PZ - Narrative Updated
October 12, 2021
City of Meridian
Planning Division
33. E. Broadway Ave.
Suite 102
Meridian, Idaho 83642
Dear Planning Staff, Planning and Zoning Commissioners, Mayor and Council Members:
AT Industrial and Sawtooth Development (the “Developer”) is pleased to present Black Cat
Business center, a modern industrial business complex located north of I-84 and west of Black
Cat Road. The property proposed for annexation includes four parcels of land directly west of
Black Cat Road encompassing approximately 121 acres (parcel numbers S1216131860,
S1216142100, S1216417365, S1216417240) (the “Development Site”), and one parcel east of
Black Cat Road, which is approximately 1 acre (parcel number S1215223300) (the “Residence
Site”).
Concept Site Plan
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
Page 2
INTRODUCTION
Applications for this project include a request for annexation and initial zoning.
Black Cat Business Center will provide much needed industrial business space to support and
complement the commercial and residential uses planned within the Ten Mile Interchange
Specific Area Plan (“TMISAP”), as well as to help meet the demand for industrial space by new
and expanding businesses in the greater Treasure Valley region. Currently, the vacancy rate in
Meridian for industrial and flex uses is below one percent (1%). Meridian is in danger of losing
current and future business and employment opportunities if the City is not able to offer this
type of product. We are currently in discussions with a number of future tenants including
existing businesses in Meridian and business that would be new to Meridian, who will add value
and jobs to the City if this project is approved.
Project Location
The annexation property is zoned RUT (rural-urban transition) in the County, is adjacent to the
City of Meridian (“City”) city limits, and is within the City Area of Impact. The Developer
requests the property be annexed into Meridian, the Development Site be zoned I-L, and the
Residence Site be zoned R-15.
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
Page 3
DEVELOPMENT SITE
The Development Site is approximately 121.06 acres. In accordance with the TMISAP and
Meridian’s Future Land Use Map (“FLUM”), we request that this site be zoned I-L. Building sizes
and locations will evolve as necessary to meet the needs of future tenants, as well as those
tenants currently working with the Applicant. We propose a multi-building, multi-phase project
that includes a new collector road bisecting the property from east to west, a new collector
road on the western edge of the development that will eventually connect to Franklin Road, a
central outdoor gathering area, a network of walking paths connecting neighboring properties
via improvements throughout our business center, and extensive drought tolerant landscaping
(the “Project”). A conceptual site plan and elevations are attached, along with a phasing plan
and building height exhibit.
Concept Plan – Aerial Looking Northwest
As a modern industrial business center, Black Cat Business center provides flex and light
industrial uses in scalable buildings. The TMISAP provides that Mixed Employment areas should
provide a variety of flexible sites for small businesses as well as large national or regional
enterprises. TMISAP, p3-11. This Project does exactly that – it includes several flex incubator
buildings along Black Cat Road, and larger double and single loaded light-industrial buildings
throughout the rest of the Development Site. The smaller incubator buildings can be demised
into spaces as small as 2500 square feet, and the larger industrial buildings can be divided into
spaces as small as 18,000 square feet. We are already in discussions to develop ~350,000
square feet in multiple buildings upon project approval, which could include up to 500 jobs.
The north-east corner of the Development Site has been set aside for a potential future
fire/emergency services station. Chief Blume has expressed interest in having a fire station on
this site and we are continuing discussions with Chief Blume and Joe Bongiorno to help make
this happen.
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
Page 4
Concept Plan – Single Loaded Industrial Building E
RESIDENCE SITE
The Residence Site, located at 350 S. Black Cat Road, is approximately 1 acre and includes a
residence. The FLUM and TMISAP depict this parcel as Medium High Density Residential and,
in accordance with that designation, we request the Residence Site be zoned R-15, which
matches the R-15 zoning of the property directly to the north and east of the Residence Site. As
discussed with planning staff, we request that this parcel be annexed with a separate
development agreement so that the future development of this parcel not be tied to the larger
Development Site.
ANNEXATION AND ZONING CRITERIA
As discussed below, Black Cat Business center meets all of the criteria that the City evaluates in
determining whether to grant a requested annexation and zoning application: 1) the zoning
complies with the applicable provisions of the comprehensive plan; 2) the zoning complies with
the regulations outlined for the proposed district, specifically the purpose statement; 3) the
zoning is not materially detrimental to the public health, safety, and welfare; and 4) the zoning
does not result in an adverse impact upon the delivery of services by any political subdivision
providing public services within the city including, but not limited to, school districts.
