PZ - East Ridge - DevCo Letter and Narrative 09.08.2017 signed
4824 W. Fairview Ave. Boise, Idaho 83706
208.336.5355
September 7, 2017
Mr. Caleb Hood, Planning Division Manager
Planning Division
City of Meridian
33 E. Broadway Ave.
Suite 102
Meridian, Idaho 83642
RE: East Ridge Estates
East Lake Hazel Road
Annexation, Zoning and Preliminary Plat
Dear Mr. Hood:
Attached for your review and favorable consideration are the applications for the East Ridge
Estates Residential Community located on East Lake Hazel Road. We respectfully request approval of
our Annexation, Zoning and Preliminary Plat applications.
After Meridian City Council remanded the prior East Ridge Estates plat to Planning and Zoning
Commission for R-4 zoning re-design, we met with Meridian Planning staff to review the City Council
motion for a revised site design. After several meetings with City Staff, we held a neighborhood meeting
with surrounding landowners and Blackrock Subdivision homeowners.
Two layouts were presented to the neighbors, the first a typical R-4 neighborhood design, the
second a design that incorporated estate lots with a “Patio Home” lot for “age restricted” residents, the
“Village Layout”. The majority of neighbors favored the second design over a typical R-4 subdivision.
Based on numerous meetings and neighbor comments we worked with the South Rim Coalition and
Blackrock Home Owners Association to refine the East Ridge Layout.
Enclosed is a project narrative that details the neighborhood and various aspects of our
applications. Thank you for your attention to this matter and should you have any questions or require
additional information please contact me by phone at 208.336.5355 or email,
jconger@congergroup.com
Sincerely,
Jim D. Conger
Managing Member
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East Ridge Narrative DevCo LLC
East Ridge Residential Community – Narrative
East Ridge Estates is located in south Meridian and fronts East Lake Hazel Road just west of the South
Eagle and Lake Hazel Road intersection. As you can see below; this community will be a positive
addition of product mixes to this growing area.
Location Map
SUMMARY OF APPLICATIONS
East Ridge community is a 139-residential home-site planned development on forty acres on East Lake
Hazel Road in South Meridian. The Community will consist of two product types; the Estate Home-sites
on the Rim will consist of 17,000 to 37,000 square foot home-sites. The Village will be an Age Restricted
Neighborhood for the mature homeowner, the Village homes are structured as maintenance free which
is inclusive of all maintenance and is managed by the home owner’s association. The traffic generated
from The Village is less than 60% of a typical single-family home.
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East Ridge Narrative DevCo LLC
We are requesting approvals on the following applications:
• Annexation
• Zoning – From Ada County RUT to Meridian City R-4 & R-15
• Preliminary Plat
• Variance – Irrigation Waiver
Property Information
Parcel Address Current Zone Proposed Zone
S1132438500 E. Lake Hazel Road RUT R-4 & R-15
Adjacent Property Information
Area Building Types and / or Uses: Zone
North Residential R-4/R-8
South Abuts Lake Hazel Road and
Arterial / Residential / Farming
R-4
East Residential / Open Field RUT
West Residential RUT
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
The City of Meridian Comprehensive Plan designates the site as Low and Medium Density Residential.
Along the western portion of the property, it is designated as Medium Density and the eastern portion is
designated as Low Density. Under the Low Density Residential designation, the R-4 zoning is permitted.
The Medium Density Residential zoning allows for R-8 zoning along with a step-up basis to R-15 zoning.
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East Ridge Narrative DevCo LLC
ANNEXATION / ZONING
This property is currently zoned RUT (county). Upon annexation by the City of Meridian and as
permitted by the Meridian City Code we are requesting the zoning designation of R-4 for the North and
East portions of the site and R-15 for the Southwest portion. Meridian City Code allows for a step up in
zoning designations and with that, we request the step up for the R-8 zoning to an R-15 designation.
The blended overall density is 3.4 lots/acre, which fall well within the City’s Comprehensive Planning
requirements. The zoning designations are only utilized for dictating the dimensional standards of the
home sites. The development agreement will restrict the density to 3.4 lots per acre.
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East Ridge Narrative DevCo LLC
RESIDENTIAL DESIGN
East Ridge Estates will consist of large Estate Home-sites on the Rim that will consist of 17,000 to 37,000
square foot transitional home-sites; which will consist of similar product to the adjacent Black Rock
Subdivision. The Village will be a gated age restricted community that is designed around the older
more mature homeowner. Based on City Council’s previous recommendation; we met for over two
months of meetings and phone conversations with the Meridian South Rim Coalition, neighbors and City
Staff to arrive at a plan that had the most support. All parties made concessions to arrive at a plan that
would garner the majority of support and all parties agreed that this development plan would be better
than a typical R-4 subdivision. Based on those meetings we based our land plan on the following
commitments that will be recorded in the City required Development Agreement:
Overall Development:
• The Development Agreement will restrict the total number of residential homes to 98 lots for
the Village housing and 41 homes for the Estate Lots.
