where it could be later attached to, I’m not sure exactly what the agreement was with the City on the sewer
on the property, if there’s any allowance for future hookups onto that property later on. The flow in the ground, the natural flow of the water, my property, the eight acres there,
flows to the west. The height of the hill, the peak of the hill, is on the east side of my property, so the natural drain would be to that direction for sewer and water. I guess that’s
my main concern. Oh. The other concern would be the minimum house size on the lots. Most of the developments south of the freeway have already have a 1500 square-foot minimum. I
don’t think that – I think the City is 1400, isn’t it, for R-4? Yeah. But a lot of the subdivisions off the freeway have gone to 1500. Now there are some pretty nice subdivisions
out south of the freeway there, and I’d like to see that also.
Corrie: Anyone else? This side of the room? Anybody? Okay. This side? Okay. Answers? Got any answers to some of those questions that – that’d be you, I guess.
Bowcutt: I was out of comments for once. We have provided some stub streets there. There’s a stub street here from Elk Run, another stub street here. We’ve made those two connections.
This property – there’s a stub street here, and this
is the church – I believe this is the church property and this is a separate parcel here, has a single-family dwelling. Then the Highway District asked us to put another stub street
somewhere in this location here. Maybe further down. This has one single-family dwelling that sits back here. So I guess that gentleman, this is his parcel here? No? That’s yours.
His is there. Well, that – it’s pretty close. It’s in this vicinity. I’d have to look at my larger one to determine what location that’s at.
Stiles: It’s about here, Becky.
Bowcutt: I can’t tell from the – is it right there, Shari? It’s right where she’s got that little arrow. There’s a stub street right there.
Unidentified audience member: That would be (inaudible) Meridian Road (inaudible).
Bowcutt: That would be for interconnection to underdeveloped properties on our eastern boundary. They try to connect them so you can go from one neighborhood to the other. If they
were ever to redevelop. Now, if that location is inappropriate, I’d recommend they get with us and we can go down to the Highway District and change it. They’re not real particular
on exact – the exact location, but they want to make sure that we provide for that connection. So if there’s any, you know –
Unidentified audience member: Basically that (inaudible)
Bowcutt: I can give you my business card and you can come in or we can meet out at the site and try to go over that and then go down the Highway District. That’s what I’d recommend.
Corrie: Any comment on the house sizes, 1500 square feet?
Bowcutt: Above 1500, I believe. Greg?
Johnson: (inaudible)
Bowcutt: Right. We’ve got three different product lines. I think in that R-4, that 1500 square feet is the minimum, so everything would be at and above. I think we’re looking at
there could be 145 to – Greg can probably answer that better than I can, all the way up to 300-something, I think.
Johnson: I’m Greg Johnson. I live at 2433 CanAda Road. We’ve developed three different product types. The A-type lots are approximately 110- to 120-foot in frontage. Their depths
vary from 120- to 150-foot frontages. It’s a 15 – a 10- or 12,000 foot lot to as big as some of them are 22, 23,000 square feet. We thought that a Meridian Greens type of home is
a comparable to what’s there is the market we’re trying to hit with that. We’re doing boulevard-type landscaping in that portion of the subdivision along side of the streets. Planting
of trees and
that that will be done at the time that we put in the curbs and gutters and sidewalks. Those homes, we picture them being 2400 square feet and larger. The B-type lots will range from
90-foot frontages to 110, and approximately 110- to 120-foot in depth – be very comparable to the later phases of Sportsman Pointe Subdivision, Sherbrooke Subdivision, that type of thing.
$150 to $220,000 homes, minimum square footage in that type of product would be 1600 square feet. The average will probably be somewhere around 1800 to 2000 square feet for the bulk
of them. The C-type lots are the basic R-4 lot, 80 x 100 minimum – that’s located basically in the northern portion backing up to the commercial – I don’t know if it’s zoned commercial
at this point, but it has been requested to become commercial along Overland, and that product we’d like to put 1400 square foot homes if that’s available in an R-4 zoning. I’d say
the bulk of them would be between 1400 and 1700 square feet and be more of a first-time move up type buyer in the $115,000 to $150,000 range. I think count-wise – can you remember,
Becky, what the counts – where we came up with the mix? I can’t. It gives a good product mix, and we’re trying to phase it so that we bring on all of those different products and have
them available to the public to help increase our absorption and so that we’re not bringing all one type of product on all at once. The park – the B-lots surround the park and go to
the south and that deeper portion backing up to the existing portion. The C-lots are to the north of that, and then the A-lots run from about the – I think it’s the second street south
of the park all the way up the hill.
Corrie: Thank you. Any other questions from Council?
: Was Becky going to explain about the utilities (inaudible) I think Mr. Hepper asked that question.
Corrie: Okay. Becky.
Bowcutt: As far as the sewer and water stubs, typically we provide those in the stub streets. It’s obviously subject to your Public Works Department as far as what that sewer can service
and the depth of that sewer. So we’d have to coordinate with the Public Works Department.
Corrie: It’s Gary’s saying it meets approval there. Okay. Any other questions, Council? Okay. Hearing none, I’ll entertain a motion to close the public hearing.
Anderson: So moved.
Bird: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to close the public hearing on Item No. 6. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: Council, discussion? Then if there is no further discussion, I’ll entertain a motion on the request for preliminary plat for Bear Creek Subdivision, 326 single-family units.
Bird: Mr. Mayor, I move that we table the preliminary plat for proposed Bear Creek Subdivision for 326 single-family lots on 150.79 acres by Bear Creek, LLC, until March 7th, 2000.
Anderson: Second.
Corrie: Okay. Motion is made and seconded to table the request for preliminary plat until 3/7/2000. Any further discussion? It will not be a public hearing, by the way, on that.
Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Item 7. Public Hearing: AZ 99-021 Request for annexation and zoning of 8.25 acres to R-8 for proposed Woodhaven Subdivision by Dan Wood / D.W., Inc. – west of Eagle Road between Overland
and east Victory:
Corrie: Okay. Item No. 7 is a public hearing, this is a request for annexation and zoning of 8.25 acres to R-8 for proposed Woodhaven Subdivision by Dan Wood / D.W., Inc., west of
Eagle Road between Overland and East Victory. Okay. I’ll open the public hearing at this time and invite staff first comments on Item No. 7.
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, this is for the property that’s immediately south of what is known as Thousand Springs Village. This is the property that was owned by Gordon Harris
and has been developed by Marty Goldsmith. It’s part of this entire development. The applicant has requested a zoning of R-8. It is shown in our Comprehensive Plan as a mixed residential
area. In an attempt to provide a little different housing, a diversity in housing which is what our Comprehensive Plan encourages, he had come in with a planned development to have
some smaller lots and some townhomes in that area. The Planning and Zoning Commission did not like the layout, and they thought it was too dense. His proposal was too dense, and so
the applicant has submitted a new plat that will be considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The reason you’re seeing the annexation and zoning without a plat is because they
did recommend the R-8 zoning. They didn’t have a problem with the R-8 zoning. But, unfortunately, since they did make the recommendation, that’s why this is proceeding onto you without
a development proposal. So, as I said, this is only for annexation and zoning for your consideration as to the appropriateness of
giving it a designation of R-8 and annexing it into the City, but as I said, you won’t see the proposal until next month sometime, possibly two months. That’s all I had.
Corrie: Anyone else from staff? Comments? Okay. Since this is a public hearing and it’s been opened, (inaudible).
Taylor: Good evening, Mayor, members of the Council. I’m Nancy Taylor with J-U-B Engineers, 250 South Beechwood. This evening, I’m here to request annexation and zoning for this
8.25-acre site which is, as you can see, south of the interchange of Eagle, north of Victory, and we are requesting an R-8 zoning for this site because we think it's appropriate in this
area that’s been designated mixed residential in your Comprehensive Plan. It’s surrounded by R-4, there’s some R-1 to the south in the County. We’re aware of that. We are also aware
that this was a mixed residential, specifically called out in a – in the Comprehensive Plan; in fact, it’s one of those – of three or four areas in the City that calls out for mixed
residential. So when we saw this, we consulted with the staff to see how best to accommodate this Comp Plan designation, which, by the way, is not really defined. And so –
*** End of Side 2 ***
density of 30 units instead of the original 45, but I believe that the mixed residential is really in keeping with the Comprehensive Plan here because this sits on Eagle Road and I-84.
These are major principle arterials, major arterials. I’m sure this area was intended for exactly what it says at the interchange of I-84 and Eagle Road for mixed/planned use development,
and slightly to the south for an area of mixed residential. It is interesting that we see that same land-use alignment at Ten Mile. So I am sure when the Comprehensive Plan was written,
there was awareness that those were going to be major corridors. With that in mind, we did propose something different than the R-4 on this 8.25 acres. The overall – I don’t really
want to discuss the preliminary plat at this point, but I do want to add that the lots are from 6500 to over 10,000 square feet. We’re proposing a density of about 3.65 units per acre.
This all meets the R-8 zone. We also believe that these smaller lots, there are larger lots to the south, about one to two acres, and to the north there’s R-4, little larger lots,
but these are not incompatible, and, in fact, I think staff has even mentioned that that the Comprehensive Plan calls for a variety of housing types and for all income groups. I suggest
to you that this is a great, small area for a little smaller lots mixed in with larger lots, and it meets the intent of the Comprehensive Plan. I think that I will conclude my presentation.
I’ll be happy to answer any questions. Mr. Wood is here tonight, the developer, and can also answer any questions if you have any. Thank you.
Corrie: Questions from Council?
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. I just have a comment. Being a student of the P & Z Commission, I – my personal preference is to look at zoning and annexation when we look at the conditional
use and preliminary plat. So it would be my
personal preference and position that we look at this when we see the CUP and preliminary plat. So – I just thought I would let everyone know my statement right now.
Corrie: I have a question. You say that you’d have approximately three-point-something homes to the acre?
Taylor: Yes.
Corrie: And you’re going for an R-8? Is that because of the home sizes or what – you’re in an R-4 preliminary here. Three-point-something – you can do an R-4, but it’s because of
the house sizes?
Taylor: Mr. Mayor, we decided to just go with the original – they were going to be a little smaller to R-8, but the lots are going to be a minimum of 6500 up to over 10,000, and that
6500 is in the R-8. I might add that the average lot size is around 7500 square feet.
Corrie: Any other questions? Okay. Thank you. Public hearing is open. Anyone else like to issue testimony? Yes, sir.
Young: My name is Rex Young. I live at 2950 East Victory Road in Meridian. I’ve lived on that property for, in the neighborhood, of 30 years. I’m one of those lots that’s to the
south of the proposed Woodhaven Subdivision. When we take a look at this area, you’ve got an area there of about 160 acres, and 140 of those acres make up Thousand Springs and Thousand
Springs Village, and that’s all zoned as R-4. Then to the south, you’ve got about 12 acres, and those are one-and two-acre lots, and it’s zoned R-T and R-1. Then you take a look at
Woodhaven, and it’s about an 8-acre plots, 160 yards wide. It abuts Thousand Springs Village lots to the north and to the west, and it also abuts the rural residential lots along there
to the south. At the initial Planning and Zoning hearing which was held in December 14, 1999, the meeting lasted until approximately two a.m., and then was continued until the 12th
of January. At that December meeting, two members of the Council spoke of their concerns about this proposed project. To paraphrase their comments, they indicated the neighbors to
the south deserved adequate transitional lots and also while they generally favored mixed and higher densities, they said this may not be the site for this. It’s unfortunate that we
did not have a vote that night because both of those members of the Council were absent at the next meeting where the annexation and zoning of R-8 were approved. Now, I realize that
this is difficult to look at a project like this, and I’ve got here some papers that I’d like to give you. I’ll give you a minute to take a look at that and kind of get yourself oriented.
Incidentally, my comments tonight, they pertain to the neighbors to the south, Young, Allen, Marquart, Hepper and everyone. My comments all pertain to all of those properties. Now,
I realize that we’re here tonight to talk about annexation and zoning. To really adequately talk about that, I need to talk just for a few
moments about the plot. We’re vitally concerned, the neighbors to the south, vitally concerned about transitional lots. I know that that’ll be addressed at a later date. But the R-8
zoning does not lend itself to providing adequate transitional lots in accordance with the Comprehensive Plan. Specifically, policy 6.8 of the Comprehensive Plan states new urban density
subdivisions which abut or are proximal to existing rural residential land uses shall provide screening and transitional densities with larger, more comparable lot sizes to buffer the
interface between urban level densities and rural residential densities. Now, as you can see from the map that I’ve furnished you, that if you look a little bit to the west there where
it abuts up against Thousand Springs Village, we’ve got transitional lots that range in size from 18,800 square feet down to about 12,500 square feet. We think that we should have transitional
lots of at least 12,500 square feet. Now we do not object to the annexation of the property, but we do object to the zoning. We believe that it should be zoned R-4 consistent with
the other 140 acres – recently approved and is in the process of being constructed. Now, this would not be in violation of the Comprehensive Plan which gives the property a mixed residential
designation as no one can define exactly what mixed residential means. To have 140 acres of R-4, 12 acres of R-T and R-1, and sandwiched in between a narrow eight-acre strip zoned R-8
just doesn’t make sense. We urge you to disapprove the R-8 zoning. Do you have any questions?
Corrie: Does Council?
Bird: I have none.
Corrie: Thank you.
Allen: Jim Allen, I live at 3040 East Victory. Jus to the east of Mr. Young, so I’m the little portion there that has the dip down – I have the two acres of ground. If I look at –
The Hub of Treasure Valley, a good place to live. City of Meridian. Memorandum of the Planning and Zoning Commission dated December 30, 1999, down in the second paragraph there, it
says annexation and zoning comments. Mixed residential land use (inaudible) in the Comprehensive Plan. I think mixed residential could mean that we should have half-acre lots next
to our two-acre lots which does call for in the Comprehensive Plan at one place. Thank you.
Corrie: Thank you, Mr. Allen. Any other comments? Yes, sir.
