Impact Fees Heroes Park
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WILSON & MCCOLL
---- LAWYERS -
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JEFFREY M. WilSON
¡eft@wllsonmccoILcom
BRIAN F. McCOll
brlan@wilsonmccolLcom
USA 8. RASMUSSEN
Usa@wilsonmccoll.com
420 WEST WASHINGTON
POST OFF1CE: SOX 1544
BOISE, IDAHO 83702
TElEPHONE: (208) 345-9100
FACSIMilE: (208) 384-0442
January 25, 2006
RECEIVED
FEB 1 3 2006
Ted Baird
Assistant City Attorney
City of Meridian
703 Main Street
Meridian, Idaho 83642
City Of Meridian
City Clerk Office
RE:
Hero Park at Lochsa Falls Subdivision
Dear Ted:
I am writing on behalf of Farwest, LLC. In particular, Farwest is requesting that the
City Council consider a modification to the reimbursement obligation to purchase ZO.51 acres of
the 25.6 acres that is being developed as Hero Park.
Originally, the Development Agreement between the City, various land owners (Brandt,
Goldsmith, Gibson and Martin), and Falwest, LLC provided that Farwest would provide a 25
acre community park by gifting 5.09 acres and selling the remaining 20.51 acres to the City. The
sales price at $28,703 per acre was $588,699.00. The Development Agreement provided that
Farwest would be reimbursed the purchase price from "100 percent of the park impact fees
collected from the Lochsa Falls project, up to the cost of the 20.51 acres." See Development
Agreement, pg. 10.
The Development Agreement was entered into in connection with the preliminary plat for
the Lochsa Falls Subdivision prepared by Briggs Engineering on August 1, ZO02. At that point
the "Lochsa Falls Subdivision" and/or the Lochsa Falls Project consisted of 357.15 acres. The
Development Agreement went on to provide that the permitted uses were "856 single family
dwellings, 171 multi-family dwellings, 11 office buildings, 1 commercial building, 1 City park, 1
private park, and 1 future fire station lot." At the time the project was annexed, zoned and
granted preliminary plat approval there were several owners, which parties all executed the
Development Agreement. By the time the project was developed, Farwest owned and developed
approximately 252 acres as the Lochsa Falls Subdivision and the 80-acre Gibson property was
developed by Kevin A. Howell Construction, Inc. as a portion of the "Fulfer Subdivision," with
the remaining 25 acres developed as a City community park.
At the time of the Development Agreement, there was just one project. In accordance
with the Development Agreement, the City has been collecting the park impact fees, but only
from the "Lochs a Falls Subdivision," and paying them over to Falwest To date Farwest has
received $438,015.45 for 651 lots. Lochsa Falls has 691 (of the 856 permitted) single family
Ted Baird
Assistant City Attorney
January 25, 2006
Page - 2
residential lots and when park impact fees are collected on the remaining 40 lots, the unpaid
balance of the park purchase price will be $120,157.15.
The Development Agreement, along with an Addendum entered into in January, 2004,
was at best ambiguous with respect to what would happen if there was a shortfall. No one
doubts that the 25 acre park benefits many hundred, if not more than a thousand families that
have moved to the north Meridian area. Although the original Development Agreement
referenced collecting impact fees only from the "Lochsa Falls Project," at the time of the
Agreement the Lochsa Falls Project was 856 single family dwellings, or essentially 165 single
family lots more than what were subsequently developed in the subdivision known as Lochsa
Falls. Essentially, the Gibson 80-acre property contains the other single family lots, not to
mention the proposed office and multi-family development. Had the impact fees from the
relevant portion of the Fulfer Subdivision been included, there would be little or no deficiency.
Farwest respectfully asks the counsel to consider this inequity. One solution would be to
start segregating park impact fees from the relevant portion of the Fulfer Subdivision, and if the
fees from that subdivision are not sufficient to complete the payment of the full purchase price, I
believe that the Council can go further to complete the contract by collecting impact fees from
one or more ofthe neighboring subdivisions; those that clearly benefit from the community park.
In fact, in both the Development Agreement and the referenced Addendum, it contemplated the
right of the Developer to apply to the City to have park impact fees from other projects paid over
to Farwest until the purchase price was retired. Admittedly, the language referred to the
Developer making such application in the event the City approves a City Park zone system. I
understand that there is no such zone system, but it is consistent with that concept to utilize
impact fees from adjacent subdivisions to pay for this park.
In closing, despite the ambiguities, it is clear that Farwest's intention was to gift only
5.09 acres, and to caDY what was a below-market purchase price of $588,699 without interest
over time until it was paid. The right to include the relevant portion oftbe Fulfer Subdivision is
well within the language of the addendum which says in pertinent part: "Park impact fees paid to
the City of Meridian from lots sold in the Lochsa Falls Subdivision or in any other property
developed and property described in Exhibit A of the Development Agreement" shall be paid
over to the Developer. Exhibit A was the entire 357 acres.
Thank you for considering this request, and please let me know if you can get it on the
City Council's agenda for Thursday, January 26th, 2006, and if you think it will be helpful for
myself or some other representative of Farwest to be present at the hearing to speak on the issue.
BFM/rc
cc. Farwest L.L.c.