• Zoning will be R – 4 for the Estate Lots and R – 15 for the Village housing.
• Lake Hazel landscape to incorporate a 4 to 6-foot-tall berms. A majority (80%) of the berm will
be the requested 6 foot tall.
• Phase 1 will include the connection to Lake Hazel Road as required by City Council.
• Construction access will be from Lake Hazel Road.
• The neighborhood park will consist of park amenities and the park that was relocated towards
Black Rock neighbors per the direction of the coalition and neighbors.
• Domestic Water will be looped to E. Cyanite Drive which will improve current domestic water
quality for existing homeowners on City Services.
Village Product Area – This gated neighborhood encompasses 17.6 acres and will consist of 98 age
restricted homes. The age restriction targets the more mature homeowner that places a value on a
simple but secure lifestyle. The simple concept is based on an all-inclusive maintenance program as well
as the community clubhouse that provides a gathering spot for social interaction. And as previously
noted, the traffic generated from this housing product is significantly less than a typical neighborhood
(5.8 vs. 9.52 average weekday trip counts).
The following items are the concessions made on the Village Area throughout our meetings with the
Coalition:
• Wrought Iron Fencing on the property line boundary with adjacent neighbor (our west
boundary).
• A 1’ to 2’ berm for planting on our west boundary.
• A deciduous tree with a caliper size between 2 to 2.5 inches every 60 feet / an evergreen (blue
spruce) tree sized between 8 to 10 feet approximately every 60’ (i.e. a tree every 30 feet) with a
maximum growth height of 15 to 20 feet.
• A grouping of 3 shrubs between every tree.
• All product in the Village area is to be single level with a maximum roof height of 25 feet.
• All product in the Village area is to be age restricted.
• Setback of housing product to be 20’ from western property line.
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East Ridge Narrative DevCo LLC
Estate Homes Area – This large lot estate neighborhood is on 23.3 acres and will have 41 custom homes
that will be of similar nature to the adjacent Black Rock Subdivision. The lot sizes on the rim range from
17,000 to 37,000 square feet and the overall Estate Lots average size is 19,585 square feet.
The following items are the concessions made on the Estate Homes Area during our meetings with the
Coalition:
6 Estate Lots (Lot Nos. 1 – 3, Block 3 and Lot Nos. 16 – 18, Block 2):
• Wrought Iron Fencing on the property line boundary with adjacent neighbor (our west
boundary).
• A deciduous tree with a caliper size between 2 to 2.5 inches every 60 feet / an evergreen (blue
spruce) tree sized between 8 to 10 feet approximately every 60’ (i.e. a tree every 30 feet).
• A grouping of 3 shrubs between every tree.
• Set back of housing product to be 10’ from western property line.
• All 6 lots to be single level (This will require the Baumgartner Property to deed restrict 100’ of
their adjacent property to single level) with a maximum roof height of 25 feet.
• Rear Setbacks for Lots Nos. 1, 2 & 3, Block 3 shall be 45 feet.
• Side yard setbacks to be R-4.
Rim Estate Lots (Lots Nos. 6 – 23, Block 1):
• Adhere with the preliminary plat which includes specified lot widths.
• Rear Setbacks for Lot Nos. 6 – 23 shall be 45 feet.
• Side yard setbacks shall be 7.5 feet for homes on the Rim.
The following is the Site Plan and Architectural Elevations of the proposed housing product:
East Ridge Estates
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East Ridge Narrative DevCo LLC
SITE DESIGN:
% of Site Devoted to Residential Lot Coverage Area 75.97%
% of Site Devoted to Landscape Open Space / Common Areas 10.54%
% of Site Devoted to Roads / Parking 13.49%
Total 100%
Estate Homes - Architectural Elevations
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The Village - Architectural Elevations
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AMENITIES:
Estate Lots
• Neighborhood Park
• Open Field Sporting Area
• Shade Structure
• Sitting Areas
Village Lots
• Clubhouse
• Sitting Areas
• Open Space
In addition to the onsite project amenities, residents are able to take advantage of the planned South
Meridian City Regional Park. The park will be located on approximately 77 acres of land directly across
East Lake Hazel Road to the southwest of East Ridge. East Ridge neighborhood is adjacent to the
Regional Park and our residents will be able to take advantage of the parks features and amenities. Park
construction is scheduled to begin in 2018.