Marquart: Mr. Mayor, Council members, Dave Marquart, 3100 East Victory. I live to the south of this project. I’d like to address, if I may, this zoning issue that we’re having this
evening and bring up a couple of points. I do want to reiterate that the neighbors are in favor of the development of this parcel. We do question the R-8 zoning, and we have been very
consistent in meeting with the Planning and Zoning to request an R-4. The neighbors have met and we have been very consistent in that area. I feel that the process that brought this
document to you
this evening to be flawed in some ways, and I’d like to bring some of those issues to you if I may. Mr. Mayor, if I may, may I bring some material? Thank you. What you have in front
of you are the minutes from the January 12th Planning and Zoning Commission, and they start on Page 2, and I have them front and backs in case there’s a concern about how you turn the
pages. They’re numbered at the top left as the Planning and Zoning Commission would do that. Could I draw your attention, if I may, to Page 4 of the minutes of that evening. I have
highlighted there Mr. Young’s continual support of this statement, we do not oppose the annexation, but we do oppose the R-8 zoning. We believe that zoning should be no greater than
R-4 which is consistent to what he said tonight, with the other 140 acres to the north and west, and I bring that to your attention specifically on that page that he has asked for consistently,
as we all have, for an R-4. If I could draw your attention to Page 6. At the top of the page, Mr. Young goes on to continue that again, as he said tonight, that he things that 12-5
would be an adequate buffering size. About halfway down the page, Mr. Borup says some information there, I don’t think (inaudible) but in that it says this is an intersection, a mile
intersection on a state highway. Well, it’s not a state highway. That’s highway 55 to the north of the highway – the freeway which then turns to the west there. So it’s not really
– I would agree that it’s a busy street, but it is not a state highway there. Logic is going to say that this is the Comprehensive Plan that usually designates these for commercial
intersections. Your Comprehensive Plan dated 1993 and adopted in ’94 does not call for that intersection to be commercial. So it’s flawed in that that’s not a commercial area in your
Comprehensive Plan. I don’t know how the Planning and Zoning know that this is going to be a commercial area. Your Comprehensive Plan doesn’t indicate that. It does call for the intersection
one mile south of this, Amity and Eagle, to be commercial, but not in the Comprehensive Plan that you have now. So I don’t know where that may have come from. May I ask you to move
to Page 7 for just a moment. About halfway down. Mr. Young says that it is not zoned, this intersection, now. And Mr. Borup says no, it isn’t. Then my statement here is I believe
in the Meridian Comprehensive Plan, and I do. I read the plan. I bought my property, built my home. I use that document as my planning for this. There is no commercial plan for this
intersection. It’s planned for one mile south. Now, the next statement there, it says our ’93 Comprehensive Plan falls to that. How about the 2000? Well, I didn’t even know we had
one. I don’t know that it’s come before this Board if we even had a Comprehensive Plan. I think ’93 is the Comprehensive Plan, not anything else. So I state that we have to use the
one that we have right now, and it calls for that commercial to be behind us by a mile. If I might to Page 8, please. Ms. Hepper, in the middle there, brings up the fact that she
has a signed petition. We had 16 people, I believe, from up and down Eagle Road, and they all supported the annexation but with an R-4. The same as we have over at the Thousand Springs
Village and Thousand Springs. If I may at the last on Page 9, after the motion has been – rather that after the meeting has been closed, Mr. Brown states that the item before us is
an annexation from R-T to R-8. Then he goes on to state that I believe it’s appropriate in this area as previously stated by Mr. Young. Well, as I pointed out
to you on Page 4, Mr. Young wanted an R-4 not an R-8. So I would have to believe that if Mr. Brown certainly believes that Mr. Young’s statement is correct, that it should be R-4 not
an R-8. So because of some of the misstatements here and the use of a Comprehensive Plan that’s not even in existence and not totally listening to the testimony of the citizens of Meridian,
I urge that you deny this application and ask that it be taken back for a re-design of an R-4. Thank you. Any questions, please? Thank you.
Corrie: New testimony at this time? Anybody on this side? Okay. Hearing none, Mr. Young, do you want to give (inaudible) answers (inaudible)?
Taylor: Mr. Mayor, Council, there are a couple of corrections I’d like to make on some of the testimony. Mr. Young did refer to the 140 acres, I believe, of Thousand Springs as R-4
and to the south 12 acres of one to two acres of rural transitional in the R-T, I believe. He did make some comments about the Planning and Zoning Commission’s opinions about an R-8
based on the old concept plan on the old subdivision plat that was being requested. It is Planning and Zoning will be reviewing the new submitted preliminary plat, and I believe Mr.
Young mentioned that the Planning and Zoning Commissioners, some of them, were questioning the compatibility. Well, that was a lot higher density on the older plan. There were 45 lots
there. We’re now recommending 30. Also, I want to suggest that rural residential is really not one to two acres, and I think Staff has interpreted that to be approximately lots up
to and in excess of 10 acres that require buffering. Finally, the comment was made that there is no commercial plan in the Comp Plan for the corner of Victory and Eagle Road, and that
is correct. I would agree that we are not suggesting it should be commercial. In that same line of thinking, we also are basing our request on the Comp Plan which does call for a mixed
residential in this area. It is based on Eagle Road and Victory which are not now, but are on section lines that are undoubtedly in the future going to be arterials. So in closing,
I would urge you to consider that we certainly have been sympathetic to the property owners to the south. There are approximately five of them that abut this property. We have gone
back in, we have also, and I will also try to speak to the plat as little as possible, but I – staff did make a recommendation on spreading those lots out to abut the neighbors to the
south. That has been done. In fact, we have – staff recommended that no more than two lots abut each of their lots; in fact, in some places we have done less than that. So there are
eight proposed lots to abut their five lots. I believe that we have made every effort to provide a small enclave of mixed residential use for the area. I realize that the Comprehensive
Plan really doesn’t define this, but we’ve made every effort to work with staff and the Comprehensive Plan to provide you with a mixed residential area, not one that strictly is R-4
and an R-1. We’ve provided here something to give a mixed residential feel to the area. I believe that that’s really in keeping with good city planning. Thank you.
Corrie: Council, (inaudible) questions on testimony so far?
Bird: I have none, Mr. Mayor.
Corrie: Okay. Hearing none, I’ll close the public hearing on – (inaudible) vote.
Bird: So moved.
Anderson: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to close the public hearing on Item No. 7. Any further discussion?
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. I would be opposed to closing the public hearing. I would suggest continuing it until we have a plan in front of us.
Corrie: Okay. Any other comments? Motion before the Council to close the public hearing. All in favor say aye. (Two ayes) Opposed, no? (One nay). Okay. We have two yeses, one
nay. (inaudible) abstaining – is that –
McCandless: I vote aye.
Corrie: Three ayes, one no.
MOTION PASSED: THREE AYES, ONE NAY
Corrie: Public hearing is closed. Comments? Council?
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. I’ve pretty much made my comments. I would like to see a plan before I can vote on annexation and zoning of this piece of property.
Corrie: Any other comments?
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I guess my comment would be regardless of whether we annex it or not, you would still get the opportunity to see a plan and to approve that plan before any development
could take place out there. So this annexation really would not circumvent that process. That’s I guess why I was feeling that it wouldn’t hurt to go ahead and move on the annexation
tonight.
Bird: You want to stay to the R-8?
Corrie: Any other comments?
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. I guess the reason I would like to continue this until we see a plan is R-8 actually – I know that their proposal or what we hear their proposal is closer to an
R-4, and I understand the reason why, but I’d still rather see before I would zone it an R-8, I would rather see a plan because once you zone it an R-8, it’s an R-8. It can be many
more lots than what we hear they’re
proposing, so I would feel more comfortable seeing a plan before I can vote on zoning and annexation.
Corrie: You also can require it to be an R-4.
Bird: You could.
deWeerd: You could. I would like the flexibility of seeing what comes back.
Corrie: Anyone else?
Anderson: Can you do partial for buffering? Can you require like R-4 along the perimeter lots to the south?
Corrie: Well, you can put it in your development plans that they have houses in the R-4 area that (inaudible) recommendation there, but if you do it an R-8, you’re tied to an R-8, and
you’re tied to that. If you say, okay, then you want it R-4, then it’s tied to an R-4, and they have to have it as an R-4 everywhere. They can do houses one to an acre, whatever
they want, but if you tie it to an R-8, you’re tying it to an R-8. I can see where Mrs. deWeerd is coming from, but – just personally, it’s always been the Council previous to kind
of stay with either higher density – less density than what’s around them than go and put an R-8 in the middle of an R-4 area. So for what it’s worth, I personally would like to see
it an R-4, but it’s not my vote unless it comes to a tie. So – I can’t make a motion.
Bird: Mr. Bird. My one comment is like you stated that whatever we zone this, I mean, their plan might be good, well-meant now, and they might only have 30 lots in that eight acres
now, but if we zone it R-8, then they can put up to it. Once it’s zoned R-8, it’s changed. I’ll make a –
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I was a little confused. I’d like clarification from someone. Staff or somebody on which Comprehensive Plan we were looking at. Was it ’93 or the 2000 or did
we have people looking at both of them?
Corrie: We don’t have it. We in the Comp Plan change right now. It’s in the works, right, Shari? So we don’t have a 2000 Comp Plan they can –
Stiles: No, we don’t. It was the 1993.
Anderson: It was the ’93 that everyone was looking at? Okay.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. I move that we approve the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law for the annexation and zoning of 8.25 acres to R-4 for proposed Woodhaven Subdivision by Dan Wood
/ D.W., Inc. R-4.
Anderson: I’d second that.
Corrie: Motion has been made for the annexation and zoning of 8.25 acres for Woodhaven Subdivision to be changed from an R-8 to an R-4 classification. (inaudible) Findings of Facts.
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. You know, being a student of P & Z, you know, we couldn’t change those things. That’s allowed here?
Corrie: You couldn’t, but we can.
deWeerd: I guess the discussion I would like to lend to this, I do like the mixed use, and the R-8 does allow some multi-family, some townhouse options, and I guess if we keep the integrity
of the R-4 along the lowliness of the larger parcels and transition, I still think the higher density going toward Thousand Springs Village is a nice concept. I would not like to limit
that kind of ability to do that.
Corrie: Okay. Any other comments? Okay. With that being said, we’ll have a vote on the annexation and zoning to Item No. 7 to an R-4 classification on the 8.25 acres. Roll-call
vote, Mr. Berg.
Roll-call: Anderson, nay; deWeerd, nay; McCandless, aye; Bird, aye.
Berg: We have a two-two tie. Mr. Mayor.
Corrie: Okay. I’m still going to stick to what I said. I think we’ve got R-4s all around us. I think the developer can work into the R-4 with (inaudible) mixed use and some of the
lots that are around there. I’m going to vote aye to break the tie to be at R-4. Okay.
MOTION CARRIED WITH TIEBREAKER: THREE AYES, TWO NAYS
Item 8. Public Hearing: RZ 00-001 Request for rezone of 1.761 acres from R-8 and R-15 to entirely R-15 by Lynd Hoover – 1318 E. 4th:
Corrie: Okay. This is a request for rezone of 1.761 acres from R-8 to R-15 to entirely R-15 by Lynd Hoover. At this time I’ll open public hearing and invite staff comments.
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, this is for a property located at the end of Badley Street. This is where Creekside Arbour Apartments are currently. This is where the second phase
of Creekside Arbour was recently approved. The West 4th Street, half street, does extend north to this property. There is a right-of-way dedication for West 4th Street just west of
this property. Ada County Highway District has made it a requirement upon development of the property that this roadway be extended. Currently, for some reason, this property was split
by a zone. It was zoned R-15 south of approximately this line. North of that line it’s
zoned R-8. There are currently two houses on the lot and some miscellaneous uses in the back. This is at the end of West 4th Street where the houses are located, and then from the
other direction off Badley, this is what exists there now. There has been some clean-up on the site. The applicant has informed me they will continue those efforts to clean up the
site, and it is the applicant’s intent to probably just sell this to someone, but he would like it all in one zoning to facilitate a sale and development of the property. It is high
density virtually everywhere around this site. There is the mobile home park is further up here. With all the apartments here, there’s – over here would be where Sterling Creek Subdivision
is. This is where Badley was not being required to go through as a public road, but staff recommends approval of the rezone with the conditions stated in our staff report.
Corrie: Since this is a public hearing, we’ve opened the public hearing, request Mr. Lynd Hoover, applicant.
Hoover: Mayor, Council members, I’m Lynd Hoover and I live at 3420 Sugar Creek Drive in Meridian. I’ve looked at the comments by staff. I have a couple questions on their comments.
Item 1.5. There – that was a run-off ditch which when those apartments there, Arbour Point was bare land and it irrigated from the east to the west, that caught the excess water.
Now that those apartments are there, there’s no possible means for irrigation, so there’s no reason to tile a ditch which is – has no function. And on Item 1.9, it says construct a
five-foot concrete sidewalk on Badley Street. I hope they don’t mean the full part of my property or the full frontage on Badley Street because part of that I do not own. Part of it
is a private drive which is owned by the apartment buildings. From that point to the east is private drive. And that’s the only questions I have on the findings of the staff.
Corrie: Okay. Is there – is there still any water that’s drained in that?
Hoover: There’s no place for water to come from.
Corrie: Okay.
Hoover: There used to be a ditch on the east side of the apartments which would flood irrigate that whole area. There’s apartments there now. There’s no way – they’ve covered and
taken the ditch out. There’s no irrigation water there now at all.
Corrie: Thank you. Anyone else from the public that would like to issue testimony? Okay. Shari, I have a question about that 1.9 about the sidewalk, curb and gutter.
Stiles: Oh. That’s correct. You can see from this layout here. All of this would be owned by the Leavells, so Mr. Hoover does not have the property from here
east to dedicate right-of-way for sidewalk. He would – this would be the only location that he’d have along Badley that he could provide sidewalk within that right-of-way. As far as
the ditch is, that’s a standard comment, and it won’t really be addressed until actual development proposed for the site.
Corrie: Thank you. Comments from Council?
Bird: I have none.
Corrie: Okay. I’ll entertain a motion to close the public hearing.
Bird: So moved.
Anderson: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to close the public hearing on Item No. 8. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: Comments from staff? Direction? Okay. Hearing none, I’ll entertain a motion on the request for rezone.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. I move that we approve the request for rezone of 1.761 acres from R-8 to R-15 to entirely R-15 by Lynd Hoover at 1318 E. 4th with the recommendations of the staff
and also the 1.15, the irrigation ditch, if it has been vacated, that could be eliminated and that the five-foot wide concrete sidewalk will only be on property owned by applicant.
McCandless: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded as stated on the record and also to have the attorney draw up the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and Order on the rezone. Any further discussion?
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. In the recommendation, Development Agreement is strongly recommended. Is the intent of the motion to include a Development Agreement as one of the conditions?
Bird: That’s automatic on something like this –
Corrie: Shari, is a Development Agreement a part of it that would be drawn up along with this?
Stiles: I don’t think we’re asking for anything extraordinary that’s outside of what the ordinance provides for, so I would like to ask that that requirement be
removed. We don’t even know what the development is yet, so we can take care of that through a conditional use or some other method when they come in for apartments or whatever it is
they come in for.
deWeerd: I just thought that should be clarified.
Stiles: Thank you.
Corrie: Thank you. Does that meet with the approval of the first –
Bird: That would eliminate 1.1 on the recommendation.
Corrie: Okay. Any further discussion? Okay. Mr. Clerk, roll-call vote on the request for rezone.
Berg: Mr. Mayor, just for clarification, is that amending the motion to eliminate – okay. As it stands?
Roll-call: Anderson, aye; deWeerd, aye; McCandless, aye; Bird, aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Anderson: Mr. Mayor, I would make a motion that we take a ten-minute break.
