Loading...
2021-12-21 Work Session Minutes Item#3. Meridian City Council December 21, 2021. A Meeting of the Meridian City Council was called to order at 4:34 p.m., Tuesday, December 21 , 2021, by Mayor Robert Simison. Members Present: Robert Simison, Joe Borton, Luke Cavener, Treg Bernt, Jessica Perreault, and Brad Hoaglun. Members Absent: Luke Cavener and Liz Strader. Also present: Chris Johnson, Bill Nary, Vince Koontz, Caleb Hood, Tracy Basterrechea, Kurt Blume and Dean Willis. ROLL-CALL ATTENDANCE Liz Strader _X_ Joe Borton _X_ Brad Hoaglun _X_Treg Bernt X Jessica Perreault _X Luke Cavener (4:50 P.M.) _X_ Mayor Robert E. Simison Simison: Council, we will call the meeting to order. For the record it is December 21 st, 2021, at 4:34 p.m. We will begin today's City Council work session with roll call attendance. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Simison: Next item is adoption of the agenda. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: With one hundred percent holiday cheer, I move that we adopt the agenda as published. Hoaglun: Second the motion. Simison: I have a motion and a second to adopt the agenda with one hundred percent holiday cheer. All favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the agenda is adopted. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] 1. Approve Minutes of the December 7, 2021 City Council Work Session Page 91 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 2 of 21 2. Approve Minutes of the December 7, 2021 City Council Regular Meeting 3. Apex Northwest Subdivision No. 2 Sanitary Sewer and Water Main Easement No. 1 4. Apex Southeast Subdivision No. 1 Sanitary Sewer and Water Main Easement No. 1 5. Scentsy Warehouse No. 2 Water Main Easement No. 1 6. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Elderberry Estates Subdivision (H-2021-0044 and H-2021-0005) by Angie Cuellar of Mason and Associates, Located at 1332 N. Meridian Rd. 7. Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law for Settlers Square (H-2021- 0072) by Brighton Development, Inc., Located on the Northwest Corner of W. Ustick Rd. and N. Venable Ave., Adjacent to the Mid-Mile Mark Between Linder Rd. and Meridian Rd. 8. Development Agreement Between the City of Meridian and Black Cat 30, LLC(Owner/Developer) for Horse Meadows Subdivision (H-2020- 0060 and H-2021-0050), Located at 710 N. Black Cat, at the Southeast Corner of N. Black Cat Rd. and W. Pine Ave., Respectively 9. Subrecipient Agreement Between City of Meridian and Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc., DBA NeighborWorks Boise for Program Year 2021 Community Development Block Grant Funds 10. Subrecipient Agreement Between City of Meridian and Jesse Tree of Idaho for Program Year 2021 Community Development Block Grant Funds 11. Resolution No. 21-2302: A Resolution of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Meridian, Amending the City of Meridian Comprehensive Plan to Update the Text of the Plan to Adopt the Fields Subarea Plan by Reference; and Providing an Effective Date 12. Resolution No. 21-2303: A Resolution Approving Submission and Adoption of the Community Development Block Grant Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report for Program Year 2020 to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development; Authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to Execute and Attest the Same on Behalf of the City of Meridian; and Providing an Effective Date 13. City of Meridian Financial Report - November 2021 Page 92 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 3 of 21 Simison: Next up is our Consent Agenda. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: With the same amount of holiday cheer, I move that we approve the Consent Agenda, for the Mayor to sign and for the Clerk to attest. Hoaglun: Second the motion. Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve the Consent Agenda. Is there any discussion? If not, all in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay? The ayes have it and the Consent Agenda is adopted with one hundred percent the same holiday cheer. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. ITEMS MOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA [Action Item] Simison: There were no items moved from the Consent Agenda. DEPARTMENT / COMMISSION REPORTS [Action Item] 14. Police Department: Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Amendment in the Amount of ($20,200.00) for Alive at 25 Grant Funding Simison: So, we will move into Item 14, which is the Police Department fiscal year 2022 budget amendment in the amount of 20,200 dollars and turn this over to the chief this evening. Basterrechea: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, we are bringing this budget amendment before you. This is part of a grant funding we are looking for spending authority on -- on this for our Alive at 25 program. For those of you who may not know what that program is, it is a program -- educational program funded by the State Highway Office of Highway Safety and the Meridian Police Department. So, if a -- somebody under 25 years of age gets a speeding ticket, some other type of ticket, and it's their first one, not a pattern of poor driving behavior, they do have the option to attend an Alive at 25 course, which is instructed by some of our officer certified instructors and they have the opportunity to have that ticket removed from their record and, therefore, not go on their insurance or count for points against them on their insurance. We are, I believe, the only agency in the -- in the valley that is still actually providing this program. So, it is very well attended and our officers have stayed very dedicated to the program. Simison: Council, questions? Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Page 93 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 4 of 21 Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: With my driving record do they have Alive after 55? Basterrechea: You know, that may be a great idea. I will -- I will try to pitch that and maybe I will become famous for pitching that. Simison: I was going to go the opposite. Is that preventative as well? Because I have got a child who I think is going to be -- will find her way into that ticket. Can you get -- do it in advance? Basterrechea: You can't do it in advance, but you can take the class in advance to help them learn more about proper driving behaviors. Simison: But, then, they lose their ability to get those points removed in the future? Basterrechea: You know, I'm not sure about that, but I can say this, my son has had to attend this course. Borton: Mr. Mayor? Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: So, to that point, Tracy, I love this program. I had both my boys do it,just because it's -- it's a phenomenal program and most insurance companies, for any parent, will offer a discount on your insurance rate for having taken the class for your youth who do it, so there is a proactive benefit for doing it financially, as well as for the safety of the kids. So, outstanding program. Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: Thank you. Is this -- are the classes provided valley wide, meaning that any -- anybody can attend or is it just Meridian residents or just individuals who have received citations in the City of Meridian or how does that work? Basterrechea: So, it is provided -- if somebody from another jurisdiction has received a citation, they can attend our course as well. