2019-06-13 Bernhard Bahro and Carolyn SauerTo the Honorable Tammy de Weerd, Mayor,
To the Members of the Meridian City Council, and
To the Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission:
C V .
6/12/2019
1 T Y 0 F s
CITY L E
I would like to begin with a review of the ACHD Commission Meeting on May 22,
2019 that I attended with my wife Carolyn Sauer, regarding the Delano Subdivision.
After hearing the Staff reports, the attorney hired by Delano, and learning the
process and procedures of a public hearing with ACRD; it became acutely obvious
what was happening. Delano clearly followed all the required rules that lead to
their favorable outcome from the county. However, there were issues and concerns
with the traffic analysis, signing concerns about stub -roads, and future traffic and
speeding through Alpine Pointe that were not addressed. The commission accused
the "neighbors" of being against inevitable growth, and they said, "our hands are
tied". The motion passed with one dissenting vote.
The neighbors are NOT against inevitable growth we are interested in responsible
growth. As it stands the future burden of speeding and traffic mitigation become the
responsibility of the homeowners in Alpine Pointe. This is according to the process
for Traffic Calming in a subdivision outlined in the ACHD 5104.1 policy manual.
While reading the ACHD Policy direction it became clear that the process Delano
used is legal and sets a president for future development in Ada County. The danger
lies in using roads that have little or no traffic and opening them up to heavy traffic
without the use of traffic calming strategies. By using the standard rates for single
and multi -family residential planning we can reverse engineer the analysis to
produce the numbers of residents allowable and design buildings to fit the desired
area. There were obvious errors in estimating the number of projected residents,
but the real question becomes should the road be taken to the "policy limit" in this
case? There are multi -family high-density housing projects currently under
construction and projected development planned along North Eagle and McMillan
Roads that will additionally impact the current road system. Anyone who drives on
Eagle and McMillan roads would agree there is already a traffic problem.
We know there are flaws in the gathering of data and the analysis pertaining to the
method and implementation of the traffic analysis. There are many questions
regarding the timing, duration of trips, actual construction plans and future growth
estimates. Several individuals argued that the directions in 5102 Traffic Studies
were not correctly followed. This is why responsible growth must take president
over unsupervised growth.
As the remaining parcels become available for sale the strategy for development set
forth by Delano sets a dangerous president. Developers will be allowed to continue
to create heavy traffic patterns in residential areas without any responsibility for
the consequences to the public. Alpine Pointe will take the brunt of the cut through
traffic as it is funneled through narrow roads that are winding, have no crosswalks
and few stop signs in order to access McMillian, Locust Grove, and North Eagle
Roads.
My wife and I live on East Lacewood Drive. Almost every house has an RV bay, RV
parking, or both. When backing our vehicles onto our property, there is often a line
of cars waiting for the road to be cleared. This adds an amount of additional stress
and increases the risk of accidents and property damage as impatient and often
distracted divers try to pass or get around individuals backing onto their property.
Unfortunately, subdivisions do not have gridded street designs; therefore, there are
blind corners and other hazards that pose a risk to cars and pedestrians.
The neighbors in Alpine Point have been very involved and proactive in the matter
of the Delano development. Many of us have attended public planning meetings
with DevCo, planning and zoning meetings, and we continue to write letters. To
date none of our concerns have been adequately addressed by Ada County or the
City of Meridian.
We suggest The Planning and Zoning Commission consider several alternatives:
1. Modify the land use zoning to single family residential without Multi -Family
Residential housing IF the plan includes connecting to Alpine Pointe.
2. Implement traffic calming strategies preemptively. We need to change the
behavior of drivers now through the use of strategically placed stop signs;
formal crosswalks allowing safe access to playgrounds, common areas, and
the pool. This is for pedestrian safety. Please see our earlier letter provided
to the Planning and Zoning Commission for the May 22, 2019 meeting.
3. As the recommending body to the final authority for the City of Meridian,
please consider these mitigation strategies. Help us maintain the intended
essence of Alpine Pointe, Settlers Bridge, and Madison Park as safe peaceful
places to live, walk our dogs, and raise our families.
Sincerely,
Bernhard Bahro & Carolyn Sauer
2584 E Lacewood Dr
Meridian, ID 83646