Bird: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to take a ten-minute break. We’ll come back and we’ll see – we may not get through all the public hearings, so we’ll see who’s here and what and we’ll
go from there.
(Meeting reconvened at 10:05 p.m.)
Corrie: Okay. I’ll call the meeting back to order. How many people are here for Item No. 14 which is the public hearing for Wal-Mart? Okay. Number 9, the annexation and rezone?
Ten, request for annexation and zoning by Centers Construction? Okay. Then 11 and 12 on the Pintail Pointe? One. Okay. We may have some problems on that one anyway. Okay. Let’s
do 9 and 10, well, it’s a Council decision here. Maybe we can do 9 and 10 and then go to 13 and 14 and maybe get most of those out of the way.
Bird: Let’s go for it.
Corrie: (inaudible) Council would like to do that. Any objections?
Bird: Find with me, Mayor.
Item 9. Public Hearing: AZ 00-001 Request for annexation and zoning of 7.99 acres to R-4 by Robert Glenn – Ustick Road west of Locust Grove Road:
Corrie: All right. I’ll open up the public hearing on Item No. 9, request for annexation and zoning of 7.99 acres to R-4 by Robert Glenn, Ustick Road west of Locust Grove Road. At
this time I'll open the public hearing on Item No. 9 and invite staff comments first.
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, this is for an annexation and zoning for R-4 for a property that’s across the street on Ustick from the Howell Tract Subdivision also known as Pheasant
Pointe. This is the Summerfield Subdivision over on Locust Grove with the high school, charter school here. This is only a request for the annexation and zoning. This parcel, these
two parcels here previously came to the Council as a preliminary plat for a subdivision called the Hollows. It is zoned R-3, I believe. The subdivision has lapsed. But we would recommend
approval to R-4 with the conditions, staff and agency conditions. We’ll give another shot at it when they actually come in with a development proposal.
Corrie: Okay. Since this is a public hearing, I’ll invite the developer for No. 9.
Tealey: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, my name is Pat Tealey, office address 915 W. Jefferson, Boise, Idaho, and I’m representing the developer on this project, Mr. Robert Glenn.
The request in front of you is to rezone 7.99 acres from R-T to R-4. This is consistent with Meridian City Comprehensive Plan which calls for single-family residential in this area.
It is consistent with the surrounding development. All public services are available to this property, and at their meeting of January 7th, 2000, the Meridian Planning and Zoning recommended
approval of this rezone. We agree with staff that recommendation and staff comments and here to answer any questions that you might have.
Corrie: Questions of Pat?
Bird: I have none.
Corrie: Okay. This is a public hearing. Anyone wish to testify on this request for annexation and zoning? Okay. Hearing none, Council, any questions on the public hearing? Hearing
none, I’ll entertain a motion to close the public hearing.
Bird: So moved.
Anderson: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to close the public hearing on No. 9. Any further comments? All those in favor of closing the public hearing say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: The public hearing is now closed. Comments, discussion?
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. Just a comment to be consistent. As a student of Planning and Zoning, I really like to see annexation and zoning come in along with the plan. I’d like to know
what kind of plan we’re looking at. There may be lower densities that might fit better there. I think that just because it’s surrounded by R-4 doesn’t mean it has to be R-4, and I
would like to start seeing some varieties. So I would like to, again, state my opinion that I’d like to see plans along with the annexation and zoning.
Corrie: Okay. Further comments?
Bird: I have none.
Corrie: All right. Hearing none, I’ll entertain a motion on the request for annexation and zoning on the Robert Glenn to R-4.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. I move that we have the attorney draw up the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and Decision of Order for approval approving the annexation and zoning of 7.99
acres to R-4 by Robert Glenn on Ustick Road west of Locust Grove Road.
Anderson: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to approve the request for annexation and zoning of 7.99 acres to R-4 by Robert Glenn on Item No. 9. Any further comments? Hearing none, roll-call
vote, Mr. Clerk.
Roll-call: Anderson, aye; deWeerd, nay; McCandless, aye; Bird, aye.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES TO ONE NAY
Item 10. Public Hearing: AZ 00-002 Request for annexation and zoning of 5.029 acres to L-O and R-8 by Centers Construction, Inc. – west side of Locust Grove ¼ mile north of Fairview:
Corrie: Okay. Item No. 10 is a public hearing –
*** End of Side 3 ***
request for annexation and zoning of 5.029 acres to L-O and R-8 by Centers Construction, Inc., west side of Locust Grove and quarter mile north of Fairview. At this time I’ll open the
public hearing and invite staff comments first.
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, this is for a property that’s approximately a quarter mile north of Fairview Avenue on Locust Grove. To the south is a subdivision in the County called
the Doris Subdivision. It is zoned R-8. The surrounding subdivisions to the north and west are R-8 subdivisions as well as across the street. This is the Fred Meyer complex here with
the storage units here. The applicant is proposing L-O zone on the front portion for an office and the remainder for – I’m not sure exactly what the development is, but they had – were
proposing townhouses on some smaller lots, and they were coming in with a PUD that you will see at a later time. The annexation and zoning was submitted first. The application was
not complete for the Conditional Use Permit and the plat at that time. This is a picture of the property. It has been vacant for some time. If you may recall some of you – Joe Glaser
had previously come in with an application called the Grove Run Subdivision that was eventually – I’m not sure if it was withdrawn or denied. Staff would recommend approval of the zoning
to L-O and R-8 with the conditions stated in our staff report.
Corrie: Any questions of staff? None? Okay. Developer.
Canning: Yes, Mayor, members of the Council, my name is Joe Canning with B & A Engineers. The address is 5505 West Franklin in Boise. I’m here tonight with the applicant regarding
this application. This is a request for annexation and zoning of five acres of property. This is, essentially, just northwest of Fred Meyer site on the corner of Locust Grove and Fairview.
We are asking for an L-O zone for the front acre that’s adjacent to Locust Grove and then an R-8 zone for the back four acres on the property. We do concur with the staff’s report,
their recommendations and requirements regarding this rezone and annexation. I’d be more than happy to answer any questions. The entire site is surrounded by R-8 property at this point
in time. Any questions?
Corrie: You’re in agreement with all the conditions?
Canning: Yes, we are.
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. Is there a reason you don’t have – you’re coming forward with no plan at this time?
Canning: Well, there is one. It’s a little embarrassing, perhaps, but we submitted the annexation and rezone with the conditional use and the subdivision plat all at the same time,
and everything was found to be in order on the annexation and rezone, and we have a few little glitches on the conditional use and preliminary plat, so they were held back until the
next submission time.
deWeerd: So it wouldn’t terribly hurt your feelings if this were tabled until that came forward as well?
Canning: It will be coming forward fairly soon because –
deWeerd: Well, that’s good to hear.
Canning: -- Planning and Zoning did act on the CU last week.
deWeerd: Great. Well, I like your mixed use, but I look forward to your plan before I vote. I would like to be consistent again, guys.
Canning: It’s coming.
deWeerd: You can see I’m very influential, you know.
Canning: It’s coming soon.
deWeerd: Thank you.
Corrie: You can do things in City Council that you can’t do in Planning and Zoning, so – but you’re all right. Okay. Any other questions? Thank you. Anybody else from the public
that would like to issue testimony?
Weaver: Good evening, City Council, Mr. Mayor. Excuse me if you have trouble understanding me. I’m fighting a really nasty cold. My name is Bill Weaver. I live at 2137 Sapphire
Place. If we could go back to the previous overhead, I live just north of this property. While, indeed, the property on both sides of this is zoned R-8, excuse me, you can see the
density is far less than that. It is about the density of an R-4. Now, while that is only part of the problem, when we actually look at the plat that the person plans on doing, they’re
planning on 32 or 30 townhouses on four acres of property. The front acre being an office that is “going to have conditional use for doctors’ offices and dentists.” Now, when he can’t
get a doctor in there or a dentist in there, then he can come back and have the conditional use dropped and maybe go for a variance and have a bar in there or a Wendy’s in there or a
convenience store in there. This is from one of my neighbors who could not attend tonight. He’s working for US Bank and is out of town and his wife is on her two weeks’ National Guard.
He asked that I give that to City Council. He also asked that I talk for him, also. We do not believe that L-O and R-8 is the right zoning for this property. We would like to see
this property annexed by the City, but we would like to have it zoned strictly residential without the limited use business because there is no guarantee that once it is L-O that it
won’t go to something like a bar or a Wendy’s or something with a drive-thru. No one can tell us what’s going to happen five years down the road, and this has once been said tonight.
Once it’s zoned limited office, anything that fits our business plan can go in there. That’s not something that we’d like in this area. Again, also with the density being R-8, yes,
he plans putting 30 townhouses on four acres of property, and we truly believe that density is too high. I don’t know if there’s a way of saying zone it R-8 with the density not to
exceed the density in the area, or should we lower it to an R-4. But we truly
believe that by putting that in there, you’re going to add another 450 cars coming out onto Locust Grove. That’s the only access to this piece of property is Locust Grove. Four hundred
fifty cars in a very small area. I don’t know if anyone’s driven that in the morning, but that’s almost impossible if you had another 450 cars. People are not going to be able to get
out there. You’re going to be adding traffic lights 100 yards from Chateau, you’ll have a second traffic light so people can get in and out of there. I appreciate your time, and I
apologize for my froggy throat. Any questions?
Corrie: You’d like to have this letter put in as testimony?
Weaver: Please.
Corrie: Would you read that to the Council as testimony?
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. Just a comment. A bar and a restaurant are not permitted in L-O with a Conditional Use Permit.
Weaver: (inaudible) variance, they are.
deWeerd: With a variance?
Weaver: According to the information that I got from your Planning and Zoning, if you look under L-O, and I think it’s with permit access or something of that nature, it is there, yes,
ma’am.
Corrie: It’s under a variance of land use. You can’t get a variance (inaudible). Is that correct, Mr. Attorney? It’s land use – variances are not allowed for land use.
Nichols: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, I believe the variances are for special site-specific conditions such as a natural terrain or some sort of condition that you then perhaps
vary a setback requirement or something like that. It’s site-specific. I don’t believe a variance is appropriate with regard to land use. It would be, I believe that Director Stiles
has some comments.
Corrie: Shari.
Stiles: Convenience stores and restaurants in our ordinance would be allowed through conditional use in that zone, but that doesn’t mean they have to be approved.
Corrie: Okay. If it’s in our ordinance, but I didn’t think land use could have variances.
Stiles: No. They couldn’t get a variance, but they could apply for a Conditional Use Permit in an L-O zone.
Corrie: Okay. Thank you.
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor, just one more clarification on that. If the original CUP was for light office, if it were a convenience store or a restaurant, that would have to be specified at
that time, wouldn’t it?
Stiles: Yes.
deWeerd: Okay. Thanks.
Corrie: Mr. Clerk, I’ll give you the opportunity.
Berg: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This letter is dated February 13, 2000, addressed to the Honorable Commissioners, City of Meridian: My wife, Corliss, and I reside at 2153 North Sapphire
Place, Meridian. Since we are travelling this week, we are using this means to convey our opposition to the proposed construction of high-density, lawn houses. I presume it’s probably
the townhouse concept, and the business office located off Locust Grove between Fairview and Chateau. The reasons include traffic, high-density residence, devaluating of my residence
and my neighbors’. I understand that this is their attempt to develop this property with the previous two efforts having declined by the City Commission. What does it take to have
the zoning and planning people understand this? Please represent us and deny the development. Thank you. Dennis and Corliss Throm (sic).
Corrie: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Anyone else to testify in this request? Okay. Developer, you have the last chance to answer the questions. Are there any townhouses, 450 cars?
Canning: Well, of course the townhouses themselves would be under the preliminary and conditional use process that is coming, and regarding the L-O zone, I presume the questions have
been answered on that. That would be conditioned upon the conditional use process that’s coming forward. As far as the traffic goes, indeed, it will be contributing additional cars
to Locust Grove. Now that is our only access point. This parcel is landlocked other than the frontage on Locust Grove. Quite a few cul-de-sacs in the area, but unfortunately, none
extend through the property. We’re pretty much limited to that access on Locust Grove. I would just like to point out that the Ada County Highway District will be reconstructing that
portion of Locust Grove in 2001. So that is coming down the pipeline. I believe the construction plans are about 95 percent complete. At least, that’s the last set I saw, and that
is planned to occur. Really, that’s all the additional information I think I need to provide at this time, but I’d be happy to answer any questions.
Corrie: Questions? Okay. Thank you. Council, any other questions for public hearing? Hearing none, I’ll entertain a motion to close the public hearing on Item No. 10.
Bird: So moved.
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor.
Corrie: Motion is made. Do I hear a second?
McCandless: Second.
Corrie: Okay. Motion is made and seconded. Any discussion, Mrs. deWeerd.
deWeerd: Why are we going to close public hearing because we can just wait just one more meeting and see the whole package in front of us and then vote on it then. Again, if you close
the public hearing, we won’t be able to enter in new testimony, and I would like to see ACHD’s report on this, I would like to see a plan. I just don’t think it’s good planning to rule
on something that already has a plan before seeing it. Again, there’s my opinion.
Corrie: Do you want to – secondary motion to table the public hearing and re-open the public hearing?
deWeerd: Well, that was my intent, but the motion to move came before I could do that.
Corrie: No. You can make an amendment motion and we vote on that. Do you still have a right to make an amendment motion and we’ll vote on that.
deWeerd: Well, I’d certainly like to make an amendment motion to continue the public hearing to – Is March 7th the date that we’ll be seeing the CUP request or the 21st?
Stiles: It should be the 7th if it got noticed.
deWeerd: Then I move to continue the public hearing to March 7th. To continue the public hearing until March 7th.
Anderson: I’ll second that amendment.
Corrie: Motion is made and seconded to continue the public hearing until March the 7th of 2000. Any further discussion? Okay. We’ll vote on the amended motion. All those in favor
of continuing the public hearing until March 7th next month, say aye. (Three ayes) Opposed, no?
McCandless: No.
Corrie: Roll-call vote. I didn’t get it all. Would you give a roll-call vote, please.
Roll-call: Anderson, aye; deWeerd, aye; McCandless, nay; Bird, aye.
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES TO ONE NAY
Corrie: Then we will continue the public hearing on this request for annexation and zoning until the 7th of March on the Centers Construction.
Item 13. Public Hearing: CUP 00-005 Request for Conditional Use Permit for Papa John’s Pizza in an L-O zone – take-out, delivery and eating establishment by Cole Associates Architects
– 1580 4th Street, Suite 103:
Corrie: We’re skipping 11 and 12 and going to the Papa John’s. I believe that will be fairly quick on Item No. 13. It’s a public hearing for CUP, request for Conditional Use Permit
for Papa John’s Pizza in an L-O zone, take-out, deliver and eating establishment by Cole Associates Architects. At this time I’ll open the public hearing on Item No. 13 and invite staff
comments.
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, I’m not – have they requested a withdrawal of this application?
