2019-06-28 Jan Sjostrom and Diana SjostromJan Sjostrom / Diana Sjostrom
4052 N. Dashwood Place
Meridian, Idaho 83646-0000
June 28, 2019JUL
°Ire 1
Honorable Tammy de Weerd, Mayor OFFICE
Members of the Meridian City Council
Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission
Ada County Highway District and to the Ada County Highway District Commission
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We acquired our home on Dashwood Place in late 2018 when we relocated from Sweden to Meridian to
be closer to our children and grandchildren due to a progressive disability. We chose Alpine Pointe for its
quiet streets and amenities. We feel that routing additional traffic through a low-density residential
neighborhood would create an unconscionable safety hazard to children, the elderly and those with
disabilities. Considering safety concerns and potentially negative impacts on property values, it seems
entirely unnecessary and counterproductive to the goal of responsible growth to turn the quiet
Dashwood cul-de-sac into a connector when there are viable and more feasible alternatives available.
We have independently researched the issues at hand, and are in full agreement and solidarity with our
community's opposition to the proposed Delano development, as follows:
We, as concerned neighbors, are strongly opposed to the proposed Delano development as submitted,
consisting of 85 densely packed single-family homes and a group of multi -story apartment buildings that
could be between 96 and 200* units when the ultimate CUP is accepted at the latter phase of
construction. We have several alternate plans to propose that would allow DevCo to profit from their
investment while protecting the quality of life that Alpine Pointe residents assumed when they bought
their homes. One example of an alternate proposal is in attachment 1. We oppose the Delano
development in its current form, for the following reasons:
First, DevCo, the developer, has done nothing to address Alpine Pointe residents' valid concerns about
having thousands of additional car trips through our subdivision each day (we have had three DevCo-
hosted neighborhood meetings to date). DevCo's plan will route the traffic from both this single-family
development and the adjoining apartment complex through Dashwood PI, a quiet residential cul-de-sac
in Alpine Pointe that was never designed or designated to be a commercial collector road. From the
Dashwood stub road, these thousands of cars will disperse throughout Alpine Pointe to connect to
McMillan, Locust Grove and Eagle Road, creating noise and traffic hazards. The outlined traffic patterns
will bring collateral traffic to Settlers Bridge as well. Champion Park will also have thousands of high-
density development neighbors. We respectfully ask you to help us protect our quality of life.
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Honorable Tammy de Weerd, Mayor
Members of the Meridian City Council
Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission
Ada County Highway District and to the Ada County Highway District Commission
June 28, 2019
In addition, Alpine Pointe has two school bus stops within our subdivision, thus the additional traffic will
pose significant danger to young school age children as those using our sub as a pass through are more
likely to drive at a higher rate of speed and not have the same concern about safety as our residents do.
To clarify, it isn't solely the Delano project that will bring forth this heavy traffic burden, but the
situation is impacted by the connection to existing subdivisions and projects under construction that will
bring the total density of the block of land bounded by Eagle Road on the east, Alpine Pointe to the
north, Ustick to the south, and Champion Park to the west to a total population that is significantly
greater in density than anywhere else in the city!
To illustrate how this proposal and future land use of nearby undeveloped parcels will result in such
high-density, this Ustick/Eagle area already has the Centrepointe Way/Ustick four-plexes (80 units) and
the Brickyard Apartments (279 units). Add another 85 single-family homes and 96 to 200 additional
apartments, and we are looking at 540 to 630 homes/apartments and 1,490 to 1,739 or more residents
in a small, tightly packed footprint (avg Meridian household 2.76 persons).** This total resident count
and an unknown quantity of commercial traffic will use Alpine Pointe (specifically Dashwood PI) as the
sole northern route into and out of this area. We feel that this much density must not be routed
through a quiet and far less dense subdivision like Alpine Pointe (3 houses per acre).
Furthermore, the future plans for this area will add to the traffic burden; we are concerned that even
more high density apartment projects will be proposed in the future when the combined 10 acres
belonging to Mrs. Wong and Mr. Hedrick are sold (R4582530100 and R4582530202).*** The future
zoning of these parcels and the resident density would route even more traffic into Alpine Pointe via the
future Centrepointe Way to Wainwright commercial collector, N Dashwood PI, and at Eagle/Wainwright.
Third, over -connectivity: Alpine Pointe, at 90 acres and 211 homes, will be over -connected relative to
other comparable and even larger subdivisions. if we add DevCo's proposed access point on Dashwood,
Alpine Pointe will have eight entrances/exits when the Rogue River connection and the Centrepoint
Way/Wainwright commercial collector are constructed. This just further exacerbates our existing
problem of drivers using Alpine Pointe as a high speed shortcut to avoid Eagle Road's already
overwhelming traffic burden.
Finally, DevCo's current proposal makes an abrupt leap from Alpine Pointe's 3 homes per acre to 15 and
then to multi -family. We would like to see a more fluid transition from our mostly R4 to perhaps R8 in
the portion of the Delano development that is closest to Dashwood, and then a transition south to R15
(north of the Brickyard project). Perhaps consider designating the Delano apartment paddock to R-15
as a transition as well to cap population density (parcel R4582530300).
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Honorable Tammy de Weerd, Mayor
Members of the Meridian City Council
Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission
Ada County Highway District and to the Ada County Highway District Commission
June 28, 2019
Ladies and Gentlemen, we respectfully ask you to consider these issues with an eye towards not only
the future of Meridian, but the quality of life of its residents. We trust you to act in our best interests.
Sincerely,
s
Jan Sjostrom
Owner, 4052 N. Dashwood Place, Meridian, ID 83646
r m,
Diana Sjostrom
Owner, 4052 N. Dashwood Place, Meridian, ID 83646
Notes;
*Without indoor fire sprinklers, multi -family dwellings are limited to 100 units. With sprinklers, they can go up to 200 units on
a parcel this size, or more with an accepted variance application.
**Based on Meridian's average household size of 2.76 persons per residence (source Lhttf r`F.€�'-v —com us
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***Wong and Hedrick parcels (10 acres, R4582530100 and R4582530202) could result in +/- 400 total apartment units, or +/_
1200 or more residents (a density of +/-120 persons per acre).
Page 3 of 4
Honorable Tammy de Weerd, Mayor
Members of the Meridian City Council
Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission
Ada County Highway District and to the Ada County Highway District Commission
June 28, 2019
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