CC - Revised Appellant Narrative The Oasis CR-2021-0005 Appeal to The Oasis CUP Case No. H-2021-0004
We, Jon and Cherie Hoeger, and Mike and Cherilyn Kynaston as affected parties and on behalf
of the aggrieved Citizens and Business Owners of the City of Meridian(more than a dozen
different people donated money to help cover the cost of this appeal, The Oasis CR-2021-0005,
and only stopped because we raised the full amount in less than a day), are seeking a City
Council Review pursuant to Meridian City Code 1-5A, as outlined in B. Conclusions of Law,
No. 3 in reference to The Oasis CUP Case No. H-2021-0004. We understand there has been
another appeal filed, The Oasis CR-2021-0004 which may share some similar concerns,but as
separately affected parties, we want to ensure that our concerns are sufficiently heard and
considered. We disagree with the recommended approval of this proposal as decided by the City
of Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission on May 6, 2021. We agree with the singular Nay
vote of Commissioner Cassinelli.
We feel that the commission did not uphold the parking standards cited for the initial
continuance and as citizens, we feel much of our testimony was not adequately weighed in the
ultimate decision of approval for the CUP for The Oasis, as we will explain below.
We disagree with B. Conclusions of Law Item 4 stating due consideration has been given to the
comments received from governmental subdivisions providing services in the City of Meridian
Planning Jurisdiction and item 5 stating it is found public facilities and services required by the
proposed development will not impose expense upon the public if the attached conditions of
approval are met. In the Planning and Zoning Commission hearings on March 18, 2021 and May
6, 2021 there were discussions by Deputy Fire Chief Bongiornio, Planning Staff, and Planning
and Zoning Commissioners regarding an estimated fire-rated maximum capacity of
approximately 700 persons for this facility but the hearings resulted in a final negotiated
temporary capacity of 400 persons which the applicant suggested simply to get closer to parking
requirements for The Oasis CUP, while knowing this "temporary capacity" is extremely difficult
to police. There is a big difference between the target maximum capacity suggested by the
applicant of 400 persons,the Fire Code acceptable capacity that, while not yet determined, will
likely be much higher, around 700 persons, and the originally stated capacity of 1,000 persons in
a building planned for 7,500+ square feet with the addition of a mezzanine. How is the disparity
between these numbers going to be enforceable by law? We find any discrepancy in the capacity
in the conditions to be an untenable conflict, especially when considering that there is no
incentive for the applicant to keep this artificial limit and enforcement of said limit can only fall
upon local businesses and residents in the area to patrol and report. The citizens of Meridian and
its business owners are not police, fire, or code enforcement employees and are not responsible
for The Oasis limits; it is an unfair burden on the people and is not acting in the best interest of
the residents of the city.
We strongly disagree with item 5 stating that the development will not impose expense upon the
public. On the contrary, the cost to the city and its taxpayers will be significant and will result
from a variety of problems. There has not been sufficient consideration given to the nature of the
nightclub business model (this is not a restaurant, there is no kitchen, there is no menu of entrees,
they are not serving dinner)nor has there been police commentary. While there is statistical
information about national nightclub crime that can be readily found in records of the
Department of Justice and the Bureau of Justice, the increase in crime has been largely ignored
and there are numerous references in the Public Testimony that were not adequately considered.
The combination of this type of activity, crime, and "local vigilante policing" that is being
advocated by the P&Z commission can only lead to a waste of public resources, time, and
money. This will result from police, fire department, and code enforcement having to check on
capacity whenever a resident reports that they think there are more than 400 people on-site, it
will come from neighborhood calls reporting suspicious behavior and drunk driving, it will come
from significantly increased traffic and public incidents like fights, accidents, injuries, fatalities,
sexual assaults that will require the attention of first responders, law enforcement and
paramedics, it will come from public works needing to clean up trash, human waste, and other
paraphernalia in the mornings after events. In our reading of the application packet, there was a
submittal of testimony from retired officer Steven Williams outlining his experience (29 years of
career law enforcement) and the potentials of a nightclub at Eagle and Ustick and his analysis of
The Oasis with impacts that will come to pass if this application is not denied. We feel such a
testimonial to be very important to the consideration for denial of The Oasis application.
https://weblink.meridianciiy.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=224051&dbid=0&repo=MeridianC
i1y&searchid=68295a15-8f63-4b75-9ec9-dedc3 a4b4d00
Do we want a business that is incentivized by profit to violate an unenforceable and false
"voluntary occupancy cap" while the citizens of Meridian pick up the bill for maintaining the
peace, cleaning up, and trying to enforce the unenforceable? Do we not believe that the City of
Meridian is attractive enough to other businesses that will bring equal, if not better, value
without all of the additional costs and negative ramifications of this nightclub? Why are we
trying to force a square peg into a round hole when there are so many better alternatives?
We also have concerns about the parking that we do not feel were adequately addressed by the
so-called voluntary cap. The overflow parking is going to end up in adjacent businesses and
neighborhoods. We are concerned about the poor access and shared residential drive areas which
will be filled with intoxicated drivers leaving the drinking establishment; there's no chance of
there not being intoxicated drivers because the whole purpose of the business is to sell alcohol to
its patrons.
We only have one chance to get this right and making the wrong decision will have a continuing
and irreversible negative impact financially, logistically, and culturally on our city and its
residents and citizens. The Oasis application, business model, and conditional use permit as a
whole do not serve the best interests of the City of Meridian generally and even if it did, the
physical location proposed is wholly inadequate for the proposed scale and use. Due to the long
history and contentious nature of this CUP Application for The Oasis, we are in the midst of our
in-depth document research and reserve our rights as citizens and stakeholders in the community
and as voting constituents to provide additional testimony and presentations of new research and
findings not yet listed or outlined in this narrative. We close by asking you to please confirm the
receipt and sufficiency of this narrative relative to completing the application for this appeal.
Sincerely,
Jon and Cherie Hoeger and Mike and Cherilyn Kynaston