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: But -- but those jurisdictions aren't being requested to participate in a financial way? Page 94 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 5 of 21 Basterrechea: Those jurisdictions have chosen to not provide this training any further for their own -- their own reasons, but Meridian has stayed dedicated to the program, realizing that every person that comes through the program, whether they have received a citation in another jurisdiction are not, are going to be driving on our roadways as well. So, we feel like we have an obligation and a -- a duty to provide anyone of these -- anybody under the age of 25 with the opportunity to become better drivers. Simison: And Nampa -- Nampa is also a provider of this course in the Treasure Valley. Go ahead, Council Woman Perreault. Sorry. Perreault: Sorry, Mr. Mayor. So, what is the -- what is the participation from -- you said that this is in coordination with the state as well. What does their participation look like? Basterrechea: The Office of Highway Safety is who provides the funding for us. Simison: Council, any additional questions for the chief? Do I have a motion? Bernt: Who is the liaison? Simison: Mr. Cavener is not here. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: I move that we approve a budget amendment the amount of 20,200 dollars for the Alive at 25 grant funding that's been presented by Chief Basterrechea. Hoaglun: Second the motion. Simison: I have a motion and a second to approve the FY-22 budget amendment in the manner of 20,200 dollars. Is there discussion? Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: One more quick question. Is this just -- is this for fiscal year 2122 or is it calendar year of '22? Simison: Fiscal Year. Perreault: Okay. Thank you. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Page 95 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 6 of 21 Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: Just a quick comment. It is a very good program. Thanks, chief, for keeping that going and it's very worthwhile. Borton: Here. Here. Simison: With that ask the Clerk to call the roll. Roll call: Borton, yea; Cavener, absent; Bernt, yea; Perreault, yea; Hoaglun, yea; Strader, absent. Simison: All ayes. Motion carries and the item is agreed to. MOTION CARRIED: FOUR AYES. TWO ABSENT. 15. Mayor's Office: Strategic Plan Execution Update Simison: Next item up is Item 15, the Mayor's Office Strategic Plan execution updates. I will turn this over to Mr. Koontz. Koontz: Good afternoon and, Mr. Mayor and Members of Council, it's my distinct holiday pleasure to present to you the biannual execution update of our city's 2021 to 2025 Strategic Plan. Last week I sent a memo outlining some of the key updates and progress that's occurred during 2021 and I'm here to discuss and highlight some of that key work. Is the presentation up? Okay. All right. For our agenda tonight --so, we will have a recap of what occurred during 2021 . An update by focus area on some of the work that's been achieved and we will -- we will be achieved with relation to the goals and what will be happening in 2022 and answering any questions that you might have on the strategic plan. So, during 2021 our city departments and leadership developed the strategies and tactics to achieve the goals that were adopted by City Council in late 2020. The departments began execution on key work in the plan and we started engagement with City Council on many key topics, such as our urban renewal districts, urban forestry plan, Linder Road overpass, code and policy updates and many many more. There is certainly a busy year with many important execution items in the plan. And I'm going to take these by focus area and we have the six focus areas in the plan. So, the first one is under responsible growth. I'm going to highlight some of the key aspects that achieve the goals. The first ones are going to be under our urban renewal district and growth tools. Last week you approved -- or finished approving the last urban renewal district, the Linder District, Northern Gateway, and Union District amendment were all approved and adopted in order to spur investment and improve infrastructure. With these districts created we have an opportunity to invest in these areas. So, I want to thank you, City Council, for investing and using these key tools to manage our growth responsibly. Under goals related to responsible -- sorry -- our Comprehensive Plan, we adopted The Fields District that will ensure that northwest Meridian has a unique character and long-term plan for development. Parks and Recreation is currently updating their master plan to better Page 96 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 7 of 21 reflect the desires of our community, our Comprehensive Plan, and strategic plans in order to provide premier amenities that the community desires. City Council and the Planning Department worked on the open space and amenities updates to the residential subdivisions and will continue providing premier amenities well into the future with that key update and approval from City Council. Under transportation and infrastructure, one that's near and dear to Mayor Simison, we -- we have a couple under arterial roadways and efficient travel for that goal. We recently got a -- the Linder overpass -- ACHD completed and awarded Keller and Associates the RFQ for -- for that. So, that was recently done. The cooperative development agreement draft is currently in review for Linder Road overpass, with a target of Q1 or Q2 for achievement of that. Lake Hazel and Eagle Road, improvements to Discovery Parks and other key highlights. Agreement between Brighton and ACHD to widen Eagle Road between Lake Hazel and improvements to Discovery Park before phase two opens. That was a -- that was a really good initiative for transportation infrastructure. On ACHD's integrated five year work plan we saw modifications and updates to that at the request of our Transportation Commission and our Planning Department. Amity Road/Locust Grove intersection with pedestrian improvements to Mary Mac Elementary is now moved up for construction to FY-24 and Ustick Road between Ten Mile and Black Cat have now moved up to FY-24 for construction as well. Under pathways connections for parks, the Five Mile pathway bid winner recently started half of the striping between Ten Mile and Meridian Road and they are currently working on bringing in additional signage for many of our wayfinding tools and pathways. Under our business and economic vitality we had significant -- we had significant things in -- in community engagement under business community engagement and our targeted job creation and business visitation, we were able to visit 11 businesses this year. A lot of -- a lot of businesses -- previous year we are not able to visit because of COVID, but we were able to get with United Heritage, CompuNet, Fiberon, Keller Associates, JUB, and Western States Equipment. Another highlight for business and economic vitality is the commercial project manager program. That position will be guiding large projects for the business community to ensure proper -- proper execution and meeting our premier standard for service delivery with those business clients. We also collaborated on the -- with the Chamber with the first annual State of Downtown and we were able to highlight many of the key projects that are going on downtown and just start that relationship with those business customers and our Chamber -- Chamber members. As far as job growth it was pretty substantial in 2021. So, we added approximately 200 jobs in the industrial sector, 200 to 300 jobs in IT services, and over a hundred in professional -- professional services. One -- one key thing we wanted to highlight was Red Aspen, a homegrown company. They are -- you approved a new 30,000 square foot facility on a three acre site on Overland and Linder for their new headquarters and distribution expansion. And, then, several other -- several others, like JST Manufacturing, added 50 jobs with a new 60,000 square foot facility for semiconductor, optoelectronics, biomedical and