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CC - Applicant Memo to City Council 11-23November 3, 2021 Meridian Community Development Department ATTN: Sonya Allen, Associate Planner 33 East Broadway Avenue, STE 102 Meridian, ID 83642 RE: Regency at River Valley Phase III Continuation of H-2021-0059, held on October 19, 2021 Dear Sonya, On October 19, 2021, the Meridian City Council heard an application to remove existing Development Agreements (Inst. #113005608 & #2020-062947) in support of a new 134-unit multi -family housing project, known as Phase III of the "Regency at River Valley". The Subject Property is located at 3270 and 3280 East River Valley St. and 2480 North Eagle Road. At the October 19t11 City Council meeting, council members had questions and concerns regarding the following items: • Traffic generated from the new phase, and safety of existing access, • Additional student to West Ada School District, • Existing Development Agreement modification, and creation of new Development Agreement, • Suitability for amulti-family housing project on Eagle Road, and • If the new phase would meet the Development Code requirements (open space, off-street parking, landscaping, open space and site amenities) in the Conditional Use Permit review. After due deliberations, City Council moved to table the hearing to the regularly scheduled City Council hearing scheduled for November 23, 2021. In preparation for that meeting, I offer the following narratives for the issues that I heard at the October 19th hearing. TRAFFIC The existing project benefits from two full access points to East River Valley Street, and the proposed new phase of the development anticipates tying into an •• existing Right-In/Right-Out access to East River Valley Street that currently provides access to a Mattress Firm Greatwau - ��°��°°�•�• goad retail store located at 2420 North Eagle Road. That access ' drive will continue to serve the retail store, the new phase `""'�°"`°" In a �anovrd of Regency, and extend north to the Great Wall restaurant ro cro:,acaas -- Ilom phOso I to property located at 2590 North Eagle Road. Of note the d � �' ��� 1 ,1� I Great Wall has a temporary access to Eagle Road that will W `-'�" � �� ;. �: a be closed once the "backage road" is improved. � � � '� �`�` �� � �� �' � 0 d Discussions with Caleb Hood set the expectation that the Mottress Firm , d "backage road" would extend from East River Valley Road to the north, past the Great Wall restaurant, where it will tie into a new access point on Eagle Road. We feel • that access on and off the property will be greatly East RiverVaileyStreet enhanced with this new road alignment. 11650 South State Street, Suite 300 •Draper, Utah 84020 •Phone: 801.727.9500 •Fax: 801.727.9501 www.bachhomes.com Another item that was discussed at the October IV'" meeting was the existing access point to Regency at River point, The following link from the Idaho Transportation Department Valley a properly functioning access "Safety Dashboard" shows that from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2020, there have been a total of four documented traffic accidents at the main entrance to Regency at River Valley St., all of which were limited to "property damage" and did not involve personal injury. htts://itd.numetric.net/itd-safety-dashboards#/?view id=2 A Traffic Impact Study was scoped with ITD and has been submitted for their review. Key findings from the TIS included: • Acceptable Levels of Service at all intersections, • Closure of the existing access to Eagle Road was taken into consideration, • The backage road connection from River Valley Street to a northerly access to Eagle Road was considered, • Signal timing adjustments may be required to achieve maximum efficiency, and • No other mitigations were required or recommended. (See Exhibit 1: "Summary of Key Findings" from that TIS.) STUDENTS West Ada County School District provided comments stating that an additional 14 students would reside within the new phase of development. Bach Homes would defer to the School District's expertise on this issue but would add that this development is aimed towards young professionals. This type of demographic is anticipated due to the type of "quality of life" amenities, and the number of studio and 1-bedroom units that will be provided. DEVELOPEMNT AGREEMENT MODIFICATION The subject property is currently encumbered with two separate development agreements. One DA was in anticipation of a retail strip and restaurant with drive -through, the other DA was in anticipation of storage units being improved on the two vacant lots fronting on Eagle Road. Bach Homes is seeking to no longer be subject to the terms of the two existing Development Agreements replacing them with the proposed Development Agreement Provisions contained within the Staff Report. (See Exhibit 2: "Development Agreement Provisions".) That DA will direct the development under the following requirements: • Development of the property shall be generally consistent with the submitted conceptual plans, • Existing access to Eagle Road from Great Wall restaurant property will be closed, • A reciprocal "Cross -Access" agreement will be recorded to benefit all properties involved, • 10-wide multi -use pathway along Eagle Road frontage (easement and improvements), • A Conditional Use Permit, Certificate of Zoning Compliance and administrative Design Review process will be required for the proposed 134-unit complex proposed on the subject property. �Y�e would also propose that an easement from Phase I of the Regency at River Valley be drafted to allow all amenities provided within the existing phases (pool, pet park, BBQ stations, Clubhouse, 24-hour fitness facility, and