Anderson: I don’t think we have anything official on it.
Stiles: Is the applicant here? They have applied for a building permit right next to Subway. So there is – the applicant is here?
Corrie: Is the applicant here tonight?
Bird: Yes.
Corrie: I think he is, yes.
Stiles: Oh. This is the wrong one. I don’t know whether to go ahead with it or – this is where the Meridian Computer Center is. It’s H & R Block is in there, and they had proposed
to put the Papa John’s in there, but since that time, they have come in and asked for a building permit to locate where Subway is down on East 1st Street. So I don’t know if they were
just hedging their bets and trying both, or – I don’t know whether to continue it and request them to withdraw, or if they’re not intending to go ahead. I guess there’s not much point
–
Corrie: (inaudible) here tonight, then?
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I would make a motion that we continue the public hearing on the CUP for Papa John’s seeing that there’s no representative here to present their case for us.
Bird: Second.
Corrie: To what?
Anderson: To March 7th. Thank you.
Corrie: Motion’s made and seconded to continue the public hearing on Item No. 13 on Papa John’s Pizza Conditional Use Permit continued to 3/7/2000. Any further discussion?
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. If we could instruct staff to please contact the applicant and see what his intent is.
Corrie: Okay. Any other comments? Motion is made to continue the public hearing. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: Item No. 14 is a request for Conditional Use Permit for commercial expansion of Meridian Crossroads Shopping Center, Wal-Mart, by Developers Diversified Realty Corp., c/o the
Dakota Company, Inc., southeast corner of Records Drive and Fairview Avenue.
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. I would like to declare a conflict of interest and step down, please.
Bird: Okay by me.
Corrie: Any objections? Okay. (inaudible). Tammy, wait just a minute. Item No. 12. Is there anybody here on this Pintail? Just you two? Eleven and twelve? Okay. Do we want
to take it now and we’ll finish up on the 13 and 14. (inaudible) deal with most of it. All right. Let’s go back one and Tammy, come back.
Item 11. Public Hearing: AZ 00-003 Request for annexation and zoning of 3.68 acres to R-4 for proposed Pintail Pointe Subdivision by Jeff Manship – south side of Cherry Lane, east
of Black Cat Road:
Item 12. Public Hearing: PP 00-001 Request for preliminary plat for 11 lots on 3.68 acres in proposed R-4 zone for proposed Pintail
Pointe Subdivision by Jeff Manship – south side of Cherry Lane, east of Black Cat Road:
Corrie: All right. Let’s open up the public hearing on the request for annexation and zoning of 3.68 acres of R-4 proposed Pintail Pointe Subdivision by Jeff Manship, south of Cherry
Lane and east of Black Cat Road and at the same time if there’s no objection to Council, we’ll open up 12 for the preliminary plat. We might as well take it all at one time. All right.
Open the public hearing on Items 11 and 12 and invite staff comments first.
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, this is for a property that has previously been before you. It was proposed as one-acre lots. Since this property has come in here, the English Gardens
Subdivision. They have a stub street that will be extended into the property, and the sewer will be extended, so the proposal now is to come in with an R-4 zoning, and it shows where
the existing property, what’s on the lot. This is the proposed layout. They would enter through English Gardens, come up through – there is an adjacent five-acre parcel to the south
that they would extend a stub street to. Up here they have a kind of hammerhead configuration. We would ask that this be approved with staff and agency conditions.
Corrie: Okay. This is a public hearing. I’d invite the applicant to come forward, please.
Manship: Mayor, Council members, Jeff Manship, 4375 West Cherry Lane. Granting Tammy’s wishes by bringing the annexation and the plat together at the same time. So – you’re welcome.
I’m in total agreement with all the recommendations by everybody and have no questions for the annexation and zoning.
Corrie: Okay. Any questions for Mr. Manship?
Bird: I have none.
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor, I guess I would ask – have you seen this letter from Paul Edminster (sic)?
Manship: I just received it about 10 minutes ago.
deWeerd: Have you had a chance to read it?
Manship: Yes. I haven’t really had a chance to think about it yet, though. Ten minutes is not a lot of time.
deWeerd: So if I asked you to comment, you would have no comment at this time; correct?
Manship: Correct. I would like to discuss that with my engineers and whatnot.
Corrie: Thank you. Anyone else from the public that would like to issue testimony? Yes, sir.
Davis: I’m George Davis, 4225 West Cherry Lane. I’m concerned about a sewer corridor to those two five-acres east of this.
Corrie: Okay. Any specific? Just want to know where they are or what – anything particular that you want to know about the sewer line; is that correct?
Davis: Yeah. They would be totally landlocked without sewer facilities. I assume that there should be a corridor to the street somehow to get onto the Black Cat and the pump or whatever
they’re going to do.
Corrie: Okay. We’ll find out what they have to answer on that one. We’ll find out for you.
Davis: Thank you.
Unger: Mr. Mayor and Council members, my name is Bob Unger with Pinnacle Engineers. We represent Paul Edminster who is Projects West who is the English Gardens which is the development
directly to the west of this project. To follow up on Paul’s letter, he wanted to be here this evening, but it’s his birthday and his wife had something very special planned for the
evening, so he didn’t make it, and I’m here. I just have a couple things. You do have the letter. I won’t worry about passing that out. What I have here is just a kind of a northern
portion of English Gardens so that you can see what I’m talking about. I will be very, very brief on this. Primarily, Projects West’s concern, and they’re really not opposed to the
project itself. I want to make that right up front that we’re not opposed to this project even though he states it in there that in our discussion this afternoon we reviewed a couple
of things that could be done to resolve his concerns. Now, hopefully you all recall the conditions for approval on English Gardens is the installation of a lift station and a pressurized
sewer line that will go all the way up almost to Ustick Road, and also the installation of a dryline – the Black Cat Trunk Line along the Ten Mile Creek. This particular development
is taking direct access from English Gardens. It does not have any access to Cherry Lane. Of course, we were required to make that stub street to the east for future development which
we did. But what our concerns are are that they are able to come in with 10 or 11 lots and reap all the benefits of Project West’s investments and additional costs in the lift stations,
the trunk lines, the path that goes along the Ten Mile and over to Fuller Park. In addition to that, he certainly is concerned about the quality of homes that may be built within this
development, and he’s really looking for some assurances from the developer and/or the City that his efforts and his expenditures are not solely going to be his
burden and that these folks can come in on the tailend and reap the benefits. Certainly they’re going to enjoy the nice landscaped entrances into English Gardens and still not have
to pay for any of that. So the recommendations that we would ask and ask the City Council to consider would be for – I think it would be a very good idea for this developer and Mr.
Edminster to meet to go over some of these thoughts since they haven’t had an opportunity to do so at this point. I know Paul Edminster will be in town next week, and I told him, this
developer, that he would be in town and would like to meet with him on this. Some of the recommendations that we had that may be able to alleviate any concerns is, one, Pintail development
adopt English Gardens CC & Rs which would assure the similar sizes and construction standards and development standards within the two developments so that they are very, very compatible.
Secondly that Pintail Development be incorporated into the English Gardens Homeowners Association. This would cover the cost of irrigation, landscaping, et cetera so that both developments
would bear a proportionate share in some of the benefits that are being brought in by the Projects West people. Also the other concern, and I don’t know whether this is something that
the City has to look at or public works has to look at is some sort of proportionate share of the installation and construction of the lift station and the pressure sewer system. They
certainly are going to reap the benefits because without it they could not develop this piece of property. So that is what we’re asking for. We’re asking for some sort of clarification.
Some sort of conditions or something to that effect to protect and offset the costs that would be born by Projects West. He’s only looking for a proportionate share. He’s not asking
for this developer to pay 50 percent or something and be based on the number of lots. So that would be our recommendation. If we can work something like that out, I’m sure that Mr.
Edminster would be very amiable to support the development. At this point, without knowing answers to those questions, he is not comfortable in supporting it. Okay? Any questions?
Thank you.
Corrie: Anyone else like to issue testimony on this? Okay. Rebuttal on any questions that came up? Do you have anything to say or do you want to try to talk it out?
Manship: Yeah. I’ll get together with the developer of Projects West and talk about it. I don’t see a reason why this can’t be pushed through, though, tonight. That’s (inaudible)
preliminary plat, though. I had not developed any CC & Rs yet or even established Homeowners Associations. That’s still in the works, too, if that makes a difference.
Corrie: Thank you. Any questions, Council?
Bird: I have none.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I have questions of Staff. I guess this is primarily more for Gary. In these kinds of circumstances, Gary, aren’t we – I mean, in our sewer
master plan, doesn’t it allow so that all properties would have access to sewer? I mean, would this be common practice? We still have the five-acre parcel down to the south of it.
To the – no. It’s south of this property that at some point is probably going to develop and is going to need sewer and is going to need access roads into it, too. I guess would that
be common practice that they need to allow for stubs into that other property so that it can be sewered and so they have access?
Smith: Councilman Anderson, Mayor and Council, our master plan addresses sewers from a 10-inch diameter size and up. Properties that are served by the lateral sewers, the eight-inch
diameter sewers, we have to look at each development to make sure we’re not going to landlock somebody that can be served. In some instances, sewers have been put in the past and the
elevations are such that we can’t get the property served by gravity; just physically not possible. Parkside Creek has a lift station – this portion of Parkside Creek that you can see
on this drawing has a lift station in that little cul-de-sac looks like a little donut and it has a common lot that comes out to the south and west, and that actually has a piece of
gravity sewer line in it that will eventually connect to the trunk line to be constructed along Ten Mile Drain. That will eliminate that lift station. The question Mr. Davis brought
up is the two parcels of ground directly to the east of this parcel, at this point, the only service that’s available to them would be into Mr. Manship’s development if they can be served
by gravity, by elevation. I don’t know offhand whether or not that can happen or not.
Anderson: So there’s no allowance or stub or anything out that direction right now in the plan?
Smith: There isn’t on the preliminary plat, no. That’s correct. But it definitely needs to be looked at to see if the depth of the sewer in this proposed development can be extended
to the east to provide service and if it can, then it needs to be stubbed in that direction. And that can be done, not necessarily in a public right-of-way, roadway, it could be done
in a common lot that would be kind of set aside for this utility. I’ve stayed away from easements because every time I get into an easement situation, I get covered up, and we lose
it. I mean, the pipe is still there, but we lose the good access to it. I’m trying to stay with some kind of a common lot.
Anderson: So would it be appropriate, then, for this English Gardens development to have a lift station and pump that’s adequately sized to service those other pieces of property?
I mean, if we know that they’re going to have to go through that direction and be pumped, it would seem logical to put the facilities in now.
Smith: Yes. The answer to your question in this case where we know what’s going to be served by the lift station, it should be sized accordingly. Right.
Anderson: And are we helping the developer with part of the cost of those trunk line systems knowing that that’s eventually going to go into the Black Cat one?
Smith: No. They’re paying a Black Cat Trunk fee as part of the conditions – for the English Gardens.
Anderson: So a line won’t actually be constructed now. They’re just going to pay a fee?
Smith: They’re going to build a line through their development along Ten Mile Drain.
Anderson: But not on Black Cat itself?
Smith: Right.
Anderson: Okay.
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. Gary, is there a way that that lift station could be built and the costs be proportionally shared with the developments to the east?
Smith: Yes. In this case, since there are two developments being proposed that would be served by it, they could share in that proportional cost and then the size of the lift station
to serve other properties could have a latecomers assessment attached to it so that if those other two properties can serve by gravity into it, the other two five-acre parcels, if and
when that happens, then they would pay a share of that cost for the lift station also.
deWeerd: So the developer would get those costs back?
Smith: Yes. Could get that cost back if the development takes place.
deWeerd: Okay. So what Mr. Unger said, can that be worked into this development or do we need to wait until the two talk it over and get back to us on what the agreement is?
Anderson: I would think it would be appropriate to not only have the two developers discuss it, but to have Gary involved in that discussion to plan for these future properties and
it be a three-way conversation instead of just two people planning for their particular developments.
deWeerd: Exactly.
Smith: Right. I can certainly do that, and I’d be happy to do that. I think the first thing, though, that we have to do is to figure out if those properties can be served by gravity.
If it comes to a point of them having to have their own lift station, then
they’re out of the picture because development is taking place around them right now with this proposal now that would – if they can’t be served by gravity, then their only option is
a small lift station.
Anderson: And can that be readily determined without a bunch of engineering?
Smith: Well, there’ll have to be some engineering just to calculate the depth of the sewer extension out of this property to the east and then take a look at the ground elevations out
there. It’d be an approximation. We could possibly have Mr. Manship’s engineer just shoot a couple of elevations out there on the five-acre to the east of them and see how the ground
lays. We’ve got those old USGS maps, but they’re not real accurate. They do give you a general indication of how the ground slopes. And typically, if you have a depth of five to six
feet at that west boundary as you continue to the east with a sewer, it generally follows the grade of the ground because the ground in this area slopes from east to west. Now, in this
case because you’re sloping possibly from Cherry Lane southwest toward the drain, I don’t know for sure, but really need to take a look at the land elevations there, too, just to make
sure that sewer – if it was extended to Mr. Manship’s east boundary could be continued to the east and provide the service. I might say, too, Mr. Mayor and Council, that possibly Mr.
Davis who’s lived out there for a long time could shed some light on that, and maybe Mr. Manship could, too.
Manship: I’d like to add, Mr. Davis, that is a five-acre parcel right to the east of me, has split that with a road coming down off of Cherry Lane to a two and-a-half acre parcel to
the south. It’s not shown on that map right there. He ran it through the county. That’s another factor to consider that both Mr. Davis and the other gentleman (inaudible) sold the
other half to are going to be willing to consider developing that, too. I think Mr. Davis was just making a point that he has two and-a-half acres he’d like sewered some time.
Corrie: Any comments? Questions?
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. Just one more question. Can we move this forward without these issues answered? Can they be placed as conditions or do we need to wait until they sit down and
discuss this? What is the appropriate way to proceed?
(inaudible discussion amongst Council members)
Corrie: You can do the annexation and hold the preliminary. You could defer the public hearing until they get back with what they have in mind, and you could do it all at one time.
Bird: (inaudible)
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I’d like to ask the applicant, Jeff, you’ve been at this a long time. I think already on this piece of property. Would the 7th of March be giving you a chance
to work with English Gardens developer and with the City Engineer, Gary Smith, would that mess up your plans bad?
Manship: English Gardens, they’re out breaking ground (inaudible) another two weeks. (inaudible).
Corrie: Any other questions?
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor, I would move that we continue the public hearing for request of annexation and zoning of 3.68 acres to R-4 for the proposed Pintail Pointe Subdivision by Jeff Manship
to March 7th.
Corrie: DO you want to do that also with the preliminary plat?
deWeerd: I would like to if I can do them both at the same time. Yes.
Bird: You’re doing 11 and 12?
deWeerd: Yes.