other clean industry. So, a lot of really good positive economic growth that's happened in Meridian in this past year. Under public health and safety, Council helped approve the Fire Station 7 and 8 for--for--for improving outcomes of response and risk reduction efforts and both of those are going to improve response times in northwest and southeast Meridian. The design developments are currently underway under both stations. The Fire Department also completed and Page 97 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 8 of 21 develop their strategic plan as part of the CFPE accreditation process for the department. The three year plan also aligns fire's plan with the city plan, as well as specific operational goals and criteria for the future. Under PD, the Youth Safety Academy engaged with youth in the community to build partnerships and awareness of law enforcement. The property crimes partnerships with the business community also resulted in over 20,000 dollars worth of property being recovered from citizens and prosecution of -- of criminal element. So, we invited the public to participate in -- on promotional boards with our command staff lieutenants for the first time. City Council also approved the northwest precinct for northwest Meridian, which should improve operational efficiency and logistics and effectiveness. We also approved the captain's roles, which will allow for enhanced operational effectiveness and achieving long-term strategic initiatives for the Police Department. Under vibrant sustainable community under program offerings and livability, we participated in -- with AARP livability initiative. We are now a member of the Age Friendly Net community. We conducted a town hall in October of 2021 to allow our community to outline key steps and key milestones with the program. We are going to continue to work with focus areas and survey efforts to identify opportunities in the program framework in the near future. As far as premier open spaces, Parks brought before you their Parks Lake View Master Plan and was presented to City Council. They have recently received golf carts in August and are waiting to receive maintenance equipment in the near future to enhance the overall golf course -- just the look and feel and the -- the premier amenity that live there. The urban forestry plan was presented to Council and updates were made based on feedback and that will -- that will be brought back to you in the near future and Discovery Park phase two in the budget was GMP -- the GMP contract was approved by Council in last November or December. Targeted teen amenities, the skatepark and bikepark are currently in the design build process at this point and for government excellence, which I'm partial to, under innovating operations, the innovation and change academy had a pretty successful year. We had 31 ideas submitted from staff. We worked on 14 projects, which saved approximately 600 hours of staff time on nonvalue added work. We trained 17 personnel on innovation 101 classes and one -- one project we wanted to highlight was the QLPE process in the community development. We managed to shave seven days off of waiting on project approval by eliminating a requirement for payment at a certain point in the process, which caused delays in project start. So, that was one -- one improvement that we made from one of our innovations in that area and it really saved a lot of time for our business customers. For HR they had some self service tools in hiring. HR services had a couple of wins this year with the policies and -- policy and procedure update that you saw, but the Fire Department's also going to be looking at that and that will be brought back shortly, probably in the next month or two. They deployed the e-recruit tool for hiring and recruiting. This provides much greater flexibility and for internal and external users to -- and took into account a lot of feedback from customers, from external users and internal users. It's a great partnership with IT, HR, and all city departments. HR recently just made all job descriptions and pay information available on the internet for all employees for internal transparency and look to do more in the future. And as far as ongoing plan execution, during 2022 we will make any needed updates to strategies and tactics in order to make sure we are accomplishing the goals and we will update Council on those strategies. We will -- I will work with the community on our strategic plan site, sharing Page 98 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 9 of 21 information on completions, how we are achieving the goals, as well as working to theme key community activities, VR communication platforms by the six focus areas. So, we would like to -- we would like to make a better emphasis on that this year where we are talking through and talking about, you know, what are we doing in responsible growth with the community? What are we doing in transportation infrastructure? What are we doing in all those key areas to highlight some of those things this year. So, that's one -- one effort we are going to --we are going to focus on this year. Our departments will continue to engage with City Council on priority topics throughout the year and I will send an update in March based -- with progress, communications, and additional updates at that time. And with that I will stand for any questions. Simison: Thank you, Vincent. Council, any questions? And you are welcome to take them offline with Vincent afterwards as well, if necessary, but -- Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, just a rhetorical question. How do you top that next year, so -- it's to be seen. But that was a very productive year and a lot of important things got move forward and certainly we have to continue that. So, appreciate that effort by everyone in the city. Know it's just not you, Vincent, but -- Simison: And we do have the subject matter experts. Many of them were asked to be in the room for this portion this evening, if you do want to ask them questions about any of the items that were worked on or where it might lead us in the future. Okay. Then, with that, thank you, Vincent. Thank you all for being here and you are welcome to stay for downtown parking requirements if you would like as well, so -- or you can leave that for Caleb. 16. Community Development Department: Parking Requirements Review Simison: So, with that next item -- why we are all waiting -- is for our Community Development Department parking requirements review. Mr. Hood. Hood: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Members of Council. As the Mayor just mentioned, I'm going to run through our current parking standards with you all. Downtown may be of interest to you, but we are looking to pull together our UDC focus group, which is made up of some of our stakeholders, everybody from citizens to engineers, to developers, to architects, landscape architects. We get them together about twice a year and look at our code. Planning is kind of a standing agenda item for that group to look at and as mentioned -- noted in the memo that I put in your packet for tonight, we have had some changes to parking standards over the last couple of years, but it seems to be a moving target and I don't know that we have got it right, so that's why I'm here is to, again, let you know that we will be talking about parking with those stake --that stakeholder group, UDC focus group at the start of the year and anticipate bringing some potential code changes to you probably later in the spring sometime. So, wanted to get out in front of that a little bit with you, because I do know multi-family, restaurants, and downtown in particular have all coming up over the past six months or so through development review, public hearings So, just wanted to make sure we are