2020-08-19 Ben Busch
Charlene Way
From:Ben Busch <busch_ben@hotmail.com>
Sent:Wednesday, August 19, 2020 11:27 AM
To:City Clerk
Subject:Proposed Victory Apartments CPAM AZ H-2020-0065
Dear Meridian City Council,
The proposed apartment project on the SW corner of Meridian and Victory roads, doesn't fit the needs of the
local area and will negatively impact a majority of current residents in the area. There are already 2 very large
apartment projects that are under construction in the very near vicinity (Linder and Overland) that serve to fill
the high-density housing needs in addition to the existing complex on the SE corner of Meridian and
Victory. There are also issues with traffic access to the complex congesting Victory Road in both directions,
access to northbound Meridian Road from Victory, and no transit system availability. The ACHD study finds
that this project will have an additional 1259 car trips generated per day and Victory Road can sustain 279
vehicles per hour. Average daily traffic count for Victory Rd was 3398 in Jan 2020. ACHD notes there is no
transit service available to serve this site. . The existing roads and infrastructure are barely able to handle the
current traffic load (prior to COVID) during the peak hours. Access to Victory road eastbound from Alfani way
during peak hours is already difficult and without major infrastructure improvements, this will only get
worse. There is also a school bus stop at that intersection that needs to be taken into account with additional
traffic and congestion. Childrens safety should a primary concern and this project doesn't fit with that
strategy.
The negative impact to current home values with this R-15 project is also a major concern that I have. The
surrounding area consists of higher end ($500K+) single family homes in Strada Bellisima, Bear Creek, Fall
Creek, Timberline, Kentucky Ridge, and Jocelyn subdivisions. The existing high-density apartment complex on
the Southeast corner should meet the area’s absorption rate and the goal to “ avoid the concentration of any
one housing type or lot size in any geographical area” (MDR policy).
Schools in the area are operating at or above current capacity. West Ada School District reports that Mary
McPherson Elementary , Victory Middle School and Meridian High School are all operating at or above
capacity. "New residents cannot be assured of attending the neighborhood school….” West Ada School district
will need land and passage of a bond issue in order to meet additional school capacity. We need to reserve
land for additional schools to serve the current and future residents before building additional high density
housing.
There are other areas and other current projects that fill the need that this project is aiming for. I am fully
opposed to changing the zoning for this land.
Regards,
Ben Busch
Fall Creek resident since 2016
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