covered picnic areas) be available to residents within Phase III. That easement shall recorded with the Ada County Recorders office prior to the issuance of Occupancy Permits for Phase III. MULTI -FAMILY HOUSING ON EAGLE ROAD Tenants of Phase I and II of The Regency at River Valley enjoy very comfortable living environments and are not negatively impacted from traffic on Eagle Road. Being located near shopping, recreational facilities (Julius M. Kleiner Memorial Park), public transportation and employment areas, this property meets many of the goals and policies identified in the Meridian Comprehensive Plan for high -density housing. Construction standards implemented by the Uniform Building Code establish a buildings quality, safety and energy performance for years to come because initial design and construction decisions determine operation and maintenance costs for the life of the building. The requirement of quality materials and designs will help mitigate the impacts of noise being generated in the general vicinity. Per the staff report submitted, "High density residential (i.e. "apartments") uses are desired in the Mixed Use — Regional Future Land Use Map (FLUM) designation especially when located adjacent to SH — 55/Eagle Rd. and employment centers such as those along the Eagle Road corridor. The proposed development will be a third phase of the existing apartments to the eat and will contribute to the mix of commercial (retail, restaurants, ect.), office and civic (Kleiner Park, Senior Center) uses in the area." CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT Multi -family housing projects located in the General Commercial and Community Commercial zones are reviewed and approved through the Conditional Use Permit process. Staff will fully review the application for completeness and review the application submission to the existing standards contained within the Meridian Zoning Code. Staff will then make a recommendation to the Planning Commission before the public hearing. The request is to release the subject property from the current Development Agreements and create a new Development Agreement to support the development of a 134-unit multi -family project. We are confident that Staff and the Planning & Zoning Commission will find that great attention to detail has been implemented into our CUP application, and we are excited to provide another 134 living units to the city of Meridian. Respectfully Brandon Whallon, ACID Bach Homes Pre -Development Manager to Meridian = Regency at River Valley Phase 3 Traffic Impact Study SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS &RECOMMENDATIONS • The development will consist of apartment dwelling units • The project is anticipated to generate approximately 676 weekday daily trips, including 45 trips in the morning peak hour, and 55 trips in the evening peak hour Assumptions Findings Assumptions Findings Mitigations • None • Acceptable LOS at all study intersections • None • Acceptable LOS at all study intersections ---------------------------------------------------- • None •South Project Access /River Valley Street: Trips from the proposed Jewelry Store to the north of the project as well as cut4hru from the adjacent apartments was assumed at this access • Acceptable LOS at all study intersections •South Project Access /River Valley Street: Trips from the proposed Jewelry Store to the north of the project as well as cuMhru from the adjacent apartments was assumed at this access • Acceptable LOS at all study intersections • None. Signal timing adjustments may become necessary to prevent excessive westbound queueing past the South Access / River Valley Street intersection in future years. ii 3 EjcKlpii 2 FQDP656) Dcur'loPdnOIr AGz�Yn�r VI. DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT PROVISIONS l . Development of the subject property shall no longer be subject to the terms of the Development Agreements for Bach Storage (H-2019-0121, Inst. #2020-062947) and SGI (AZ-12-010, Inst. #113005608). 2. Development of the subject property shall be generally consistent with the conceptual development plan shown in Section V.B. 3. Direct access to the site via N. Eagle Rd./SH-55 is prohibited per UDC 11-3H-4B.2. 4. Across -access easement shall be granted to the properties to the north (Parcel #Sl 104233802), east (Parcel #R0748300100) and south (Parcel #R7476320010) for access via E. River Valley Street. A copy of the recorded easements shall be submitted to the Planning Division prior to issuance of the first Certificate of Occupancy for this site. 5. A 10-foot wide multi -use pathway shall be constructed along N. Eagle Rd. and E. River Valley St. within a public use easement; pedestrian lighting and landscaping shall be installed along the pathway consistent with the Eagle Road Corridor Study per the standards listed in UDC 11-3H- 4C.3. 6. A public pedestrian easement for the multi -use pathway shall be submitted to the City, approved by City Council, and recorded prior to issuance of the first Certificate of Occupancy on this site as set forth in UDC 11-3H4C.3. 7. Future development shall comply with the design standards listed in the Architectural Standards Manual. 8. A conditional use permit is required to be submitted and approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission for the proposed multi -family development in the C-C and C-G zoning districts as set forth in UDC Table 11-2B-2. The proposed use is subject to the specific use standards listed in UDC 114-3-27 Multi -Family Development. 9. A Certificate of Zoning Compliance and administrative Design Review ap lications shall be submitted to and approved by the Planning Division prior to su mitta of a building permit application(s).