headed down the right track and meet expectations. Page 99 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 10 of 21 1 don't know exactly what's going to happen with the UDC focus group or what issues they may have or bring up, but, again, I want to make sure we are generally rowing in the same direction here. So, again, in the memo I put out some of the UDC requirements. I'm just going to summarize those really briefly. The UDC does break our parking requirements out into two sections. So, residential and non -- nonresidential makes -- makes good sense. So, then, for the residential section we have a table that shows how many car parks are required and it's based on per bedroom. So, one and two bedroom requires a certain amount, three and four, and, then, five and above for residential and, then, multi- family is in there as well and, then, for nonresidential or commercial and industrial standards they are broken into traditional neighborhood districts, which include our Old Town district or downtown, commercial and industrial. For most nonresidential -- so, commercial districts, one car park for every 500 square feet of gross floor area is required. That's -- that's the standard for 90 some percent, probably, of all nonresidential projects. In downtown -- for Old Town zoning -- it's been several years now, but we did change the standard to be half of that. So, one per 1,000 in downtown and some of that was to facilitate growth. We were pretty stagnant and weren't seeing a lot of things happen and this was one of the things we thought that could spur some interest in some redevelopment potential downtown. That plus a lot of the lots downtown are older and smaller and so providing on-site parking can be difficult for a lot of parcels downtown. There is also some other standards for Old Town. You get a credit for the building that you have. So, if you have got a thousand square feet, you don't have to provide another car park for that, you are basically grandfathered in, if you will, with any existing space. When you do an addition or a remodel you have to provide the code required standards, but you are allowed a credit, too, in Old Town. So, that's kind of the baseline standards, again, for residential and nonresidential. Industrial is one per 2,000. So, pretty low standard. I don't know if anyone else has experienced any problems. We usually don't get too many complaints about being overparked or underparked in an industrial site. I think that's a pretty good standard to have. I will just mention -- we do get some nonindustrial uses in industrial areas; right? So, churches will often move into an industrial -- what was -- what was originally constructed for something for industrial and, then, they take that space over and they can be underparked. Same with like karate, fitness studios, those types of things also tend to move into those areas sometimes and it can create parking problems. But just for industrial users I believe that standard is appropriate. The fire marshal did do a little bit of -- more research. I don't know if he's constantly doing research, but he did some specific site checks here recently. Unfortunately, he's not here today. Joe Bongiorno is who I'm referring to. But he does want to be part of this conversation. He will be part of that UDC focus group I mentioned. He does want to share some additional information on his findings, his thoughts with you all as we go through this effort again. Particularly apartment complexes, he's had some concerns with. I kind of mentioned it at the beginning, but we did change our standard for multi-family projects where we now require one guest parking for every ten units. So, that's relatively new. So, a lot of things you see on the ground don't actually have that instituted yet, because they were approved, you know, so recently that they haven't built and they are not occupied yet, so I don't know how well that's working. A little bit more time will tell on that. I will -- just a final note I have, I guess, as I open the floor for -- for feedback you have. In UDC 11-3C-7, which is just the next standard after it says how Page 100 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 11 of 21 many car parks you need, we do have an alternative compliance section and most of the projects downtown that are of any size do go through that process typically with the MDC board and recommend to the Planning Department to the city either approval or denial of alternative compliance, those baseline standards that I just mentioned to you for Old Town, which is one per thousand. Both of the major projects that we have going on right now-- both went through the alternative compliance sections. I'm not going to go into the details of those, but they -- they are providing less than what would be just required by the baseline code and that's something that they have to convince, again, the MDC board that whatever they are doing doesn't create a nuisance for downtown, that there is enough parking. A lot of times that can be them providing shared parking agreements, carpooling options, proof that transit is going to go by and that they are providing bus passes. Encouraging ride sharing, providing bike storage on site, those types of things. So, again, there are some things in our code that say if you want to reduce that parking standard here are some of the things you must address in that and go through our urban renewal agency to make a recommendation if you want a lessor parking standard. So, I guess with that, just setting the stage and that's kind of the -- the areas that we were planning on talking about with this UDC focus group. Again, looking for any feedback you may have as we jump back into looking at those standards. Simison: Thank you, Caleb. And, Council, maybe one of the questions I would ask you to -- as you provide feedback is do you have a current floor in your own mind of what level parking should exist out there that you want to share, for them to start looking at and provide feedback, as I think that that's an important part is to give the group your thoughts and let them go truth them out or not from that standpoint, if you have it. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: First of all, I have a quick question for Caleb and, then, I will answer the question you just posed. Caleb, what is considered vertically integrated residential? Can you kind of give me a definition for that? Hood: Sure. Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Perreault, yeah, vertically integrated -- typically, historically, has a nonresidential user on the bottom. So, retail, office, restaurant, those types of things and, then, second, third, and above floors are typically residential. They can also have office on like a second or third floor, but -- but it's a mix of uses vertically integrated. So, you have at least some level one or two floors typically of nonresidential with one or more residential floors above. Perreault: Follow up, Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: So, Caleb, why are those parking standards treated differently than multi-story and multi-family? Page 101 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 12 of 21 Hood: Yeah. Mr. Mayor, Council Woman Perreault. So, I believe some of the thought behind that is typically we are going to see vertically integrated product is in an urban setting where you have a mix of uses and it's usually pretty dense and the thought there is not as many people will need to drive to locations and, therefore, won't need as many vehicles to get around. So, in theory you can be a single car household or even carless and be able to get your groceries and your job and your entertainment all within walking or riding distance of where those things are typically constructed. They are not typically constructed in the