South Meridian Regional Park
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PUBLIC WORKS:
As part of these applications, we request a waiver for a pressurized irrigation system. Meridian City
Code, 11-3A-15, C. Waiver of Requirements: The requirements for pressurized irrigation may be waived
upon proof that any particular property does not have water rights in an existing irrigation district. The
property does not have irrigation water rights, we have contacted three irrigation companies that
provide water to adjacent properties and have been unable to secure any irrigation rights for this
property. An Application for Inclusion of Land was submitted to the New York Irrigation District and at
the July Board of Directors Meeting, the board made a motion to accept the application and place the
property on a waiting list for water rights. Additionally, application for ground water was submitted to
the State of Idaho Department of Water Resources. Although approval of a ground water permit would
not be sufficient for irrigation water for al 40 acres, it would be possible to water the common areas of
the development.
Several meetings with Meridian’s Public Works Department determined that sanitary sewer service is
limited in this part of Meridian. The Public Works has recently updated their committed sewer capacity
model with lower unit flows for residential development. The Public Works Department recommended
submitting a request to review available capacity as part of our application submittal. This application
officially requests sewer service for the first two phases of the development or approximately 67 lots.
East Ridge will connect to the existing sewer service in the Blackrock Subdivision and stubbed at the
north property boundary. Water service is also stubbed at the north property boundary at the East
Cyanite Drive road stub. With the recent approval for the 98.35 acres, 278 single-family residential lot,
Sky Mesa Subdivision, access to increased sewer capacity is imminent.
Based on discussion with the Meridian Public Works Department, the city is in the process of securing
needed utility easement for water service that will be located in Lake Hazel Road that will serve the new
regional park, which will be located on property to the southwest of East Ridge. East Ridge is the
resolution to the poor water quality in the Blackrock Subdivision. East Ridge Estates will connect the
existing dead-end domestic water service to the planned water main in Lake Hazel Road. This
connection will eliminate the negative water issues currently present in Blackrock.
The adjacent Blackrock Subdivision currently has only one point of access and egress via East Taconic
Drive. Once East Ridge is completed, a second means of egress will be available for Blackrock residents
providing an emergency secondary access that is required by fire code of more than 30 homes.
TRANSPORTATION / ROADWAYS:
In October of 2016, a Traffic Impact Study (TIS) was conducted and we are currently in the process of
updating the daily traffic counts to reflect the proposed “age restricted” housing product; the traffic
study prepared by Thompson Engineers concludes that the development as planned does not have any
negative impacts as it relates to ACHD policy and codes.
The TIS determined the intersection of Lake Hazel Road and Eagle Road will operate at LOS D under total
traffic conditions in the build out year. The intersection of Lake Hazel Road and the site entrance will
operate at acceptable levels of service under total traffic conditions in the build out year. Lake Hazel
Road and Eagle Road are anticipated to operate below the maximum recommended volume for LOS E
under existing traffic conditions.
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East Ridge Narrative DevCo LLC
East Ridge will generate eastbound traffic as determined by the traffic study for Taconic, (which is higher
than westbound) the peek pm daily traffic count is 52 trips. Based on this peek pm daily traffic count,
Taconic operates at approximately 13% of the maximum directional hourly volume. According to the
traffic study, at build out East Ridge will account for about 5 additional trips on Taconic. Trips generated
by East Ridge along Taconic will be approximately 4.3% of the total traffic.
The intersection of Taconic and Cyanite will operate at LOS A under background traffic conditions with
development of East Ridge and total traffic conditions in the build out year. Classified as a collector
roadway, the minimum level of service required by ACHD policy for Taconic is LOS D with a maximum
directional hourly volume of 425 vehicles per hour on a two-lane road.
Traffic counts for the Village Layout are significantly less than a typical single-family residence with
counts for the Village product to be 5.8 and 9.52 average weekday volumes for a typical single-family
residence.
PRE-APPLICATION MEETING & NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING
The pre-application meeting was held with the Meridian City Planning and Development staff on
February 23, and October 31, 2016. The neighborhood meeting was held on November 14, 2016, and
May 31, 2017 at 6:00 pm at Hillsdale Elementary School.
Numerous meetings were held with the Meridian Southern Rim Coalition.
CONCLUSION
DevCo is respectfully requesting approval of the annexation; R-8 and R-15 zoning designation; and
preliminary plat applications for this spectacular new community located in South Meridian. This
project will provide a quality mix of products and desirable homes at allowable densities while
maintaining compatibility with Meridian City Codes as well as the surrounding properties. Thank you.