2019-08-19 Bernhard Bahro and Carolyn SauerTo the Honorable Tammy de Weerd, Mayor, 8/18/2019
To the Members of the Meridian City Council, and
To the Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission:
Dear Honorable Mayor de Weerd and the members of the Meridian City Council,
Please support the decision of the Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission to
deny the Delano Planned Subdivision as proposed.
We have attended most every meeting, and we watched the YouTube recording of
the meeting we missed. We have given verbal input and written testimony in
support of the public process. At each opportunity we provided an alternative
approach to mitigate the impact of the Delano Proposal to Alpine Pointe.
Delano has been resistive to any modifications to their plan. A number of flaws have
been clearly noted in the testimony to date. However, after reviewing the YouTube
Planning and Zoning hearing on July 18, 2019, additional issues and concerns have
surfaced.
To reduce the traffic impacts to Dashwood Lane and Alpine Pointe simply reduce
the number of residential structures. Consider a lower density plan, with a density
transition from R4 to R8, which would be preferred, but transitions such as R8 to
R15 should be considered as well. Either one of these options is well within the
decision space for the City of Meridian to consider.
The Center Point Connector to Wainwright: The Wainwright Connector is
approximately 350 feet long. At 350 feet, you enter Alpine Pointe and Wainwright
eventually becomes North Linwood Way. Where Center Point ties into Wainwright
and turns toward Eagle Road, there are 3 commercial driveways on the south side
and 2 commercial driveways to the north. During the July 18th testimony, it was
stated that Center Point is or is near its traffic threshold already. Cance completed
and connected to Wainwright the total number of cars waiting to turn onto Eagle
Road this will likely become an instant traffic concern. The number of cars could
easily reach 15 to 17 cars between lights. If these cars do not block the commercial
access the cars would likely wait two to three traffic lights to turn onto Eagle Road.
That said, most would see the back up and choose an alternative route. Drivers
looking to access McMillian Road, Eagle Road, or Locust Grove would cut through
Alpine Point.
Adding the currently proposed 800 to 1000 trips from Dashwood Lane would cause
every road from Dashwood, Wainwright, Rosepoint, Lacewood, North Linwood, and
Camas Creek to be impacted. The 2000 car per day threshold for streets inside a
developed Subdivision will completely change the quality of life and safety of our
community. It should be further noted that Alpine Point's pool and recreational
area is on Wainwright near Dashwood. This threshold standard of 2000 cars in a
subdivision as it relates to public safety and quality of life in residential
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AUG 19 2019
CITY OF MERIDIAN
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neighborhoods should be reviewed and reconsidered by the City of Meridian and
Ada County.
Finally, as mentioned at the July 18th meeting with Planning and Zoning, the final
parcel that connects to Alpine Pointe at North Rogue River Way is in pending sale.
The likely proposed plan will include additional residential development and traffic
to our community and subdivision.
The following comments were previously written for consideration at the June
Planning and Zoning meeting where the meeting Agenda was modified and Delano
Plan was deferred to a later date in July.
I would like to begin with a review of the ACRD 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. Ey 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
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