CC - Concept Site correspondence
From:Alan Tiefenbach
To:Adrienne Weatherly; Charlene Way; Chris Johnson
Subject:Wells St Assisted Living CUP,AZ H-2021-0024
Date:Tuesday, September 7, 2021 10:30:38 AM
Attachments:image004.png
image005.png
September 2, 2021 communication with applicant.
Alan Tiefenbach | Current Associate Planner
City of Meridian | Community Development Dept.
33 E. Broadway Ave., Ste. 102, Meridian, Idaho 83642
Phone: 208-489-0573 | Fax: 208-489-0571
Built for Business, Designed for Living
From: Jamie Koenig <jamie@babcockdesign.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 2, 2021 1:06 PM
To: Alan Tiefenbach <atiefenbach@meridiancity.org>
Cc: Brent Thompson <brent@reoxygen.com>; Van Elg <velg@jub.com>; Keith Morse
<kmorse@jub.com>; Phil Decker <pdecker@gglo.com>; Mark Sindell <msindell@gglo.com>; TJ
Winger <tj@babcockdesign.com>; Joe Bongiorno <jbongiorno@meridiancity.org>; Bill Parsons
<bparsons@meridiancity.org>
Subject: RE: Wells ST AL-MC & 40x100 Lots - updated concept site
External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments.
Alan,
Please see responses/comments below:
From: Alan Tiefenbach <atiefenbach@meridiancity.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 2, 2021 9:32 AM
To: Jamie Koenig <jamie@babcockdesign.com>
Cc: Brent Thompson <brent@reoxygen.com>; Van Elg <velg@jub.com>; Keith Morse
<kmorse@jub.com>; Phil Decker <pdecker@gglo.com>; Mark Sindell <msindell@gglo.com>; TJ
Winger <tj@babcockdesign.com>; Joe Bongiorno <jbongiorno@meridiancity.org>; Bill Parsons
<bparsons@meridiancity.org>
Subject: RE: Wells ST AL-MC & 40x100 Lots - updated concept site
Jamie, do all houses have two garages AND 2 car driveways? Please confirm.
\[Jamie Koenig\] Yes. In the previous layout, only the alley loaded homes lacked 20’x20’
driveways. We’ve extended the alley loaded lots from 100’ to 110’ so that they have 20’x20’
driveways. All homes have 2 car garages and 2 car drives.
Overall parking is 244 + clubhouse. 9 parking spaces are required for the clubhouse so 253 parking
spaces are required.
\[Jamie Koenig\] Thanks for catching this. I’ll update and send new pdfs.
If all houses have 4 parking spaces on site, the access to E. Magic View has been removed and is only
emergency access, with more parking on this latest design than the previous one, and all setbacks
along the west at 17’, that’s a plus. The open space has gone down slightly, but it appears in general
you still have twice as much usable open space as required, and it appears all the large useable open
spaces are still there. Also, closing the Magic View access would fare better with the residents of
Woodbridge.
Also, you have relocated the pool further away from the house, which was a comment the Mayor
had, although I don’t know if that would have been a deal breaker because it would have only
affected the houses surrounding it and the owners can make the choice regarding whether or not
they choose to purchase it.
\[Jamie Koenig\] We remain hopeful that we can get this project approved. We also feel that many
of the requested changes have made the project better and I’m not just saying that.
However, the issue that appeared to be the deal-breaker was in regard to age restriction. The
Council suggested limiting the size of houses, deed restricting and / or limiting the all houses to one
story.
\[Jamie Koenig\] The livable area of the homes are as follows (garages are not included in the
square footage of a home):
1. 1,800 s.f.
2. 1,800 s.f.
3. 2,000 s.f.
4. 2,100 s.f.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 1,800 s.f. is the median size of owner-occupied homes.
Another important distinction of our project to point out is that the average back yard of the 61
homes is 208 s.f. That’s a bit larger than 14’ x 14’ and we believe this would be very unattractive
to families with children.
I’ll be 55 at the end of this year and I’m not in great shape. I don’t plan to give up driving and
walking up and down stairs. I have, recently hired someone to mow my lawn and care for my
trees and bushes. I think there is a misconception of what 55+ means and I realize that people’s
perception always wins. We believe the design of this project and the sizes of the homes, lots and
open space are all attractive to older people.
We get the impression that Woodbridge believes that development along the lines of healthcare
or offices would contribute less to the traffic problem. Here is our reasoning why that is false:
1. Our 61 homes represent a total of 122,200 s.f. with 253 required stalls. That is a ratio of
1:483. This is a false representation of the actual ratio as this would mean that each home
would have four vehicles. 2.5 vehicles per home is closer to reality, putting the ratio at
1:754.
2. Although Meridian only requires 1:500 stalls for other than residential uses, we feel that
1:250 or 1:200 would be much closer to what is actually required. Therefore, with the
same 122,200 s.f. developed as another use, the required parking would be between 489
and 611 stalls. This is an increase in parking of between 302% and 377% for a use other
than residential.
I can say the latest design has picked up more parking (depending on whether or not all houses have
4 spaces), increases western setbacks, and removes access from Magic View. I don’t know if that is
going to get them there.
\[Jamie Koenig\] We are hopeful that the back and forth we’ve all had through this process, will be
enough. Perhaps the Council will tie and the Mayor will break in our favor. The DLIMBY (dirt lot
in my back yard) folks won’t have their way forever and most other development types would be
far worse than what we are proposing.
Jamie
Alan Tiefenbach | Current Associate Planner
City of Meridian | Community Development Dept.
33 E. Broadway Ave., Ste. 102, Meridian, Idaho 83642
Phone: 208-489-0573 | Fax: 208-489-0571
Built for Business, Designed for Living
From: Jamie Koenig <jamie@babcockdesign.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 1, 2021 3:40 PM
To: Alan Tiefenbach <atiefenbach@meridiancity.org>
Cc: Bill Parsons <bparsons@meridiancity.org>; Brent Thompson <brent@reoxygen.com>; Van Elg
<velg@jub.com>; Keith Morse <kmorse@jub.com>; Phil Decker <pdecker@gglo.com>; Mark Sindell
<msindell@gglo.com>; TJ Winger <tj@babcockdesign.com>; Joe Bongiorno
<jbongiorno@meridiancity.org>
Subject: Wells ST AL-MC & 40x100 Lots - updated concept site
External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments.
Alan,
Please see attached. We’ll follow up with the color version and the updated PP. We’ve made the
following changes:
1. All homes along the west property line have been moved east an additional 5’ making the rear
yard setback at those parcels 17’.
2. We’ve moved the north gate to the new location along Wells ST.
3. We’ve moved one displaced home from the new gate location to the north and one to fill in
the pass through lot that is no longer needed.
4. Alley loaded homes remain and the lot depths at those locations have been revised from 100’
to 110’ to allow parking in the 20’ x 20’ driveways. Now all homes have two stall driveways.
5. 12 bulb-out stalls remain bringing the overall parking total to 274 > 244 required.
6. Open space went down 0.9% from 21.5% to 20.6%.
7. Pool has shifted to new location.
We are not showing single story homes along the west property line. I will write a supplemental
narrative to explain the changes made in response to Council comments.
Scale = 1:50
Thanks.
JAMIE KOENIG AIA / PROJECT MANAGER
jamie@babcockdesign.com / 208.991.8171
Babcock Design
208.424.7675
800 W Main Street Ste. 940
Boise, ID 83702
www.babcockdesign.com
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