Bird: I’ll second that.
Corrie: Motion is made and seconded to continue the public hearing on Items 11 and 12 until 3/7/2000. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Item 14. Public Hearing: CUP 00-004 Request for Conditional Use Permit for commercial expansion of the Meridian Crossroads Shopping Center (Wal-Mart) by Developers Diversified Realty
Corp., c/o the Dakota Company, Inc. – southeast corner of Records Drive and Fairview Avenue:
Corrie: Okay. We’ll go to Item No. 14 now, and Tammy, you are excused.
( previous statement by Mrs. deWeerd: Mr. Mayor. I would like to declare a conflict of interest and step down, please. )
Corrie: I’ll open the public hearing on a request for Conditional Use Permit for commercial expansion of the Meridian Crossroads Shopping Center, Wal-Mart, by Developers Diversified
Realty Corp., c/o Dakota Company, Inc., southeast corner of Records Drive and Fairview Avenue. At this time I’ll open the public hearing and staff comments first.
Stiles: Mr. Mayor and Council, this is for the property that came before you previously for a rezone from I-L to C-G on this portion of the property. This was previously proposed for
some retail buildings and a theater. This property here would be actually where the Wal-Mart store would be located. The property is not yet annexed into the City, this portion of
it. That was partially the reason this had to go to a second public hearing. The Development Agreement, I don’t believe, has been entered into yet. Another reason that the second
public hearing was required is that the Planning and Zoning Commission indicated to the people present at that meeting that they would have another opportunity to talk to the City Council
at a later date for a public hearing. The applicant has proposed some changes to the recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Commission which I believe you have in your packets.
The one that they are proposing on Item 1.17, 20-foot planting strips are required next to incompatible land uses, and they are proposing ten feet. This would be against our current
ordinance. As for the other suggested changes they have, we would have no objection to those provided those are all in accordance with Ada County Highway District’s standards. The
Conditional Use Permit is for roughly a 206,000 square foot Wal-Mart. This isn’t the latest site plan. They have proposed another site plan that shows, I’m not sure of the exact location,
but it would have a five-foot pedestrian walkway along one of these rows of parking here. I don’t know if there were any other changes. I’m sure that people are very anxious to state
their feelings on this project, and there is a plat that will be before you at a later time. They are proposing, since this is an illegal split, the existing property, they will have
to provide – have a preliminary plat and final plat approved and recorded. They’re proposing a lot here. We’d ask that any future use of either one of these buildings, they’re proposing
a lot here and this lot here, we would request all of those uses be submitted and developed under the conditional use process (inaudible) what is shown as all landscaping here. Obviously,
will not be all landscaping when they come in for a building on that. This is almost to the limits of our area of impact. The visual quality of this development is very important for
that reason. They are proposing a six-foot high block wall all along this area, I believe. They can correct me if I’m wrong. All along the southern –
*** End of Side 4 ***
That’s all I have to say.
Corrie: Okay. Since this is a public hearing, we’ll start with the applicant.
Durkin: May name is Larry Durkin. My address is 380 East Park Center Boulevard, Suite 100, Boise, Idaho, 83706. Mr. Mayor, members of the City Council, I’m the President of the Dakota
Company. We are a Boise-based devilment company, and I’m here tonight on behalf of Developers Diversified Realty Corporation. I ask you to approve our application for a Conditional
Use Permit as recommended by Planning and Zoning. This phase of our center
includes a 206,000 square-foot store and a future 30,000 square-foot store on a site that is about 25 acres. We will submit separate Conditional Use Permit requests for the 30,000 square-foot
building and for the other pad that Shari mentioned, sometime in the future. Tonight we request that you focus on the development plan and the primary building. Two years ago, we began
the City approval process for this shopping center. You may recall we received approval for an 855,000 square-foot shopping center including about 135,000 square feet of building development
on this part of the property that has now been readjusted for the new phase. I’d like to just walk over – Tom, I’d like you to put the big board up. I’d like to give you a view and
the audience a tour of the plan and refresh your memory on that. Just to make sure everyone’s thinking the same, this is Fairview Avenue, this is Eagle Road, this is the new Shopko
store, Sportsman’s Warehouse is under construction. This phase of the development will begin construction just within the next few days along with this building right here. As you
know, we have this entire area paved, landscaped and basically completed. This is the property that we have gone through the annexation procedure on, the Comprehensive Plan change and
the rezoning to separate this parcel out from the balance of the center. This is a 206,000 square-foot Wal-Mart Super Center. The store has the general merchandise that Wal-Mart is
famous for and also has groceries. I think if you remember a number of people have testified in front of you requesting we have groceries in the area. This will be a full-service grocery
store. It isn’t a pantry-type of operation like you see at Kmart of some of the others. This is more similar to the Fred Meyer Superstore. So just to give you a sense of how that
store lays out. We do not know what we are going to do here, yet. I don’t have any plans. As I said, we’ll submit that at a later date. We do have a number of restaurants, but I
think there are one or two under construction over in this area right now. We have, initially, on this development, the City staff highly recommended and the Crossroads residents requested
that we do a ring-road system through here to accommodate the traffic. We went through a number of hearings, I would say, three months worth of hearings on that trying to fine-tune
that design, and that’s been done and completed. We’re continuing that concept through here for the rest of the development. In addition, there’s access throughout the entire rear
of the center that’s screened with a block wall and landscaping, and that same access will continue through the center. I’m going to go back to the podium. With this application and
the 30,000 square-foot future building, the total development of the shopping center increases by only 75,000 square feet, yet, we’re adding about 14 acres to the development of the
project. A 14-acre development anywhere else in Meridian would have about two and-a-half to three times that much building on it, and it would certainly have far more traffic. This
phase will add about 2,000 cars per day to the overall project in the traffic analysis that you’ve previously seen and that’s been approved by ACHD. If the store were built across the
street or down the road, the traffic would be far greater. We have received unanimous approval from ACHD for this phase of the development. We are meeting or exceeding all of the
conditions now in place for the Crossroads Shopping Center. We’ve received, as I’ve mentioned, several
requests for a grocery store, and there’s been testimony by several people in front of you with that request. This building, as I’ve said, will have a full-line grocery store. We have
read and we agree with most of the conditions in the Planning and Zoning Recommendations, yet, we believe there were a couple of errors in the Findings that you have in front of you,
and we have submitted a letter today to Will Berg that Shari referred to. The first item, I’m not going to go through them all unless you have questions, but I want to clarify, the
first item, the plan that we had submitted was labeled 41. It showed 31. The revised plan to accommodate the Planning and Zoning Department’s request for sidewalks, et cetera, the
result is that we have a 32-foot buffering all along the south edge of the property. Item No. 1.7, the staff recommendations were for 10-foot wide planter area, but the way the wording
was in the Findings, it was vague whether or not on both sides of the street. So it was our intention to just clarify to you that the plan we submitted in the first place had a 10-foot
buffer on the west side of Venture Street and we don’t have any land or we are not installing buffer on the east side of the street. So it was just our intention to clarify that point
in the Findings. Tom – does everyone have a copy of that letter? I brought extras just in case you didn’t – As Shari mentioned, we’ve gone through the annexation and rezone process
for this site. We have recently approved the Development Agreement that was drafted by the City Attorney. We’ve requested the City Attorney provide us with execution copies of that
which we’ll sign and deliver to you for your signature. As of today we haven’t received that, but I’m certain that will be coming shortly. I want you to know that the document was
drafted by the City Attorney, the draft that was given to us was – we made a few modifications to correct the legal descriptions and the names of the parties, and so there’s nothing
– there’s no points of dispute on that document. I believe it’s also been delivered to Shari Stiles, and I’m not aware of any concerns that she’s expressed. So all we’re waiting for
is a signature-ready document which we’ll execute and give back to you. We have received Planning and Zoning approval for the final plat, and we’ve received ACHD’s approval for the
final plat, and we’ve received ACHD’s approval for the final plat. That matter will be in front of you next month. The primary concern with the residents – that they have expressed
during the last conditional use hearing, and I want to clarify that I may – the last time around on the first phase of the shopping center, not a few weeks ago. The primary concern
that the residents expressed during the last conditional use hearing was the noise behind the shopping center. We spent several hearings in front of you talking about potential noise
with loading docks backing up to occupied residential areas. With this plan, this development plan, as you can see, the store backs up to an occupied cemetery and new street. We have
no loading docks that are backing up to or are adjacent to any existing or planned residential areas. The cemetery owners are in full support of our plan. We feel that this plan is
far better than the previous plan of having the buildings back up to the occupied homes. As I mentioned, all the buffering that we will be doing in this phase will exceed the buffering
that’s in Phase I. The buffering along the back of the existing shopping center is 20 feet. This is 31 feet. Noise control for this development, this Phase, is in accordance with
the approvals that
we have on Phase I. Pat Doby is our traffic engineer, and he’s here tonight, and he’ll answer any questions that you may have regarding his studies and the traffic flows. I will say
that to my knowledge, no one has had any traffic concerns at the many ACHD hearings that we’ve held. We have agreed with all of the ACHD conditions and requests and promise to continue
our efforts to maintain this line of communication. We’ve voluntarily sped up other off-site requirements along Eagle Road to help with the traffic that’s there now. These improvements
include going forward with the stop light at Eagle Road and Pine Street. I’m just going to ask Tom – I guess it doesn’t go down that far. Generally point so everyone can see on that
plan about where that would be, Tom? Widen – we’re also widening the Eagle Road and the Fairview intersection in all directions. This is a requirement of our earlier approvals, but
it wasn’t a requirement until the first phase of the center was more than half-way built out. I felt it was necessary. I drive right by here to and from work every day, and I felt
it was necessary and ACHD has agreed to allow us to do this work prior to the development that we plan along Eagle Road. Pat Doby would answer questions and talk about that in more
detail, but I will just tell you that the traffic light installation at Pine Street and Eagle Road, the existing traffic light at Fairview and Eagle Road and the new light that we’ve
recently installed at Records Drive and Fairview Road will all be synchronized. There are great benefits to the driving public with that synchronization (inaudible) scientific explanation,
we will give that to you. But we have been assured, and ACHD is in agreement that this will greatly enhance the traffic flow that’s there now and what we anticipate in the future.
We’re proud of this Gateway project in Meridian and feel the design and the flow of the Center will be a model for the industry and for the City. We ask for your approval tonight so
that we may begin with the design and the permit process. I’ll happily answer any questions that you may have.
Corrie: Questions? Evidently not. Thank you. Anybody else in the development side want to talk at this point?
Dolby: Mr. Mayor, Council members, my name is Patrick Dolby. I prepare the traffic impact studies for the proposed Wal-Mart store. I also prepare the study for the previous Crossroads
Subdivision and also the Family Center addition. There were extensive hearings for the Ada County Highway District and they were very thorough improvements that were required of this
development to greatly improve the traffic flow in the area. There’s three new – well, reconstruction of the Fairview/Eagle intersection that’s going (inaudible) this summer with dual
left-turn lanes and on the approaches and the new traffic signal. This new signal’s going into Records and then there’ll be a signal going in at Pine Street. In addition, there’s an
extra lane being added to Fairview Avenue and auxiliary lanes (inaudible) being added to those intersections. The system will have the capacity to accommodate all the new traffic from
this development, and the internal circulation within the project has been designed, laid out, to minimize the impacts on the adjacent Crossroads residential area. There is sufficient
room provided for trucks and (inaudible) loading docks, and there is
ease of access from the (inaudible) system to those facilities so as to preclude any cut-through traffic going through the subdivision especially from the commercial trucks. That’s
just a sort of general overview of some of the traffic issues that we dealt with previous to this hearing, and if there’s any questions that come up that need a response from the public
or if there’s any questions from this Commission, I’d be happy to answer them now.
Corrie: Okay. Thank you. Questions from Council?
Bird: I have none.
Corrie: All right. Any other public testimony?
Trosclair: Mr. Mayor, Council members, Kevin Trosclair, 4260 Venture Circle, Meridian, Idaho 83642. Just a few questions on this subdivision. If we could turn this back on. I guess
one question in general, living in that subdivision on Vesta Venture, originally – with the increased traffic on Fairview, we’re concerned about school children and the bus routes currently.
The Meridian School District does not go into the subdivision. We’re just concerned about the children’s safety with the buses stopping on Fairview. So we have those questions and
would like those addressed by the School District if possible. Another concern that we have, looking at this plan, is the buffer zone here on the east side of the bordering the new
Venture Street. What would be the plans there for buildings and/or building, and if there would be access from that buffer zone onto Venture, whatever the building might be in that
area as far as increasing traffic in that intersection. Also to just in general, the extension of a new street of Venture, what exactly does that entail? How far does it go? What
is the future plans for Venture beyond the store? Another question is the – I see the most easterly entrance on Fairview into this proposed site, what does that access primarily for?
What our main concern in our subdivision is being able to turn left out of our houses onto Fairview. With this increased traffic flow, is there going to be blockage there that we can’t
get out of our subdivision with a left-hand turn? So those are the questions that we have and would like to know if there’s any proposed in the future, any proposed traffic lights at
Venture with this development and just like to see those addressed.
Corrie: Okay. Anyone else from the public?
Hill: Mr. Mayor, Council members, I’m Emery Hill. I live at 1211 North Legislative Way, Crossroads Subdivision, Meridian. I do have some concerns here. First of all, I’d like to
say that I’m not against Wal-Mart. I’m just against where they’re putting it. I believe that any one of you if you had a Wal-Mart store going in next to you that you’d be standing
right where I am doing exactly what I am. As a matter of fact, I admire Sam Walton (sic) and what he’s done with that store. He’s quite a great man for what he’s done. But in my opinion
by putting Wal-Mart in there, it devaluates my property, it devaluates the neighborhood, and
our subdivision is now being completely encircled by commercial development and apartments. We only have two ways in and out of that subdivision: Records and Eagle Road. One of my
concerns is traffic cutting through our subdivision off of Records off of Wal-Mart, and I know I’ve heard it said, they won’t cut through there. Well, just from the Texas Roadhouse
being on the corner of Records and Fairview, they’re already cutting through our neighborhood. We have a stop sign at Records and Florence that is run quite often during the day and
night. Then I have a concern about the truck traffic and forklift traffic on the loading docks. I have driven trucks for probably 30 years and equipment just as long, and I don’t care
if those docks are backed up to Fairview. When you get equipment and trucks clanging around there, you’re going to hear them in our subdivision. So if you do pass this, I would hope
that you put a limit on an early night, what time of night they have to end and what time in the morning they have to start. Also, if you pass this, I believe Meridian has an ordinance
that you can’t have over six-foot high fences. I would ask that you bypass that and on the south boundary that there be at least an eight-foot high fence, solid fence, with a 20-foot
buffer and mature evergreen trees. The reason I say evergreen trees is because they cut the noise. If you plan ash or something like that, and this is a proven fact, when they lose
their leaves, that noise comes right through there. With evergreen trees, they’re there all the time and it blocks the noise. We are concerned about the traffic in there and what’s
going to happen. It’s – I disagree with Mr. Durkin that if they put it somewhere else that it would increase traffic. I mean, 2,000 cars is 2,000 cars no matter where you put it.