FUTURE LAND USE MAP
Both the FLUM and TMISAP support I-L zoning for the Project. The majority of the Project is
designated Mixed Employment within the TMISAP, and a smaller portion of the Development
Site is designated Low-Density Employment. Because the predominate designation is Mixed
Employment, it is appropriate to apply Mixed Employment to the entire Development Site. The
Comprehensive Plan states:
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
Page 5
Future Land Use designations are not parcel specific. An adjacent, abutting
designation, when appropriate and approved as part of a public hearing with a
land development application, may be used. A designation may not be used
however, across planned or existing collector or arterial roadways, must not be
used on a parcel not directly abutting the designation, and may not apply to more
than 50% of the land being developed.
(3-9.) Within the Mixed Employment land use designation, the City’s industrial zones (I-L and I-
H) are appropriate. I-L zoning is also appropriate in the Low Density Employment designation.
As shown on the maps below, surrounding property uses and zoning supports I-L zoning here:
· Property to the north is designated Mixed Employment and Low Density Employment on
the TMISAP and is zoned RUT and M1 in Ada County;
· Property to the west is designated Industrial on the TMISAP and is zoned RUT in Ada
County;
· To the south is I-84; and
· To the east to Black Cat Road; property across Black Cat Road is designated Medium-High
Density Residential and Mixed Employment on the TMISAP and zoned RUT in Ada County.
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
Page 6
Future Land Use Current Zoning
PROPOSED DISTRICT REGULATIONS
The purpose of the Light Industrial District (I-L) is to provide for convenient employment centers
of light manufacturing, research and development, warehousing and distributing. In accord with
the Meridian Comprehensive Plan, the I-L district is intended to encourage the development of
industrial uses that are clean, quiet and free of hazardous or objectionable elements and that are
operated entirely, or almost entirely, within enclosed structures. Accessibility to transportation
systems is a requirement of this district. UDC § 11-2C-1.
Black Cat Business center provides in demand manufacturing, heavier office build-out, flex industrial and
accessory retail, warehousing and distributing facilities in this region. The project is compatible with
other uses in the general neighborhood and with the existing or future character of the general vicinity.
The Project will not adversely change the essential character of the area as planned and provides a highly
sought-after industrial business use along Interstate 84 while providing a buffer to future residential and
other uses to the north and east of the Project. Views of the development from the north are
minimized with a 50-foot landscape buffer.
SERVICES
Staff has confirmed that municipal services, including sewer, are available to the Project. This
development will not adversely affect any local governmental services. The applicant has
started discussions with City staff about dedicating the north-east corner of the Development
Site to the City for fire/emergency services purposes.
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
Page 7
Concept Plan – Aerial Looking Southeast
COMPLIANCE WITH TMISAP GOALS
Black Cat Business center demonstrates the vision and goals of the Ten Mile Interchange
Specific Area Plan (TMISAP). As a modern business center, it is designed with a central gathering
space where employees can meet and eat lunch, all in a way that is compatible with its
underlying use.
The land use element of the TMISAP is designed, in part, to “provide for industrial opportunities
in consideration of future improvements to Highway 16,” and to “capture the full economic
advantage of the Ten Mile interchange to enhance the long-term fiscal health of the City of
Meridian and the Treasure Valley. TMISAP, p. 3-3. Black Cat Business center helps to attain these
related goals. The new collector road bisecting the Development Site will connect to
McDermott Road/Highway 16 upon development of the adjacent property to the west,
providing easy freight access to the Project. The Development Site provides an ideal location
for local and regional manufacturing and production business, which in turn provide the jobs
and goods and services upon which Meridian residents rely.
The TMISAP explains, “Industrial demand is strong throughout the Valley” TMISAP, p. 5-4. The
purpose of the Mixed Employment designation is to encourage a diversity of compatible land
uses that may include a mixture of office, research and specialized employment areas, light
industrial including manufacturing and assembly, and other miscellaneous uses. Mixed
employment areas should provide a variety of flexible sites for small, local or start-up
businesses as well as sites for large national or regional enterprises. TMISAP, p. 3-11. This is
exactly what we propose – flex and light industrial business uses in scalable buildings that can
suit the particular business needs and size of users. The variety of building sizes and scalable
design we propose will provide the ready-to-occupy space that employers are actively seeking
to create jobs in Meridian and will allow smaller entrepreneurial businesses to grow and expand
within the same building.
