2022-11-09 Bernhard Bahro
Chris Johnson
From:Bernhard Bahro <berni.bahro@gmail.com>
Sent:Wednesday, November 9, 2022 11:42 AM
To:Clerks Comment
Subject:Kingstown Proposed Development
Attachments:Kingstown_Final with signature.docx
External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments.
Please receive my comment letter for the proposed Kingstown Development in Meridian, ID
Thank you, Bernhard Bahro
1
To the Honorable Mayor Simison, November 9, 2022
To the members City of Meridian City Council, and
To the members of Planning and Zoning Committee members
I have written numerous letters to both Planning and Zoning and City Council over the infilling projects
surrounding the Alpine Pointe Subdivision over the past several years being in 2019 and the Delano
Project. My wife and I have sat in city hall and listened to testimony and rulings. We have attended
numerous ZOOM Meetings including the most recent one addressing the Kingston Project. Over the
course of these meetings all parties present raise several common issues.
1) By the developer: that the proposed project, regardless of where it is needs every building
planned or it is not economically feasible: if we lose any density of structures, or apartments, or
even put in a STOP sign at an intersection, this development won’t happen.
2) By the residents: there are too many homes proposed in the transition and the overall density is
too high, not just the increased traffic but increased speed of the cars are making it unsafe.
3) By the council: common phases used time and again: ACHD is responsible for the roads, the
Comprehensive Plan ties our hands, infill projects are tough, were understand the economics
costs of a difficult plan…
Many of these statements have some truth to them and I fully recognize that infilling projects are
difficult to assess. However, developers are always going to push for the maximum density allowed.
Their job is to make a profit. They have assumed a financial risk in this investment and are counting on a
favorable outcome from the City.
In the meeting I attended, the loss of two the three homes were going to make or break the Kingstown
Proposal as presented, not likely. In the Delano project (2019), housing density was reduced by 12 units
generally in transition areas with Alpine Point (96 proposed and reduced to 84). Cory Barton Homes
(CBH) is building away. It’s not the City of Meridian’s responsibility to ensure a profitable/feasible
outcome for developers.
The residents of Alpine Pointe are seeing local increased traffic as well as increased speed in our
subdivision, that is a fact. While ACHD has responsibility for the roads, the City Council is directly
responsible for the increased traffic on the roads. The growth in our community and surrounding areas
is real and is being felt by every resident of Meridian. Adjacent cities like Boise, Eagle, Star, Kuna and
Nampa are developing as fast or faster all around Meridian. While the City of Meridian is not directly
responsible it is directly affected. We are sandwiched by these adjacent communities and road layouts
encourage cut-though traffic during peak hours through our neighborhoods and subdivision’s. Your
hands are not tied, you do have a say in planned housing densities and you directly responsible for the
quality of life and safety of your constituents. Keep the current residents in mind, folks moving into
the area now have no point of reference to what is was like, just what it is now. What reference point
do you what them to have? Please keep the neighborhoods you already have safe and make the new
developed areas less dense. More open space is better, the Kingstown project should be a park, not
24 or more homes, connect the roads, put in some Pickle Ball Courts, play areas, and shade trees…
My last comment to the process of infilling development is in regards to notification by developers to
surrounding neighbors. This 300-foot line is bogus and does not serve the developer, city or neighbors
adequately. This issues of public notification needs to be addressed so that adjacent HOA’s are part of
the notification. The signing used is generally effective when properly updated and placed.
As a resident of Alpine Pointe, I am not in support of the Kingstown application for two prevailing
reasons: Proposed Transition Density with Alpine Pointe and Traffic.
The transition at the north of the project should be a match or suitable sized lot to the surrounding
homes. Alpine Pointe’s smallest adjacent lot is 12960 square feet, and most of the lots in Kingstown
begin at 4000 square feet and the ones next to Alpine Pointe are primarily 5250 square feet, for a sizable
difference of 7710 square feet or more at the northern shared border. Kingstown lots begin at 4000
square feet next to the smallest Champion Park lot at 10800 square feet. Gross and net densities in
Alpine Pointe are well under three units per acre.
These small, proposed lots are being used to secure an incompatible blanket higher density of R-8 to
benefit the applicant to package and sell the entitlements or to pad an estate lot that may disappear
when Phase 2 comes about. This should be a less dense zoning code, and that would be R-4 zoning
with 8000 SF lot minimum sizes and 15-foot minimum rear yard setbacks, as Alpine Pointe and
Champion Park have larger lots than proposed in Kingstown, and a comparable lot would be expected
next to Alpine Pointe and Champion Park neighbors. Delano lots are 5500-6000 SF on the shared border,
with single story or single story with bonus room, and R-4 zoning would be transitional to Delano. In
addition, there should not be any two-stories against one-story homes for privacy and congruency to
existing homes.
The second issue is the traffic that will be coming as the neighborhoods’ streets connect, changing
traffic patterns. There should be traffic calming measures built within the Kingstown development to
slow the traffic and to also protect the residents in Kingstown as well as the residents and
neighborhoods that connect to the subdivision. New traffic calming consideration should apply to all
the area, as we currently have four schools in the near vicinity, and the civic/school pads have room for
expansion.
One might say the traffic issues are down the road from this application, and that is not entirely true,
as the past applications that connect to this infill acreage that have come before the City had roads
with many flaws that are out of technical specifications and the roads were accepted as local streets
with lower traffic local street capacities despite their obvious future use. Here we are 20-25 years
later, and our peaceful residential areas are intermingling with newer urban densities and heavy
commercial projects in this area, and our local streets are being unfairly expected to carry more and
more of the traffic burdens that arterials and the highways should be carrying and the connections via
this neighborhood will change the traffic. A lot of the local streets have front-on housing, not conducive
to heavier collector road uses and the cut-through traffic. The light at Wingate/Troxel/Ustick is far
overdue, as are improvements at Leigh Field and Locust Grove.
Without improvements to this plan for a housing density R-4 sizes and up and new streets’ traffic
calming, this application should be denied; a remand decision for redesign to Planning and Zoning
Commission may not be enough, as there is only one chance to get this right.
The following items from the current Comprehensive Plan of the City of Meridian applies to this
application and should be considered in your decision.
2.02.02C Support infill development that does not negatively impact the abutting, existing
development. Infill projects in Downtown should develop at higher densities, irrespective of existing
development.
3.01.01A Evaluate comprehensive impacts of growth and consider City Master Plans and Strategic
Plans in all land use decisions (e.g., traffic impacts, school enrollment, and parks).
3.05.00 Ensure that all planning, zoning and land use decisions balance the interests of the
community by protecting private property rights for current citizens and future generations.
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.
3.07.02F Coordinate with transportation agencies to align future needed infrastructure with land
use plans and implement through the development review processes.
5.01.00 Sustain, enhance, promote, and protect elements that contribute to livability and a high
quality of life for all Meridian residents.
5.01.01 Encourage the safety, health, and well-being of the community.
5.01.01B Provide pathways, crosswalks, traffic signals and other improvements that encourage
safe, physical activity for pedestrians and bicyclists.
5.01.02 Support beautiful and high-quality development that reinforces neighborhood character
and sustainability.
5.01.02E Support and protect the identity of existing residential neighborhoods.
6.01.02G Work with the Transportation Commission and transportation partners to implement
needed neighborhood traffic calming and address safety concerns.
Thank you. Sincerely,
Alpine Pointe Resident:
Bernhard Bahro
2584 E Lacewood Dr
Meridian, ID 83646