suburbs, you know, in the middle of subdivisions, they are constructed in a downtown, mixed use, transit friendly environment. Perreault: Thank you. I -- you know, I -- I don't think -- I don't personally think that we are a large enough metro area yet to minimize that to one stall. I don't think that we -- we aren't quite there yet where we have enough business downtown and employment opportunities in the downtown setting to keep folks walking to work. I just -- I don't think that we are there yet and I have seen that be our biggest issue downtown is this one -- especially as we have talking about these new URD developments having one space for a three bedroom apartment or, you know, one space per-- I think that's how that's set up. On the -- the chart it just said one bedroom pretty much for any size of apartment. That is maybe those -- in my opinion those parking standards should be the same as what they are in the multi-family until we get to such a place that it -- you know, folks can work and live downtown and that we have enough residents who can -- you know, there is a -- the right ratio of employment to residents in the downtown sector and, then, also apartments -- you know, families are living in apartments now. The cost of housing is such that apartments are becoming longer term residential solutions for people and so I really think we need to consider increasing our parking requirements for -- for apartment complexes for multi-family, because I don't -- I don't think this challenge is probably going away and I think that we are going to continue to have hearings like we have had recently where cars are spilling out into the street and I don't see that challenge -- I see that challenge getting worse as more and more people are living in apartments long term, because they can't afford single family. So, I definitely think that the concept of providing more parking, so that it forces people not to have to drive is not -- is not a philosophy that's currently working. It will get there, I believe, but it's not happening right now. Simison: Thank you. Cavener: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Cavener. Cavener: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Caleb and Miranda, I -- I tend to agree with Council Member Perreault. I, too, over the past year really researched and understand kind of this movement to kind of carless communities and having that being somewhat ambitious. You know, taxpayer subsidized so much related to the personal vehicle and I can appreciate the desire to try and shift away from that and plan for residential that doesn't require a significant amount of space for storage of vehicles, but I'm kind of like Council Member Perreault, I just don't think that we are even close to being there yet in Meridian. Page 102 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 13 of 21 So, I'm -- I think my comments fall in line with -- with my other Council Member. I would ask maybe just a couple other items for consideration or vetting with --with the UDC focus group and that is around electric vehicle charging stations. Boise has some plans around that. Nampa. Caldwell. I'm not aware that we do. Full disclosure. I own an electric vehicle. I have owned EVs for almost ten years. But I think that as particularly states start doing away with combustible engine vehicles, this is something we are going to be forced to, you know, build a plan about at some point or another. So, I think earlier rather than later seems to make sense to me. And, then, just further conversation, particularly in multi-family in downtown, around bike parking and bike storage, if we have got the right matrix there or if we need to do something a little bit different for downtown or in multi- family. So, those are my only comments. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: Caleb, appreciate you tackling this project. We have had lots of discussions about parking and different things. I want to start out with commercial and, then, move to residential. In your -- your memo here, you know, you talked about commercial projects, one parking spot is required for every 500 square feet of floor area and -- except restaurants and I think storage facilities are exceptions. But, you know, as I think about that, you know, there is a lot of -- and does that apply -- I guess here is my first question -- does that apply to strip malls or is that so each one, depending on the square footage, that determines the parking or is there extra added to that, because there is a grouping of them? Caleb: Mr. Mayor, Councilman Hoaglun, yeah, it will be gross floor area of that project, if I'm understanding your question correctly. So, depending on how it builds out, typically, you know, you are getting one building permit per building. So, if we know the tenant we will assign the required car parks based on -- so, if it's a restaurant or if it's a strip mall and a portion of it's a restaurant, you would have to provide the higher ratio for that portion of the building. So, it is proportionate depending on the user. Hoaglun: So, Mr. Mayor, to follow up -- and Caleb. And that's -- that's what I thought, but, you know, I tried to think of an example -- you take 1,200 square feet, they just got one segment and there are several of those and even if they are professional services, you know, I thought, okay, what if it's an audiologist where they got 1 ,200 square feet, maybe 1 ,500 if you want that much room, but they have got a receptionist, they have a technician and they have got the doctor and you have three people that require three parking spaces. You know, there is no -- we don't allow for customers in that and not -- granted, not that they are going to have 20, 30 people, but even if they have two or three we have that area that, well, are we really covering that? So, that's just--just a comment. I thought that just seems -- seems odd. We may cover four employees, but unless there is something in there that is in addition to how many estimated staff there will be for that. So, maybe that's where I'm missing out on, if you could answer that. Page 103 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 14 of 21 Caleb: Yeah. There wasn't really a question there. I think you have got it. I do -- before we move on -- leave -- leave commercial anyways, I probably should have mentioned this just in my original presentation, but our philosophy on parking is not to tell businesses how many car parks they need. They -- they know better than we do how much parking they are going to need. So, even if they have 1,200 square feet they should know they have got three employees and there is nowhere for their customers to park. So, really, our code is set up to make them think about how much. It's the bare minimum. Like you can't provide any less than that. Ninety-nine percent of all businesses are going to provide more than what we require, because they need more. One per 500 is not enough. I will just be honest with you. It's not. But, again, the success and how much parking they need is going to vary by user and that's -- and, again, if the philosophy is wrong and we want to get into that and say, you know what, a doctor's type of a business, you need to provide one per this and if you are going to be retail you need to provide one per that. We can do that. But we -- you know, it's kind of hands off and saying you want to be successful and have people come to your business, you are going to provide the parking you need. You got to have some parking, though, and that's where we step in. So, should probably have started with that and say, you know, this isn't meant to say it's the ceiling, it really is the floor and you probably want to provide something that's probably at least two times our standard and we -- we typically do get that. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: Thanks for that clarification, Caleb. Yeah. And I think we need to be strong about recommending more and whatnot and we do have some areas in town where we have strip malls where they were professional or they are vacant and restaurants have moved in and it has caused problems, as we all know in several areas. So, I think that's something we have to take a look at. Have the -- have the committee talk about what -- what those look like and be prepared for, because they could be where you have the 1,200 square feet, they combine the properties and, yeah, maybe they thought, well, there is three staff per and, then, you have five more for customers, even though we may have three, but that gives us eight and we are good. All of a sudden they combine them and it's a restaurant, it just changed the whole dynamic for that. So, that -- that's something they can -- they can tackle. I think Council Woman Perreault brought up an interesting deal with -- and others about the vertically integrated residential. Working in another city in another time in my life, you know, there was a massive undertaking for downtown redevelopment, but with that development came parking garages as developed by the -- the development corporation and working together to make that work. So, yes, the one per dwelling unit -- it was combined in conjunction with other things that help fund and doing things that I don't think we are there yet, but we have to be thinking about that how -- and we are now with our current RFP with MDC and what we need to do. I just think we have to be aggressive in that and not do it as an afterthought, but part of -- as part of the whole --whole thing. So, how we tackle that I'm not sure, but we are -- our downtown is going to grow, that's a great thing, but with that we have to make sure we are not underparked. Interesting just an aside -- and it's been some time ago -- about six months Page 104 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 15 of 21 ago at least -- I read a fascinating article about driving and the use of electric vehicles and how, according to these experts and the studies they are doing, with the electric vehicle that prohibition of driving because I'm emitting fossil fuels and, you know, it's bad for the environment is taken away and their projection is that there will be an increase of vehicles on the road as electric vehicles and other better forms of transportation come online, which I found fascinating, because that changes the dynamic. You think, oh, downtown, they are integrated, walkability, and people don't want to drive, but all of a sudden they have an electric vehicle and they can drive and feel fine about that, that -- that may change that dynamic. So, it's just one of those things. If I find the article I will pass it on, but it was just one of those thought pieces that -- trying to think ahead. What does this look like if we have, you know, 80 percent of the people driving electric vehicles and all of a sudden they are saying there is more vehicles on the road and in need of parking places. So, that was kind of a head scratcher. But we do have to kind of look at all these things. To move into -- if I might, Mr. Mayor, residential and one of the items that I was interested to hear when we had a hearing here a few weeks ago for a multi-family deal and their standard for parking -- we use 1.5, they use 1.7 and I thought, well, that was interesting. Now, I don't know if all the dynamics were the same or if that was just for the one bedroom, 1.7, because, then, as you go to two to three we have two dwelling units per -- two per dwelling unit for two and three and, then, three or four dwelling units, but I thought, well, that's an interesting -- interesting change and I ran a bunch of different projections and I think that's worth considering. I think we have to think about the dynamic that has occurred in the last two years and if it continues to occur with pandemics and the housing market that the pricing is so high that people can't afford and there -- there is more people coming together, I see it in our subdivision, which is single family homes, three bedroom home and there are seven vehicles parked out front and they are not all related and, fortunately, there is a common area they can accommodate all vehicles, but this is also happening in the multi-family and so I think we kind of have to look at that. Do we consider in a hundred bed -- in a hundred unit apartment complex if you were to say, well, 20 of those are going to be one bed, 20 are going to be four bed and 60 are going to be the two to three bedroom and you calculate our standard and, then, with the ten extra per dwelling, so that's one per ten and a hundred units, that's another ten, my -- I came to 220 units, but if you look at things where, okay, if we take the one bedrooms and they are at 1.5, you raise that 1.7, instead of 30 you have 34, or if you go 1.8 you have 36 instead of 30. Because if you have a couple living there and, then, they -- you are going to have two per, but you move that up a bit. Same with the four bedroom, you try to determine, okay, if you have those 20 it requires three per four. So, there is 30 for those ten units, but you are going to have people sharing and you are going to have four vehicles for that four -- four bedroom complex. Well, if you raise that up you are going to have 40, now you are up to 70 instead of 60 for that additional ten and that's just an example. And, then, two to three bedrooms same thing, you have to kind of figure if you add 2.35, you know, based on the two to three bedrooms for that, you know, instead of 220 for all the calculations that are under our -- if I did my numbers right for our required parking spaces, now you are up to 256. So, I don't know what the formula is. That's just me playing around with some numbers trying to figure that out, you know, just to say, okay, how -- how does it reflect reality? What is reality I guess is what I'm trying to figure out. And we don't know, but we can look at the things and -- and Chief Bongiorno had Page 105 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 16 of 21 gone through and talked about some areas where there is open -- the internal lots are open, but people are parking on the streets for convenience. So, how do we address that? And the last thing on -- on these multi-family, Caleb, I would want to talk about and, again, looking at -- when my wife and I walk in our neighborhood and the driveway is full, because they have their vehicles, but the service vehicle is parked either in the driveway -- they might have the car in the garage or it's parked out front on the street and that's fine. There is room for it. But so many people are -- are on call that are professional services that, rightly so, when my, you know, furnace decides to quit at midnight and I need heat and I can call someone, they are going to respond, jump in their vehicle and head over, but that apartment complex -- can it handle a large service vehicle parked there and we kind of talked about that at one of our hearings, about -- with the lineman's college bringing their vehicles there and it's -- it's a reality, people have to live someplace and many of people are on call. So, how do we handle those plumbing vehicles and heating and cooling vehicles and maybe they work for Idaho Power and certainly services that we want -- are there going to be spots that you can park an oversized rig in some of these places and maybe it's not a lot of spots, but is it four or five that are available for that sort of thing. Just something else for them to look at, to chew on. I don't know what the answer is, but something -- something to consider, so I think, Mr. Mayor, that's all I have for now. Hood: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Yes, Mr. Hood. Hood: Before I move on to any other feedback, I want to just ask for some clarification, because Council Woman Perreault mentioned this as well and Mr. Hoaglun did as well. On-street parking. Is that something that--when it's not signed, you know, not-- because sometimes the street's too narrow and you can't park either on one side or both sides, because the street's so narrow. But when you can is that a problem? I don't want to read too much in your comments, but I kind of get the sense that you are opposed to just on- street parking, even if the street's wide enough to accommodate on-street parking and still get vehicles by and ACHD signed off on the street. So, I'm trying to understand -- even the project that was north of--on Meridian Road here, that-- parking is legal. People complain about it, but it's legal -- they are legally parked. But is that an issue that we need to address in this and prohibit parking adjacent to multi-family potentially or even single family residential? Simison: So, Caleb, you stole my thunder -- Hood: Sorry. Simison: -- because -- yeah. That's okay. You are allowed to do that. But that was my -- and it's great that we got the two chiefs here, because the question I want to ask them is do they think we should eliminate parking on roads and require all parking to be only done on the property that the -- that the unit is there for? If so let's reduce our road standards and only make them wide enough for our vehicles to get down and not worry Page 106 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 17 of 21 about parking on them, because it is a cost where we are making people put in roads to a certain width and if our direction or desire is not to have parking on the roads, then, make the road smaller and make the cost cheaper and put it into the -- into the property that's responsible for that, you know, because you didn't ask my opinion on this yet, but my opinion is I have no issue with people parking on the roads, because that's what they are there for. In fact, I think there is things we could do and probably in some of our other codes where we can make it easier for people to park on the roads by not allowing, you know, the issues we had with the mailboxes. Mailboxes take up potential parking that would be allowed in residential areas and by changing those requirements you could -- you could change that. But I think that is a fundamental question that I think Council needs to have a -- have a viewpoint on, is if you are -- if your expectation is that roads are not parking vehicles on, whether it's around commercial, whether it's around residential, whether it's in downtown or anywhere, what is the expectation? Because that's huge. That -- that can be a -- somewhat of a game changer if it's only park on your property, what you are responsible for and, you know, not -- not asking any Council to make that determination today. I think it is a conversation piece, just as Caleb mentioned. Hoaglun: Mr. Mayor, I will just -- Simison: Councilman Hoaglun. Hoaglun: A couple things to weigh in on that, Caleb. You know, originally coming in you look at that and, yeah, let's -- let's keep cars off and make it open and different things, but, yet, when people talk about speeding in -- on these roads and in their subdivision, the more cars that you have and more things that are actually as a deterrent to going fast. So, I kind of -- kind of changed my outlook on that going, you know, that -- that kind of makes it something that actually helps with -- with the speed that people complain about and changed my thinking about that a little bit. So, I certainly want to make sure we are not, you know, blocking stop signs or having distances and the fire hydrants and all that is certainly doable. You know, when people park out front of my house it's like, wait a minute, what are they doing out in front of my house. But, yet, I didn't pay for that whole road. I mean -- and it's wide enough to park, so if there is -- and usually the neighbors are just having some birthday party or something. No biggie. But, yeah, it -- to me it's -- I have kind of come around to that a little bit that, you know what, it's not a bad thing and unless they want to build the road themselves and make it private, maybe we have to rethink that a bit, but -- so, that's -- that's -- that's -- I have kind of come around to that, allowing parking on -- on the street, so -- but I know not everyone shares that opinion, but -- so, that's -- Simison: Yeah. And I guess, you know, from a standards standpoint, Council Woman Perreault, I see that you are -- but if you are on an apartment complex on a corner and you are a 30, 40 acre complex -- or 20 acre complex and you -- and there is, you know, parking for 75 cars on the street--on the two sides that you are there is that okay? Should that matter towards your numbers or should it not? Especially if there is nothing else nearby, you know, and -- and it won't be that way forever, but it's just a good thought -- point. Council Woman Perreault. Page 107 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 18 of 21 Perreault: Thank you. I don't mind the on-street parking. What I -- where I think there is challenges is when -- when it's not dedicated -- when there aren't -- either isn't signage or there aren't spots specifically marked off. So, if -- you know, in a downtown area you have parallel parking. There are spots that are already marked. They exist specifically to be parked on the street. But when you have a lot of these streets in residential areas, a collector, for example, that has -- that's wide enough to have parking on both sides, but there is nothing that designates how many parking spots should be there and, you know, that they are not striped to have parking there and I just think it could be something as simple of a solution as, you know, having better signage and better markings. Now, that's an ACHD thing and not something that we oversee, but I don't see why we couldn't have a conversation with them if we are continually running into areas where there are issues -- specific areas of the city where there is issues where it's intended for on-street parking, but there is -- the behavior is causing safety challenges. So, that's my thought on the on- street parking. I'm not opposed to it. I want to be careful about how much we rely on it, of course, but there are some -- some of the residential developments that we have approved specifically have the on-street parking for visitors or a third space or whatnot. So, those I don't think we need to take away. It's -- it's more of a -- and it seems to me like some of the conversations that we have had recently have been about existing communities, not the new communities. So, we can't do anything about that -- about the existing communities until there is an actual application that comes up when we have a conversation. But as far as new developments, I don't mind the on-street parking, but I really think having it well marked would be helpful. I just wanted to address something very quickly regarding what Council -- Councilman Hoaglun mentioned. You know, yes, the chief has gone out and -- and looked at several developments and found that there is plenty of spaces available within the elements themselves and, yet, people are still parking on the street. Two reasons why I think that's happening and that I think are actually fairly easy to solve. The first is we talked about the sizes of the vehicles not fitting into the spots that belong -- you know, that exist in those developments and so some of -- some of the ways that, you know, if -- if, for example, the hearing that we had a few weeks ago they had up to 60 additional spots that were open, so widen some of those. That's not complicated. Make 50 spots and make some of them longer and wider and the other