We would prefer, and when I say “we” I’m speaking for three of my neighbors also. We would prefer that it be somewhere else away from our subdivision. Also, the traffic light – if
it is synchronized with the Records traffic light, somebody better fix it because it is not synchronized. Trust me. Another concern about the traffic is getting onto Fairview. Like
this gentleman said, from Venture Street, cars coming out of the Shopko and Wal-Mart parking lot, there has already been one death from a car, from a pickup coming out of the Shopko
parking lot that bypassed the stoplight and went out of one of the other little exits onto Fairview. A pickup hit a car and killed a person. Already. Just from that. We ask that
there be at least a 20-foot buffer strip between the solid wall and their parking lot if it does pass. We’re just very concerned about devaluation of our property. Nothing against
this fine gentleman. I’m impressed with what he brought here, to tell you the truth, but to put a Wal-Mart next to my house, to me it cheapens the neighborhood. Like I said, I’m sure
that everyone of you would be standing right where I am if there was a Wal-Mart going next to your house. I think that’s about all I’ve got to say except that my neighbors, of course,
there are neighbors that don’t care if this comes in. As a matter of fact, one lives right on the corner of Records and Florence. We’ve talked to him. But there are several neighbors
that have already said that they're going to sell. I know if I do that this Wal-Mart that’s going in here, I would not have bought in that subdivision. It’s not your fault. Not anybody’s
fault but mine. But we have been lied to from day one about this shopping center. We knew that Shopko was going in there. We knew that there was going to be some other development
down along Eagle Road and some
more along Fairview. We were told that where Wal-Mart is proposed now that that was zoned for home sites and then we were told that small office buildings. In back of us where the
apartments are going in, we were told that that sod farm was going to stay there no matter what. Like I said, it’s not your fault. It’s my fault for believing people. I got to go
on record to say that, Mr. Mayor, I think your zoning commission is out of hand. I sat through zoning things and watched them. Everything that a developer or a contractor or anybody
that wanted to build brought before that zoning commission with a few minor changes have passed no matter what the opposition. I think you really need to look into them. I do thank
you for your time, and I appreciate it if you have any questions. I’d be willing to answer them.
Corrie: Questions of Council? Thank you. Anyone else from the public that would like to issue testimony? Okay. Hearing none, comments from the developer on the questions that were
raised.
Durkin: I have a couple of answers to some of the questions. One of the questions was what are the plans for Venture Street. Venture Street will be installed by us, paid for by us,
and extended to the south line of the property line. The future plans for that are not clear to me, but my understanding is that it will be extended by Bill Clark in some other application
that he has in front of you. The only thing that I know and that I have control over is what is (inaudible) that we’re doing. I suspect that having done this type of thing, I suspect
that the day will come when that will be connected to Pine Street one way or another. I don’t know if it will be a straight line or waived (inaudible) but that would seem to fit the
ACHD’s pattern. The driveway that one of the gentlemen was talking about closest to Venture Street, I want to call it the eastern most driveway by Wal-Mart. Maybe, Tom, you could point
to that for me? That driveway, that access point is approved by ACHD as a right-in / right-out, so the truck traffic that delivers to the Center will be going out that driveway, and
they’ll be taking a right-hand turn onto Fairview Avenue. I might add as it relates to truck noise and truck use, the vast majority of the merchandise delivered to this store is delivered
by Wal-Mart trucks owned by Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart employee drivers. In the grocery end, they get some what they call vendor deliveries, Hostess Cupcake truck and those types of things.
They’re quick in and out, but the major, the bulk of the deliveries are done by Wal-Mart employees. You know, the comments made about the name of the tenant, I’m sorry that people
feel that way. It’s not likely that a City would or should approve a project for Nordstrom’s and not for Wal-Mart, and I don’t think that’s appropriate requests. Wal-Mart is a tremendous
community neighbor. They’re active in the community. They participate in every level of activities in the community, and I really think that people that are concerned that they’re
going to cheapen them will find that they will be a responsible neighbor. They’re not a Nordstrom’s, but they serve a lot of people. I shop there. I wouldn’t be surprised if some
of you do, and they’re a fine organization. One of the comments about access from our development onto Venture Street. At this time we haven’t asked for any access. There will not
be any access from the
Wal-Mart store. But let me just walk over to the plan. There’s a six-foot high masonry wall. My point of clarification on that. Six-foot high. When we built the six-foot high masonry
wall in the first phase of the Center, there was a little discrepancy about where we were measuring from. We knew what we had in mind, and the neighbors knew what they had in mind,
and we never really discussed it until the wall was built. After the wall was built, we came back in and added two feet so that it’s now an eight-foot high wall in most of those areas.
The difference there is the lot elevations are higher, significantly higher than the parking lot elevations. I don’t expect that to be a problem matter of concern here. If it is,
that’s a matter – that’s something that we fixed with residents’ requests. We’ll do it again here. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to make that a condition today when that information
isn’t known. I can commit to you and the residents that had the request that if the elevations, whatever we end up with here, we will – it’s our intention to build a wall that’s six
feet higher than our parking lot area. If it needs to be added to at a later date, we’ll do so. We are installing a six-foot wall all along Venture Street which we think will solve
the serious comment about separation of non-compatible uses. There’s a pad here that there might be a circumstance in the future. It’s a very small property that we would have a driveway
access here. For now, for the people that live over here, is that where you live, sir? Up in this area? If you – there’s kind of a circle driveway through here. So what you see here
is the eastern half of that circle – that will then tie into Venture Street. We would be allowed an access point here with ACHD, but we have to go through the hearing process to get
that. We haven’t asked for that now, and we don’t expect to. But Wal-Mart will have no access. There’ll be a block wall protecting that along Venture Street. Couple other comments
regarding the truck docks. The truck docks are completely protected. They – Wal-Mart – neither Wal-Mart nor Shopko nor any of the stores in the Center that I am aware of would on any
kind of routine basis operate a forklift or anything outside. Their inventory’s delivered to the store. The dock’s sealed – a protected dock, and all of that inventory handling is
all inside the building. In addition, there is a high wall between where the trucks do back up to the dock and the potential of residential area to the south, and I want to remind you
that the area to the south of that side of the store is now vacant field, Bill Clark is proposing and planning an apartment development there, and we’ll have that in front of you at
some future date. He’s been keenly aware of our plans and is in full support. The request from the neighbor that we do a 20-foot landscape strip between the wall and the parking lot
is – it’s a good request, but what we’ve proposed and submitted to you is 31 or 32 feet, so it’s even greater than that. Regarding the mature trees, the landscaping plan would be similar
to the existing Crossroads. I just want you to know that at another hearing we had several months back and some of you were here, we had the Land Group Landscape Architects talk about
the danger of having one species or another run all along the wall. If a disease hits one end, it’s a better idea to mix the species along there. At that point, we’re going to rely
on the Land Group doing the design and, in fact, we’ve already submitted – it’ll have a mixture of species. But they are mature. Just a last comment I have; it’s a big number, but
the traffic plan, the
traffic count for the overall shopping center as submitted to you a year ago, as approved by ACHD, the roads have been and continue to be improved to accommodate this, the total traffic
count for the entire shopping center at full build-out is anticipated to be about 28,000 cars a day. So it’s essential. If you take the 206,000 square-foot component out and move it
down the street, there’s still going to be 28,000 a day at this shopping center because something else will go in there. By taking out what we had planned and inserting this component,
it raises, it effectively raises the traffic for this center to 30,000. I’m kind of rounding numbers here just to make my point. But if you were to build this building across the street
or in an area that was disassociated with this shopping center, you could expect 12,000 to 15,000 cars a day just going into that building if it didn’t have the benefits of the overall
center. So keep in mind the planning that we promised you that we’d do. When we first brought this to you, we told you we’d plan it and plan it wisely. That plan is in place and we’re
real confident with it. I’ll happily answer any other questions that you have.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. Larry, the one gentleman brought up the delivery time. I don’t know how you worked out with Shopko. I don’t believe they’re being delivered in the middle of the
night, are they?
Durkin: They’re not. That’s another point, too, I should have answered on that. The – I think a lot of people think that this particular store will have just – the average semi delivery
– it averages 18 a day for this store. Again, there’s a lot of small vendor trucks that deliver, but there is 18 semi deliveries a day. And we would expect the only ones that would
be using the drive along the south property line would be the – we expect most of those would be the food ones and the general merchandise deliveries would be coming in off of Fairview
Avenue right about where that cursor is right now. Those docks on the northeast corner of the building, those are the general merchandise non-perishable. The docks on the south side
of the building, that’s the grocery delivery section. I guess my 18-trucks-per-day number comes from the Fred Meyer store. That’s how many trucks they have on an average day. It’s
a comparable type of store. That’s an average workday. As far as the hours of shipping and receiving, there aren’t any in place on an existing center right now. There aren’t any hours
of operation in place in this center. The only requirement that I’m not certain of the wording, but the only requirement in place now is that the stores post their shipping and receiving
hours so that they don’t get a truck driving up and just sitting there while the time – again, that comes back to the point that the deliveries to this store are far more controlled
than they are to any of the other stores in the Center. I think we’ve all seen Wal-Mart Sams trucks driving down the highway. They’re owned by Wal-Mart, the drivers work for Wal-Mart,
and I have a high regard for the trucking industry. It’s a lot different when you have Yellow Freight or the other companies that aren’t employees that are just delivering and leaving.
These people are employees of the company, and the manager of the store can control them if there’s a concern.
Bird: It won’t be a 24-hour?
Durkin: I don’t know that but I could ask.
Bird: I’ve got another question. I don’t know how close of a scale that site plan is, but how are you going to get semis in and backed into those docks down on the southeast corner?
They don’t come around the south side. Is there enough room to turn a semi in? Like I say, I don’t know how close that scale is.
Durkin: I was surprised of that, too. I think it might be – Tom, can you put up that other plan? At least give – The plan that you’re looking at is the plan that was resubmitted last
Friday. It reflects the conditions set at the Planning and Zoning meeting. The modifications you see on there were the ones that were requested at that hearing. In answer to your
question on how they do that, that’s an area where my expertise fades away, but the engineering company that was here at the last meeting or the meeting before, I don’t remember the
young lady that addressed this group, that was presentation of how the general merchandise trucks get in. But how they do it, I really don’t know the answer.
Bird: When you get the scale – yeah. There’s enough room. You’re okay. They don’t have to come in the south lane. Answered my questions.
Corrie: Any other questions? Okay. Thank you, Larry.
Durkin: Thank you.
: (inaudible)
Corrie: Well, give you a couple minutes. You’re not supposed to, but –
Hill: Well, just to answer his – some of his stuff. I do still have a question about the noise of the trucks. They have a grocery store that those trucks, a lot of them have to be
refrigerated, and a refrigerated truck has a motor on the outside that runs constantly, and if you don’t set a time limit, especially in the morning, you’ve seen and I’ve seen those
trucks come into grocery stores at four and five o’clock in the morning unloading their stuff. I think there needs to be a time limit when they can start unloading. Also, as far as
the trees go, there are several different species of evergreen trees that you can put in there. You don’t have to put ash trees. You’ve got all sorts of evergreens in there. But the
trucks do come in at four or five o’clock in the morning. I know they do. They unload. A lot of those grocery store trucks are refrigerated trucks, and they’re noisy. When we were
delivering out in the neighborhoods, we’ve actually had the police come up and kick us out of the neighborhoods until seven o’clock in the morning. We could not start work until seven
o’clock. And that’s basically all we’re asking for and to just have a time limit when they can come in. If you don’t, those guys can come in there any time of night, any time of day
that they want to. You’ve got to have a
time limit or they’ll be there. Again, like I say, as far as the wall and the trees go, I still think there should be an eight-foot wall and evergreen trees, and there are several different
species of evergreen trees they can put in. I thank you and appreciate you letting me come up again.
Bird: Just a second. Let me ask Mr. Hill a question. Living out there, has Shopko deliveries and stuff been noisy or excessive or anything?
Hill: Shopko is down the line from us where I live. It hasn’t bothered our house. I don’t believe that they delivered at night, but they don’t have a grocery store. All they’ve got
is little deli type thing in there. Mainly, I realize that the Wal-Mart trucks come in there probably during the day, but those – if they have a full-blown grocery store, I know that
those bread trucks and those beer trucks and the other trucks come in there at four and five o’clock in the morning, and that’s what we’re concerned about. So we really think there
should be a time limit on when they can start and when they have to finish. Okay. Thank you.
Bird: Thank you. I got a rebuttal.
Durkin: I know we can kind of go back and forth here. I think I’d like to just show this to the City Attorney so that he knows – (inaudible) The document that I have in my hands is
a conditional use, the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and recommendations to City Council when we went through this for the overall shopping center. When we went through that
process, there was a lot of concern about noise. A valid concern and how it needs to be handled. I don’t know of another development company ever doing this, but we hired a noise consultant.
Some of you were here and remember that. We hired a noise consultant to come in and make recommendations on how it can be the quietest development and still meet the needs of the tenants.
Those findings – that recommendation was made to this group without any review of us. The guy flew into town, drove from the airport here, walked in late, walked up to this podium
and made his presentation. That was the first time I ever heard it and the first time any of the residents had heard it. I want you to know the Planning and Zoning Commission and the
City Council were so taken with his recommendations and his presentation that they put the entire report that we follow all of his recommendations –
*** End of Side 5 ***
and that’s in our Conditional Use Permit for the whole shopping center including the heart of this one. We have asked for, volunteered, it’s in our application that we be required to
meet these same noise standards for the overall shopping center. That’s in our testimony and it’s certainly in our plans. We can’t have a limit on the hours of operation for the deliveries.
I want to read a few things that would be important to the gentleman that just testified, and he may not be aware of it because I don’t think he lived there then. One of – I’m just
reading this right
off of the report dated September 23, 1998. The engines of all trucks shall be turned off once the trucks are at the truck dock. That’s “A.” B, trucks shall not be allowed to park
in the driveways between the stores and the Crossroads development with their engines running for more than five minutes. C, trucks with refrigeration units mounted on the trailers
shall not be allowed to park between the stores and the Crossroads development for any amount of time if the refrigeration unit on the trailer is operating. So if they pull up to park
and they’re not at a loading dock, they have to turn it off. This is our Conditional Use Permit for the overall center. So I’ve testified tonight as I’ve testified at our annexation
hearings, our Comprehensive Plan hearings, our plat hearings. We are committing to you that we will meet the noise standards, we will meet or exceed the noise standards set in this
document, and we will meet or exceed the landscaping and the buffering requirements in this document. The several Planning and Zoning Commissions were more than satisfied that these
concerns met all of the noise concerns of the residents. The Council was satisfied a number of times, and I think it’s fair that the residents were satisfied, the residents that were
involved at that time were more than satisfied at that time. So these are the noise controls, and they’re the most strict I’ve seen in the Treasure Valley in building a lot of different
developments. So I will – if anyone – I have one copy. I’ll hand this to whoever would like it. If that needs to be made, you have a copy –
Corrie: He’s got it. We already have it.