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
Page 8
Fronting Black Cat Road, the Project includes several flex incubator buildings with an office
component. The rest of the site will consist of larger, double-loaded and single-loaded light-
industrial buildings that are highly demisable to allow for maximum flexibility for future tenant
changing needs.
Concept Plan – Flex Building L3
Black Cat Business center stands ready to attract employers with high-paying jobs in industrial
development. By providing as-built and build-to-suit sites, employers can immediately begin
operating their businesses in Meridian in a highly-desirable and convenient location. The larger
buildings can be demised into spaces as small as 18,000 square feet, and the incubators can
provide spaces as small as 2500 square feet. We are already in discussions with tenants to
develop ~350,000 square feet of space upon project approval.
As shown below, Meridian has less than a 1 percent vacancy rate for industrial business uses,
and the Treasure Valley as a whole lags behind its peer markets.
Not only does this Project help attain the economic goals of the TMISAP, it also incorporates
the design principles of the TMISAP, despite many of the elements not being required within
the Mixed Employment designation of the TMISAP (3-49). Black Cat Business center includes a
central outdoor space that serves as a gathering stop for the Project. This large space can
accommodate food trucks, bocci ball and other outdoor games, and will be landscaped with
water-conscious landscaping.
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
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“Mixed Employment areas should be designed to encourage multimodal travel and convenient
circulation to supporting uses located within the area. This would include multiple access points
to help disperse traffic, and a complete system of streets, sidewalks and pedestrian and bicycle
paths to provide circulation within the area and connections to the surrounding roadway,
pedestrian and trail systems.” TMISAP (3-11). The Project includes a network of walking paths
and the southern border includes a pathway in accordance with Meridian’s Pathway Master
Plan. The Project also includes new collector roads in accordance with TMISAP 3-16, connecting
Black Cat to the east with new future new development to the west and a new collector road
that will eventually connect the west side of the Development Site to Franklin Road. We will
improve our collector road to include bike lanes if desired by staff.
The buildings include a Base, Body and Top (3-50) are 1 or 2 stories in use (3-50) (consistent
with the 1-4 stories called for in the TMISAP, 3-50), and they vary in height even greater than
typical 1-2 story buildings. “Service entries and loading docks are located on secondary and
tertiary streets and screened from public view” TMISAP (1-3). Except for the smaller flex
buildings along Black Cat Road, the buildings will be oriented north-south, and screen walls and
landscaping will minimize views of loading docks. The Project also includes large setbacks to
minimize its effects on neighboring properties.
As shown in our concept site plan, we propose several flex incubator buildings along Black Cat.
These flex buildings are smaller in size, tend to have increased office build-out, and will have
on-grade garage doors between buildings and screened from Black Cat with landscaping. These
buildings will meet all the TMISAP 3-50 design guidelines for mixed employment areas:
- Placement: small setbacks, 0% parking on the front
- Height: 1-2 stories
- Vertical Rhythm: Base, body, top differentiated with color variation and architectural
details
- Frontage: 20% glazing and single plane wall max distance is less than building height.
While we strive to meet the majority of the TMISAP 3-50 design guidelines on the larger single
and double loaded industrial buildings, not all TMISAP design guidelines are appropriate or
practical for this approved industrial zoning designation.
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
Page 10
- Placement: The majority of these buildings (A, B, C, D, E, F, J) will have small setbacks,
with only buildings G & H having larger setbacks with parking on the front. There is less
than 30% parking on the front when evaluating all these buildings together.
- Height: 1 story but can accommodate mezzanines. Building heights vary from 38-48’as
shown in the graphic above, so will appear more like 2-4 story buildings.
- Vertical Rhythm: Base, body, top differentiated with color variation and concrete score
lines
- Frontage:
o Due to security and visibility concerns, the light industrial use of the buildings does
not support windows across the entire frontage, however we propose enhanced
glazing at corner entry elements as shown in the renderings.
o To minimize the max distance of single plane walls on the wider double loaded
buildings we have added additional entry elements between the corner entries.
On the single plane wall, we are using a combination of color variation, concrete
scorelines, and enhanced landscaping and planters to minimize the appearance
of long blank walls. Fenestration is a secondary design consideration per 3-31 of
the TMISAP guidelines, which expressly call for “more flexibility.”