thing is is that I know from --from recently having lived in an apartment complex in transition between houses, I didn't want to open up my door into a metal post that was holding up the carport. Why are the metal posts sitting in the middle of the -- why can't there be metal posts on the front of the space and the back of the space, so you are not opening your door into a metal post. A lot of folks don't park under the carports, because they don't want to get their doors dinged up and the -- the designs of some of those carports are really poor. So, I think that's a significant reason I saw in my neighborhood why people didn't want to park in the carport, because they just didn't want to get -- they didn't want to have to try to open the door and squeeze it into this tiny space. So, I think there is a couple of fairly easy -- easily solvable issues that don't require us to necessarily increase the parking standard, it's maybe how we design how the parking is done. Simison: Councilman Borton, Councilman Bernt, just want to make sure we give you -- either of you time before we come to close today. Page 108 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 19 of 21 Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Always getting in before Joe. Sorry. Councilman Bernt. Joe likes to go last anyways. Bernt: Okay. So, sorry, Joe. I don't need to add a lot to what's been said. You know, the only -- the only thing that I -- after -- you know, going through Caleb's memo -- well done. Very informational. Was just a vertically integrated residential component with the downtown -- the downtown area. I get asked all the time -- I live downtown. I get my haircut downtown. I -- you know, get my hot beverages downtown and a lot of places -- a lot of friends own businesses downtown. So, if I don't have to leave downtown I'm not going to and those that know me know that that's just how it works; right? And so when I'm walking downtown I get hit up all the time by businesses with questions about lack of parking, I have to inform them that, you know, not an issue right now, you know. Only 49 percent of what we have downtown is being used. People don't know that they can park in the Keller building. People don't know that they can park at the Masonic Lodge. People don't know that they can park at the COMPASS building. There is actual, you know, public parking and all those -- in all those areas and so maybe we can do a better job at -- you know, in our messaging. But that's currently and so going forward I just think that it's really important that we just dot our I's and cross your T's and do -- just make sure that, you know -- I'm not completely sold, you know, with one -- and I agree with Council Woman Perreault with -- you know, our downtown isn't quite there yet. We are working like hell to get it there and it's looking great and we are going up and it's -- you know, we are doing what we need to do, but I don't think we have the jobs -- I don't know if we have the people downtown to automatically assume that -- that -- that they are going to be walking to work or they are going to be shopping -- we don't even have -- we don't have a place for them to buy groceries downtown Meridian yet and so -- I know this -- this may be a different conversation, you know, five, ten, 15 years from now, but just -- I just would look at that a little bit more. But other than that I think everything has been discussed. Thank you. Hood: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Yes, Mr. Hood. Hood: Before we go to Mr. Borton, if you don't mind, I want to just plug -- Miranda put together a downtown parking map recently. It's actually a reinvention of one that we have been using for the past several years, but the -- some of the times have changed and where to park, Keller, for example, wasn't on the last map. So, we will get that to you. I'm going to ask Miranda right now to go ahead and just e-mail that to you. So, if you have friends, family, businesses, please, get the word out and it's a map that's very user friendly on a handheld device, so if you are, you know, driving downtown you can ask your wife say, hey, where can we park and pull it up right there and it shows where the public parking is available downtown. So, just a quick note there. Bernt: Yeah. And one last thing, Mr. Mayor. I -- you know, it's an enforcement thing as Page 109 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 20 of 21 well. You know, I was downtown this past week and picking up my truck -- you know, I was getting in my truck and -- and there was a code enforcement officer giving me a warning on my truck and I didn't know that you could park -- you couldn't back up in a parking stall. I had no idea. And so it was completely informational and she was really nice and very professional and she just let me know that, hey, I'm just giving you -- I'm like wait -- wait a minute. I'm here. Don't give me a ticket. I'm here. You know, be nice to me. And, then, she was very informational about, you know, why she was giving me a warning and so it's just -- it's just that and, you know, there are some people who are parking in front of businesses all day long, you know. Like all day long. And so -- and that's -- that -- those are really small easy fixes that we can discuss in the future, so -- Simison: Councilman -- President Bernt, it's also you have to park with the direction of traffic. Bernt: I did. Simison: I'm just pointing out there for those listening at home. Bernt: I'm just backing -- Simison: And we will go through -- through all the -- Bernt: I like to backup. I like to --you know. I didn't know you couldn't back into a parking stall. Simison: Councilman Borton. Borton: If you drive an F-750 it's hard to move that thing around as well. Bernt: Point taken. A good point. Borton: I appreciate the conversation. I don't -- I don't have anything substantive to add that hasn't been discussed. I'm glad it's coming to the focus group. This is one of those topics that should be and will be a perpetual conversation. As soon as we make UDC changes based on the focus group's work, it should go back and we will continually provide input as we develop. So, I appreciate the -- I agree with the comments and appreciate the consideration, so I have nothing substantive to add. Simison: Thank you, Councilman. Perreault: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Council Woman Perreault. Perreault: One more thing and I don't know that this is necessarily something the UDC group will look at, because I don't know if it has to be a part of code, but, you know, as I Page 110 Meridian City Council Work Session Item#3. December 21,2021 Page 21 of 21 travelled around some of the -- the easiest ways to get around in the smaller downtowns have been public parking signs that go along with that map -- that coordinate with the map, that are signs that point people in the direction of where public parking is and maps that are on posts in the downtown core and that might be something that we consider looking into, so that -- because I didn't even know there was a public parking map and I -- you know, and I -- I should know that and so doubt that many of the members of the community know that as well. Simison: Thank you. There is some signs, but there is probably not signs for all, so -- okay. Bernt: Mr. Mayor? Simison: Councilman Bernt. Bernt: If there is no more discussion --we are good? I move that we adjourn the meeting. Simison: I have a motion to adjourn. All in favor signify by saying aye. Opposed nay. The ayes have it. We are adjourned. MOTION CARRIED: FIVE AYES. ONE ABSENT. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 5:35 P.M. (AUDIO RECORDING ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) 1 / 4 2022 MAYOR ROBERT E. SIMISON DATE APPROVED ATTEST: CHRIS JOHNSON - CITY CLERK Page 111