Durkin: I hope that answers (inaudible) satisfaction to the gentleman’s concerns. I might just send him home with a copy of this tonight so he can review it. The enforcement, just
to remind you in the audience, the enforcement of that, if we’re in violation of that, it could cause a revocation of the Conditional Use Permit. So it’s a very serious step that I
think you might recall that Home Depot went through, and it could be a scary – Thank you.
Corrie: Anything else of Council?
Bird: I have none.
Corrie: Hearing no more, I’ll entertain a motion on the – want to close the public hearing now at this time.
Anderson: So moved.
Bird: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to close the public hearing on Item No. 14. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: Further discussion? Okay. If nobody has anything, I guess I’ll entertain a motion for the request of Conditional Use Permit to have the attorney draw up the Findings of Facts
and Conclusions of Law and Order that – (inaudible) You’ve got the conditions in front of you from Planning and Zoning and their recommendations.
Bird: (inaudible) if the conditional use – that previous one, the original thing, that takes (inaudible) over –
Corrie: It can unless you change anything (inaudible).
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I guess one more question from Shari. We heard a lot of testimony on the – any exceptions on the Findings of the recommendations? Did you have any comments on
those? Do you agree with the exceptions or you disagree?
Stiles: You’re talking about the ones that they had in their letter? I addressed those previously. The only one I had the exception to was the 20-foot planting strip because that
is an ordinance requirement against incompatible uses.
Anderson: That would be which one in this letter?
Stiles: 1.17.
Anderson: 1.17.
Corrie: 1.17 is 10-foot wide. It’s also in (inaudible) as well. Which one are you talking about? 1.17 says commercial use is not compatible with adjacent cemetery use. A minimum
of 10-foot wide planting strip is needed to (inaudible) future roadway. He’s saying along the west side of future Venture Street. Look at the same thing?
Stiles: He’s proposing 10 feet and the ordinance requires 20-foot planting strip.
Corrie: You’re talking about 1.16 and he’s got 1.17.
Stiles: Oh. I was looking at his – his reply.
Corrie: Okay. Looking at 1.16; is 1.16 – he’s saying to take out that 31- to 41-foot wide with a six-foot – he said he’s proposing a 31-foot wide buffer. Is that correct?
Stiles: I didn’t have an issue with 1.16. It was the 1.17.
Anderson: Basically, he’s saying the same thing. The only thing he’s saying different is on the west side and you’re saying along the future roadway is the only difference. They’re
both asking for ten foot.
Bird: She’s asking for 20.
Anderson: Not in her Findings.
Bird: Oh. Okay.
Stiles: I’d need to double-check, but I don’t think that’s what our comments said. I’ll double-check. Our comment was 20 feet.
Corrie: So you’re saying a minimum of 20 feet rather than 10.
Stiles: Yes.
Corrie: So that ten-foot should be twenty-foot wide.
Stiles: Yes.
Corrie: You had no other problem with the others, Shari?
Stiles: No.
Corrie: By adding per Ada County Highway District’s approval?
Stiles: Yes, that’s fine.
Corrie: 1.34 – they say – they add that there be a 36-foot wide street section with curbs. You have 40-foot, we have 40-foot in this one. Which would you prefer; 40 or 36?
Stiles: They’ll have to comply with whatever Ada County Highway District requires for that. If they regard it as just a local street, they may be able to provide it in a 50-foot wide
right-of-way, but that would be Ada County Highway District’s standards. Whatever those are for that public street.
Corrie: So do you need to follow District’s staff – okay. Any other questions from Council? Okay. With that in mind, I’ll entertain a motion on the Conditional Use Permit request.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I would make a motion that we approve the CUP request for commercial expansion of the Meridian Crossroads Shopping Center for Wal-Mart, Developers Diversified
Realty Corporation at the southwest corner of Records Drive and Fairview Avenue subject to staff comments with the exception
of 1.16 should read “31 feet” instead of “31 to 41 feet;” and comment 1.17 would require the 20-foot planting strip; and then on Items 1.28 through 1.40 add the comment “or subsequently
revised and approved by the Ada County Highway District Commissioners;” and on Item 1.27 add the sentence “per the Ada County Highway District conditions of approval;” and on Item 1.34
make that subject to the requirements of Ada County Highway District and direct the City Attorney to prepare the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and the appropriate Order of
Decision.
Bird: Second.
Corrie: Motion is made and seconded as recorded. I’m not going to try to go through that again. Good job, though. Is there any further discussion?
Anderson: I would like to make just a couple additional comments. I think – appreciate all the comments from the public that they made on this particular development, and I think those
comments have been very useful and they’ve helped create a much better overall plan, and I appreciate the developers working with those concerns and addressing some of the traffic issues
as well as the noise and the buffering and some of those things, so I think it shows that the process does work and appreciate everybody participating in that process.
Corrie: Further comments? Hearing none, roll-call vote, Mr. Clerk.
Roll-call: Anderson, aye; McCandless, aye; Bird, aye
MOTION CARRIED: THREE AYES
Item 15. Public Hearing: CUP 00-002 Request for Conditional Use Permit for expansion of existing church facility in an R-4 zone by Meridian Friends Church – 1021 West Pine Avenue:
Corrie: It’s this late, we might as well get the others done. Public hearing No. 15 is request for Conditional Use Permit for the expansion of the existing church facility in an R-4
zone by Meridian Friends Church. I’ll open the public hearing on that and ask staff comments. You can come back now.
(Councilperson deWeerd returns to the forum)
Corrie: What, Shari?
Stiles: Mr. Mayor, Council, this is for an expansion of the existing Meridian Friends Church on Pine Street. As they are located in an R-4 zone and it’s a non-conforming use in that
zone, they are required to go through the conditional use process. What they have proposed will be an improvement to what exists
there. As you can see from the existing facility, there’s little of any landscaping, and they have proposed to bring their site up to ordinance requirements by adding the additional
landscaping. Staff would recommend approval of the Conditional Use Permit with all staff and agency conditions.
Corrie: Thank you. Is the applicant here today?
Redford: Mr. Mayor and City Councilmen, we’re looking for your approval for a Conditional Use Permit for Meridian Friends Church. I’m Ken Redford. I live at 1011 West Pine in Meridian,
and we’re looking for approval for the Conditional Use Permit. We’re hoping to expand our facilities and bring those up a little bit; modernize them a little bit. Expand the restrooms,
bring those into conformity with ADA regulations as well as our parking in terms of the landscaping as had been mentioned. We’ve read the comments that were given to us and certainly
have no objections to any one of those. They’re all – we’re in agreement with each one of them.
Corrie: Okay. Questions from Council?
Bird: I have none.
Corrie: Okay. Thank you very much. Anybody else from the public like to issue testimony? Okay. Hearing none, I’ll entertain a motion to close the public hearing.
Bird: So moved.
deWeerd: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to close the public hearing on Item No. 15, the Conditional Use Permit. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor of the motion say
aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: Any other comments?
Bird: I have none.
deWeerd: I have none.
Corrie: I’ll entertain a motion on the request for the Conditional Use Permit for expansion of the existing church facility in an R-4 zone by Meridian Friends Church.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. I move that we approve the request for Conditional Use Permit for the expansion of the existing church facility in an R-4 zone by the Meridian
Friends Church at 1021 West Pine Avenue and for the counsel to prepare the appropriate Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and Decision of Order.
deWeerd: Second.
Corrie: Motion’s made and seconded to give the request for Conditional Use Permit in favor and have the attorney draw up the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and Order on the
request. Any further discussion? Mr. Clerk, roll-call vote, please.
Roll-call: Anderson, aye; deWeerd, aye; McCandless, aye; Bird, aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Item 16. Public Hearing: Adult entertainment ordinance relating to zoning schedule:
Corrie: The last public hearing is going to be the adult entertainment ordinance relating to zoning schedule. This will be – Mr. Clerk, what’s the number on this one? 859?
Berg: It’s just a public hearing right now, Mr. Mayor. We haven’t approved it, but that’s –
Corrie: That’s what it will be?
Berg: Yes.
Corrie: Okay. I’ll open the public hearing on the adult entertainment ordinance and staff comments first.
Stiles: This ordinance was prepared by legal counsel because we have nothing in our ordinance that provides for adult entertainment businesses. You’re aware that we recently passed
the licensing for adult entertainment businesses, but it doesn’t show up anywhere in our zoning schedule of use control. The City can’t outright prohibit them entirely in the entire
area, so you do have to provide zones where they could apply through a Conditional Use Permit. The ones that are proposed are regional shopping center. We don’t actually have anything
zoned that right now, but that is a zone that exists in our current ordinance. It’s also proposed that they could be allowed through a Conditional Use Permit in a C-G zone and an industrial
zone. They would not be permitted in particularly Old Town, of course, and not in any residential areas. I think we do have one license currently for – is that the same thing, Will?
Adult entertainment license? Is that renewed yearly or is it a renewed license? So the one that’s existing now would be prohibited with passage of this ordinance? Maybe legal counsel
has something to add on this –
Nichols: Mayor, members of the Council, what zone is it located in now?
Stiles: Old Town.
Nichols: It may qualify as a non-conforming use within that zone even if you approve this.
Stiles: Even when it comes up for renewal?
Nichols: I’d have to check that out. I really don’t know the answer to that. It certainly would be non-conforming use, at least through the time of the license.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I’ve got a question on the coding system on that thing. I guess – what is DR, design review, and do we have such a thing?
Stiles: No.
Anderson: Did we just copy somebody else’s ordinance? Is that where we got that?
Stiles: I don’t know where that came from.
Corrie: I don’t think we have a design review. It’s just been copied (inaudible).
Bird: I don’t know where it’s come up with the design review.
Corrie: We don’t have one at this point.
Stiles: I wish we had one.
Corrie: It’s there in case we –
Anderson: If it’s not a process we have, well, I’m not sure we should be passing an ordinance that requires it.
Corrie: Is that the only one we’ve got? (inaudible) Page 4 that’s there?
Stiles: Oh. Permitted with design review. Even though we don’t have a design review. But that is how the current ordinance is. Public service facilities are permitted with design
review and those – if that came up, it would be a site plan that we just presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission without a hearing and without an actual application.
Corrie: Any other questions?
Bird: I have none.
Corrie: This is a public hearing. Anyone from the public like to enter testimony on this? Mr. Berg.
Berg: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to make a comment. Our adult entertainment license has several different types. A, B, C and D, I believe, so the degrees are different,
also. There are various stages of degrees of licenses, conditions, in certain areas that you have the ability to approve or not approve.
Corrie: Okay. Since there’s no other public testimony, I’ll entertain a motion to close the public hearing.
Bird: So moved.
Anderson: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to close the public hearing. All those in favor say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: Okay. I guess now we can have the Ordinance No. 859 – counselor, what do we need to do here?
Nichols: Mayor, members of the Council, I would recommend that you put it on the agenda for the next meeting as a regular agenda item to come up and hopefully by that time I’ll have
the answer to your license question.
Corrie: Okay.
Nichols: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, I guess it is an amendment to your zoning ordinance so there would need to be some sort of Findings however brief to support the ordinance.
Corrie: Than I’ll entertain a motion for the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law on the public hearing.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. I move that we have the attorney draw up the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law and Decision of Order regarding Ordinance 859, the adult entertainment ordinance
related to zoning schedule.
Corrie: Okay. Do I hear a second?
Anderson: Second.
Corrie: Motion made and seconded to have the attorney draw up the Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law on the public hearing Item 16 for Ordinance No. 859. Any further discussion?
McCandless: Mr. Mayor. At the risk of sounding pretty dumb, I really don’t know what we’re voting on here.
Corrie: We’re voting on to have the Findings of Facts of the public hearing brought to us and then we will, at the next meeting, vote on the Ordinance. Then if we approve the Findings
of Facts that you have on this public hearing, then we’ll also vote on Ordinance No. 859, if that be the number, at that time to implement the new adult entertainment business section
of the Conditional Use Permit. So, in other words, we have to have the findings – what we found out in this public hearing just now. It’ll have her testimony and nobody else did –
so we’re having the attorney draw up those Findings.
McCandless: So this is strictly to figure out a zoning for – in case we are ever asked to approve – okay.
Corrie: We’ll put the ordinance on at the next meeting as well.
Nichols: Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, Councilwoman McCandless, what it does is it plugs into your existing zoning schedule where these things are allowed as and how they are allowed.
They’re only allowed as conditional uses and only in these specific zones. Right now, because you don’t have it in your zoning schedule, technically there is no zone within which it
is allowed, and the 1st Amendment requires that you have to make some provision within your zoning ordinances for these uses.
McCandless: I see. Thank you.
deWeerd: Mr. Mayor, can we just keep it in the RSC? We don’t have that zone, so can you just limit it to one zone?
Nichols: Councilwoman deWeerd, Mayor, members of the Council, I am painfully aware of this adult entertainment stuff because of my stint in Nyssa where they have a complete nude bar,
juice bar, and so I am more familiar with this thing than I ever wanted to be, and, basically it boils down to you have to provide some place for these kinds of businesses. There was
a town of Medford, Massachusetts, who basically constructed their zoning in such a way that there was only one city block in town in which it was an allowed use, and there were no vacancies
in any of the buildings in that particular block, and they – the whole ordinance was struck down because it was so restrictive. You have to make some provision for these uses. Just
be thankful you’re not in Oregon where you’re not allowed to take into account community standards and other things.
deWeerd: But do we really have to have it in three different zones? If you just have it in industrial, at least you don’t have residential nearby. Do we have to have three zones for
this? I mean, at least industrial is more isolated than C-G. And there’s still opportunity if that’s the issue here. How did we get to the three different zones?
Stiles: I don’t know.
deWeerd: Can we just offer the RSC and the industrial zone and not offer it in commercial general?
Nichols: If I may comment, Mayor, members of the Council, Councilwoman deWeerd, if you get a regional shopping center, do you want this to be an allowed use in that?
deWeerd: No. But they’d have to come for a CUP, so they wouldn’t want to ruin their whole project just for one store.
Nichols: I think the issue is they have a tenant that wants to go in. They’ve got the existing building. It’s the use, not the building.
deWeerd: Well, can we just have it in “I”, then?
Nichols: It boils down to the question of how much inventory do you have in the industrial zone; are there places available within an industrial zone within which this kind of business
could locate; if there’s enough space, yes, some – there’s a variety of theories about how you regulate these kinds of businesses. Some places they take the combat zone type approach
where you want it in one concentrated area so the police can know where to go and watch for things. Some places say you’ve got to keep them spread out so you don’t have these folks
congregating in one area. So as long as there is space available for these uses, I mean, you do have a Conditional Use Permit process which does allow you to say it’s not permissible
to have this next door to the kiddy store or whatever the thing might be.
deWeerd: And you won’t have a kiddy store in an industrial zone.