Given the strong demand for this type of product, we expect that the Project will reach full
build-out in 8-10 years.
Concept Phasing Plan
COMPLIANCE WITH COMPREHENSIVE PLAN GOALS
The requested I-L zone for the Development Site fulfills the City’s planning goals and objectives
outlined in the TMISAP and the Comprehensive Plan. The majority of the Development Site is
designated as Mixed Employment on the FLUM. The I-L zoning designation is supported by the
TMISAP’s zoning compatibility matrix (2-7) and by the Comprehensive Plan (3-10). In areas
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
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designated as Mixed Employment, the TMISAP (3-11) provides that buildings will range in
height from 1-4 stories, and have total floor areas of 10,000-1,000,000 square feet, and our
proposed development falls within these recommendations. The buildings are divisible to 18,000
square feet, and incubator spaces may be as small as 2500 square feet. The buildings are
designed to accommodate 2nd floors and/or mezzanine space to meet future tenant’s needs.
Black Cat Business center also carries out the City’s Comprehensive Plan goals as follows:
Section Comprehensive Plan Goal and Project Compliance
3.06.02D Plan for industrial areas with convenient access to state highways or the
rail corridor, where appropriate.
The development is conveniently located north of Interstate 84 on Black Cat
Road. As the properties directly to the west develop, two new collector
roads will connect this development with McDermott/Highway 16 to the
west and Franklin Road to the north. It is also in close proximity to the
future Highway 16/Interstate 84 interchange.
2.08.02 Pursue economic development opportunities with technology, healthcare,
environmentally-friendly manufacturing, light industrial, and professional
service industries.
This development provides an in-demand light industrial business use
within the City, which type of development currently has a less than 1
percent vacancy rate in Meridian.
2.09.03B Promote Ten Mile, Downtown, and The Village as centers of activity and
growth.
Black Cat Business center sits squarely within the TMISAP and provides
much needed industrial business space within the area to support future
businesses and jobs in this area, and to support the development of the
region as a whole.
3.03.00 Direct and prioritize development in strategic areas and in accordance with
corridor and special area plans.
Black Cat Business center exemplifies the vision and goals of the TMISAP by
providing a well-designed, interconnected industrial business center with
convenient access to the federal and state highway systems.
3.07.02A Require pedestrian circulation plans to ensure safety and convenient
access across large commercial and mixed-use developments.
As depicted on the Meridian Pathway Map, this project will increase the
overall livability and sustainability of the surrounding area by providing a
network of walking paths throughout the site with connections to the
surrounding properties/communities.
3.07.01A Require all new development to create a site design compatible with
surrounding uses through buffering, screening, transitional densities, and
other best site design practices.
City of Meridian
October 11, 2021
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Light-industrial is an appropriate use of this site. It is appropriately situated
along Interstate 84 with close, convenient access to Black Cat and future
access to Highway 16/McDermott Road. The development includes a 50-
foot landscape buffer on its northern boundary to screen properties to the
north, as well as a 25-foot buffer between the development and Black Cat
Road. The buildings are set back 25-50 feet from the property boundaries,
providing an even greater buffer between the more intense use and less
intense uses to the north. Smaller flex incubator buildings are located along
Black Cat to help transition from the residential zone across Black Cat to
the larger industrial buildings on the west side of the site.
4.04.01A Ensure that new development and subdivision connect to the pathway
system.
Black Cat Business center provides a pathway along its southern boundary,
which will connect to future development in this area.
5.01.02G Require attractive landscaping and pedestrian friendly design within new
developments.
In addition to the significant landscaping proposed for this project and the
southern pathway, this industrial business development also includes a
large, open space, ideally situated for customers, employees and neighbors
to eat lunch from a food truck and gather with each other.
6.01.01H Require pedestrian access connectors in all new development to link
subdivisions together and to promote neighborhood connectivity as part
of a community pathway system.
As mentioned above, this development includes a pathway along its
southern border to connect with future pathways. It also includes
sidewalks along Black Cat and the new collector roads.
CONCLUSION
Thank you for your consideration of this annexation and zoning application for the Black Cat
Business center. The proposed development is consistent with the proposed I-L zoning, the
City’s TMISAP, the Comprehensive Plan, and applicable criteria in City Code. We are excited to
bring this quality industrial business development to a great site in Meridian.