Nichols: Unless you have some non-conforming uses of some sort.
deWeerd: Chief Gordon, do you have any –
Gordon: No.
Corrie: Okay. If you want to do Findings of Facts that show up as three zones?
Bird: That’s what the motion was.
Corrie: Okay. All right. We’ll have roll-call vote then. Questions called –
Roll-call: Anderson, aye; deWeerd, nay; McCandless, nay; Bird, aye
Berg: Two-two tie, Mayor Corrie.
Corrie: Let me get this – okay. I’ll vote aye.
MOTION CARRIED WITH TIEBREAKER: THREE AYES, TWO NAYS
Corrie: Then we can come back and you can decide if you want to keep the Findings of Facts that way. We’ll get it on the agenda. You can come back and discuss it.
Item 17. Department Reports:
City Engineer – Gary Smith
Meridian Transportation Task Force Committee – 1999 Report:
Smith: Thank you, Mayor, Council members, first item is a report on the Meridian Transportation Task Force Committee. I have submitted to you minutes of their meeting that was held
on December 15, 1999, and out of that meeting came a discussion of transportation projects within the City of Meridian and adjacent to the city proper. Very last page of the minutes
is a priority based listing of transportation projects, and the reason this is before you is that the City needs to establish a listing of projects with COMPASS so that they can insert
the projects in the TIP, the Transportation Improvement Program, that they then sent on to ITD for funding purposes. And I don’t recall the timing for this before COMPASS. I did call
and talk to Ali Bonakdar about it, and he said they would like to have an indication from the Council as to what projects you would like to see prioritized with them for the TIP.
Corrie: Are you recommending all 13, then, Gary?
Smith: That was the recommendation of this committee, yes, sir.
Corrie: Which it does have the overpass at Linder and Locust Grove in there which we will be discussing Thursday.
Anderson: Mr. Mayor. I have a question, Gary. On all the projects that relate to the interstate, the Ten Mile interchange, the Linder Road overpass, the Locust Grove overpass and
widening Meridian interchange, have we as a City prioritized those four separate things so that we can tell the State Highway District that this is our No. 1 through 4 priorities, because
it seems like we ought to be doing that.
Smith: Well, Councilman Anderson, this is a prioritized listing just based on the transportation committee’s ideas. What you actually submit as Mayor and Council, that’s up to you,
to them for priority of projects. The Transportation Committee looked at the city – total city, not only the city proper, the city limits, but also areas outside the city limits primarily,
of course, they’re in the city limits, but as Mayor said, we had the interchange and the overpasses as an Item No. 4 on our priority list. That was just a consideration by the Committee
as to what the Committee felt. That Committee was composed of one Council person, Cherie, was there, kind of a newcomer. Not yet sworn in but in attendance. Planning and Zoning was
represented. It was a pretty wide variety of representation on the Committee, both public and private sector. Again, the emphasis that you as the Council and Mayor want to see is what
COMPASS wants to hear. This is just a committee’s suggestion. The other thing I might add is from what I’ve heard on the interstate projects, because money is so tight and because
there are so many project requests, ITD is looking at partnerships on those projects. That’s money partnerships whether it’s a city providing right-of-way, a city providing funds for
design, whatever it might be, but they’re looking for money partnerships just because of the restricted amount of funding that’s available and the great need and the corridor study that’s
been done – practically done, isn’t it, Mayor? Pretty much finished? They have several proposals that include interstate interchanges and they have included in their corridor study
the Ten Mile interchange, they’ve included Linder Road and Locust Grove overpass as their study.
Anderson: How about improvements to Meridian interchange?
Smith: I don’t recall seeing improvements to Meridian interchange on it. We’ve raised the question several times, and the interchange, the Meridian interchange is a functionally obsolete
structure. It’s functionally obsolete because it has a lateral clearance problem on the interstate itself; however, the structure, the condition of the structure, the physical condition
of the structure has a sufficiency rating of 76, something like that, and that isn’t a low enough rating for the Highway Department to say we need to replace this structure because it’s
going to fall down. They’re dealing with sufficiency ratings on structure of less than 50 in other areas, and those are the ones that they’re earmarking for replacement. I doubt very
seriously that that’s going to get a very hard look. There are some things that could be done there short of replacing the structure, but they’re kind of Band-Aid stuff. Your concerns
have been, one of your major concerns have been pedestrian safety crossing that structure, and at one time there were three different alternatives that were put to the Highway Department
by this Transportation Committee, or I should say a request for alternatives, and they came back with three alternatives. I don’t remember what they were – two of them, one of them
was a stand-alone pedestrian structure adjacent to it. One was the addition of a pedestrian walkway on the existing structure. One of them was a – it seems like a different striping
program over the structure as far as the
lanes were concerned, and they ranged in costs from half a million dollars to a hundred thousand. But the replacement of the structure itself, I think, is probably going to be a hard
sell.
Corrie: I was told by ITD that they would have to have the Ten Mile interchange in before they could do anything in Meridian (inaudible) couldn’t get (inaudible) Eagle Road.
Smith: Mr. Mayor, that’s exactly right. They’d have to have another alternative for crossing.
Anderson: I have another question, and I guess this is probably more for the Mayor. Don’t we have – we have this Meridian transportation task force committee, and isn't there an ad
hoc advisory committee to the Mayor on transportation issues, too?
Corrie: That was one the Chamber of Commerce looked at with the transportation and also the Historical – that’s pretty much taken care of now. Then it integrated into this transportation
board. So that ad hoc committee is just about finished with their recommendations. That’s (inaudible)
Smith: It was just a one-year, single-purpose committee, one-time committee. When I checked the priority, they had several different stages of priorities. Their top-level priorities
is included in within the priorities shown on this Task Force Committee.
Anderson: Well, I guess I think these projects that you have on here are all worthy projects, but I think when it comes to some of the interstate, what we as a City needs to do is then
prioritize these four projects and then discuss which ones that we may be possibly willing to fund. But if we can’t even come together – we keep throwing these four projects out there.
I would say it’s safe to say that none of them will get funded if we can’t even tell them which one is a higher priority for us and which one we’d be willing to fund. So I think we
need to probably, as a City, in one of our workshops, maybe sit down and see whether we agree with those priorities you have or if we want to set some new ones and then send those over
to COMPASS or whoever it is that takes those forward then.
Smith: Yes. They have to go to COMPASS and my only comment to that, Councilman Anderson would be that it has to be done right away because they’re on a pretty tight time schedule to
get this information to the TIP to get it before the – then that goes before the Idaho Transportation Board and then they make the final decisions. So I wish I should have gotten a
time schedule before because I just don’t know what their timing is.
Corrie: Probably No. 4 should be No. 1.
Anderson: Then out of those we need to decide which would be our priorities.
Corrie: I think the Linder Road overpass is probably what we’re looking at now because we’re going to take 1.2 or 1.5 million to send that (inaudible) work session that we’re going
to have to commit to that to ACHD and ITD so that they will say okay, Meridian is committed to the overpass and this amount for right-of-way buying and then they’ll put it on their five-year
program so we can get it within two to three years and get it done.
Anderson: You said Linder but you probably meant –
Corrie: Right. Oh. I’m sorry.
: When you refer to No. 4, which project is that?
Corrie: It’s the Ten Mile interchange, Linder Road overpass.
*** End of Side 6 ***
Corrie: But the one we really want to get started on and make sure that it’s in that five-year study is that Locust Grove overpass.
Bird: It’s got to be sooner than five years.
Corrie: Well, we’ve got to get it in that five-year plan now. The City is willing to buy the right-of-way for us – over a million dollars is put in there. The Ten Mile interchange
will come along quicker, too, if you have somebody say put two million dollar on top of the City well. Any time the City says, okay, we’ll give you so much money, we’ll put our money
into it, that’ll pump it up even higher for the ITD.
McCandless: Just seems to me that the Ten Mile interchange is extremely important because the City is growing out west so fast, and we can relieve traffic downtown a lot if we had that.
Corrie: Right. But the City has to be able to commit some funds to that right off the top.
Bird: So this is dealing with the federal boys, too, as well as the local level.
Smith: Also, Mr. Mayor and Council, Steve Spickelmeier from ACHD did bring some information to me on the Locust Grove overpass. He did some very preliminary work on that and showed
some right-of-way widths that were going to be required and the impact that it would have on the existing facilities out there. There is one subdivision on the northeast quadrant of
that crossing that would be
impacted by that overpass, and juts the embankment to get it up above for clearance. He also gave me some estimated construction costs for the structure. That was as a result of your
last joint meeting with the Highway District where you requested that information. So I do have that, and I’ll bring that to you maybe at the next work session.
Bird: Do you want to put this on the schedule for the 29th as one item?
McCandless: Workshop?
Bird: Yeah, the workshop. One item?
Corrie: But you’re going to have to be ready to commit the –
Bird: No, I mean to prioritize.
Corrie: Okay. Yeah, you can, but you’re going to have to give ACHD Thursday whether we’re going to commit to buy some of the right-of-way for 1.2 million (inaudible) --
Bird: I have no problem with that.
Corrie: -- and they’ll put it on that five-year plan and bump it back up –
Bird: As long as we keep the money until they need it. We can make enough interest as slow as they’re going.
Corrie: And the preliminary hearing is what we’re doing now. But you want to be ready Thursday to commit that – to buying that right-of-way.
Bird: (inaudible)
Corrie: (inaudible) Thursday – you’ve got to be pretty well ready –
Smith: Mr. Mayor, one other comment that I might make, and I think I made a statement in my cover letter. I can’t recall for sure, but with the Highway District as with a lot of government
agencies, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and I think that we have to be very aggressive in what we want as far as transportation projects are concerned. I also feel and I express
my feelings at one of the joint meetings that we had two commissioners, Ada County Highway District Commissioners that my personal feeling is that the traffic studies that are done by
developers who hire their traffic engineers to do those for them and then in turn submit those to the Highway District, those traffic studies should be done by the Highway District,
and if the Highway District wants to hire a consultant to do that and then have the developer pay the bill, that’s fine, but I think those traffic studies need to be done by the Highway
District rather than by someone else
and submitted to the Highway District. It just seems to me that they have better control, it’s – you could draw an analogy to a developer coming in here and telling me that we have
capacity in the sewer line because his engineer has done a study on it. The only thing I can do is to do a study myself, compare the results. I don’t think the Highway District is
doing that. I just continue to have concerns, and I’m not a traffic engineer, so I can’t base it on anything other than just a gut feeling that the traffic studies that we’re getting
– just like the Bear Creek, you know, where I question and get a letter back from the Highway District Traffic Engineer that says we’ve got 200 sections out there that will have a level
of service of F, and that’s dead, grid-locked, dead-stop, get-out-of-your-car-and-lock-it-up-and-walk. To me that’s very serious. We didn’t get that the first time around. We didn’t
get that until I questioned them and asked them for something. At our next joint meeting, I would be more than happy to raise my hand and ask the Commissioners again to do that.
Corrie: Let’s do it. You’ll have the opportunity Thursday.
Smith: Anyway, off of that soapbox – I’ll check with Ali tomorrow at COMPASS and see what the drop-dead date is on getting a priority list back to them. If it’s sooner than your strategic
planning meeting, I’ll let you know.
Bird: (inaudible) department reports (inaudible) getting old.
Corrie: Okay. We’ll do that, Gary. You’ve got a wastewater truck sewer?
WWTP Trunk Sewer – Creason Lateral Crossing:
Smith: Second item is a Creason Lateral Crossing with – let’s see. I’m sorry. It’s the construction crossing. We have to get across there with a sewer line before the water comes
in, and we just got some estimates because we had a ballpark estimate that we were going to need less than $25,000, so we just solicited three estimates in accordance with the bid laws,
and we did get a bid from Brown Construction. Our recommendation is to accept that bid in the amount of $23,702, and that would get us under the Creason ahead of the water in the ditch
and it would allow us to make connection to the headworks, the wastewater plant and allow us to connect on – Mr. Bews to connect on to it and head out through his property to Ten Mile
Road. It’s part of the no-name trunk, and it will also connect to the north slew, eventually.
Bird: Mr. Mayor, this is real short. Gary, is that guy ready to go to work?
Smith: Yes, sir.
Bird: The nylon pipe you and Brad think is fine?
Smith: Yes, sir.
Bird: I move that we enter into a contract with Brown Construction for the sum of $23,702 and for the Mayor to sign and the Clerk to attest.
deWeerd: Second.
Corrie: Motion is made and seconded to Item No. 2 for the amount of $23,702 for the Creason Lateral Crossing. Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Application / Request for Latecomers Fee Agreement for Russell Hunemiller:
Smith: Thank you. The last item I have is just a request that we received from Russell Hunemiller for the City to enter into a latecomers agreement for a waterline extension that he
made on Ten Mile Road south from Thunder Creek under the railroad tracks to that storage facility that he built out there. He installed a 12-inch water line that will serve other properties
between his development and where he connected, and this would just be an approval for us to enter into an agreement. It’s not an approval of the agreement; it’s just an approval to
proceed with preparation of an agreement if you so desire.
Bird: Mr. Mayor. I move that we proceed with the approval of a latecomers fee for the waterline down Ten Mile with Russell Hunemiller and to draft a sufficient latecomers fee that doesn’t
give our bookkeeping gray hairs.
Anderson: Second.
deWeerd: That’s a motion?
Corrie: Okay. Motion is made and seconded. Any further discussion? All those in favor of the motion say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
Corrie: I’ll entertain a motion to adjourn.
City Council President – Keith Bird
Invitation to join Senior Citizens for lunch for the month of March:
Items needed for the Tuesday, February 29, 2000 City Council Workshop:
Bird: Just a second. I’ve got one thing. I’m sorry. We need to – the Senior Center has asked us if we’d like to come to lunch during the month of March. So if you’d like to pick
a day, I think you can contact Will, he’ll take care of the contact, or do you want us to contact Donna Jones? What you want on the deal – let’s keep it to four good items for the workshop
and get out of there at 9:00. So what you don’t get on the agenda, don’t bring. Have it in to Will by the 22nd. Remember the ACHD Joint Meeting Thursday the 17th, Will’s giving you
an agenda, and everybody Friday morning at six a.m., there’s a nice FFA Appreciation breakfast at the high school.
deWeerd: Thank you, Mr. Berg.
Bird: Now do you want the motion, Mayor? I move that we adjourn.
deWeerd: Second.
Corrie: All in favor say aye.
MOTION CARRIED: ALL AYES
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 12:50 A.M.
(TAPE ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS)
APPROVED:
ROBERT D. CORRIE, MAYOR
ATTEST:
WILLIAM G. BERG, JR., CITY CLERK