CC - Narrative CALIFORNIA
1600 E.FRANKLIN AVENUE
SUITE A
EL SEGUNDO, CA 90245
CENTERCAL PHONE 310.560-6905
PROPERTIES, LLc FAX 310-56 -690
UTAH
140 N.UNION AVE
SUITE 225
FARMINGTON,UT 84025
PHONE 801.451.5993
www.CENTERCAL.com
November 17, 2022
Meridian City Council
33 E. Broadway Ave.
Meridian, ID 83642
RE: City Council Review of Planning and Zoning Commission Denial (H-2022-0069)
Dear Mayor Simison and Members of the Meridian City Council:
Meridian CenterCal, LLC ("CenterCal") submits this letter in support of our application
for City Council Review of the Planning and Zoning Commission's denial of file #H-2022-0069,
a conditional use permit requested by CenterCal to exceed the height in the C-G zone for
development of The Bridge at The Village at Meridian, a vertically-integrated residential project.
We urge you to overrule the Commission's decision in light of the information included in this
letter and to be presented at a Council hearing.
The Commission denied the conditional use permit at a public hearing on October 20,2022,
and issued written findings on November 3, 2022.1 Their decision stated two main concerns: first,
that the height of the project is not compatible with the existing character of the general vicinity,
including other residential projects in the general vicinity and other buildings within The Village
at Meridian;and,second,that the additional parking demand generated by the density of the project
would impact existing parking at The Village.2
CenterCal can demonstrate the project is a reasonable height for the neighborhood given
the surrounding uses and heights, including heights in The Village and in the surrounding area.
Further, CenterCal can demonstrate the project will have no adverse impact on parking at The
Village. Vertically-integrated residential uses were specifically contemplated and encouraged in
the original approval of The Village in 2008, and the approval of this application will enable the
full use of the property as intended without a negative impact on parking.
I City of Meridian Findings of Fact,Conclusions of Law,Decision and Order dated November 3,2022("Findings").
2 Findings,p. 1.
Page 1
Proiect Overview and Staff Recommendation
The Bridge at The Village at Meridian includes 549 residential units above 34,547 square
feet of ground-floor retail with structured parking and an elevated pedestrian walkway spanning
E. Longwing Lane to connect the project buildings. The project is located west of the center core
of The Village, on the east side of Eagle Road. Vertically-integrated residential is an allowed use
in the C-G Zone and in the original 2008 Development Agreement for The Village.3 The
conditional use permit would allow the project to exceed the 65 feet allowed in the C-G Zone,with
a proposed maximum height of 85 feet and an average height of 78 feet. The staff report
recommended approval of the application based on applicable conditional use permit criteria.4
Specific Grounds for Request
The Project is a Reasonable Height for the Neighborhood.
The height requested for The Bridge project is compatible with surrounding uses in the
vicinity. The Village is made up of multi-story commercial and office buildings, including the
Office Building Dome at 78 feet. In the area, there are other structures that surpass 65 feet,
including the Scentsy building at 83 feet, with the peak of the atrium at 96 feet. The St. Luke's
Hospital building just a mile south on Eagle Road is seven stories, with the first story over 20 feet
in height. Within the vicinity of The Bridge project are multiple four- and five-story buildings,
both within The Village and along Eagle and Fairview Roads.
Situated at the corner of two major arterial roads, The Village has always been planned to
have this intensity of development. The 2008 approval of the larger project around The Village,
then called the"Meridian Town Center,"encompassed 258 infill acres planned for intensive mixed
use commercial, office and residential development, including the Kleiner 80-acre parcel to the
west across Eagle Road and the area now partly occupied by CarMax to the east. The Bridge
project is proposed at the heart of this complex, along the east side of Eagle Road, buffered on all
sides by C-G zoning and by planned or existing multi-story mixed use development. There is at
least 1,700 feet between the proposed project and the nearest single-family residential
development, to the west across Eagle Road and on the other side of the Kleiner's 80-acre parcel
that is zoned C-G and similarly planned for intense mixed use development with 65-foot building
heights allowed. These facts demonstrate that the proposed project site,at the center of The Village
along Eagle and Fairview Roads, is the ideal location for taller buildings.
The Bridge at The Village will have no adverse impact on parking at The Village.
The 90-acre core of The Village at Meridian was approved as part of a larger annexation
and rezone application in 2008.5 The approval was accompanied by a 2008 Development
Agreement with a conceptual site plan. The original approval and development agreement
'Meridian UDC("UDC") § 11-213-2;Development Agreement,recorded on December 9,2008 as Ada County
Instrument No. 108131103,p.58,Exhibit A.2("2008 Development Agreement").
a Staff Report for H-2022-0069,hearing date October 20,2022,pp. 11-12.
5 City of Meridian Findings of Fact,Conclusions of Law and Decision&Order for Case No.AC-07-012 for City
Council Hearing Date of January 8,2008,p. 1.
Page 2
contemplated 973,775 square feet of retail; 135,800 square feet of office; and 209,250 square feet
of multi-family residential uses, with 5,065 parking stalls.6
The 2008 Development Agreement did not require any specific number of parking spaces
but instead required the development to provide the amount of parking required by Meridian's
Uniform Development Code as the project built out.7 At the time of the 2008 Development
Agreement, and still today, the amount of parking required for retail and office uses is one space
per 500 square feet, which means that 2,220 parking spaces were needed to meet the identified
levels of retail and office.$ With a total of 5,065 parking spaces, the original conceptual site plan
included far more parking spaces than needed for the proposed uses,with 2,845 spaces extra above
those needed for retail and office uses that would be available for residential or other parking
needs.9 Notably, the 2008 approval and development agreement encouraged CenterCal to develop
multi-family and vertically integrated residential units, with no cap on these uses.10
Today, The Village's built and planned uses include less retail and office than originally
contemplated in 2008, creating less parking demand. Specifically, the built and planned uses at
The Village total 760,527 square feet of retail (including 115,347 square feet of restaurant uses);
150,077 square feet of office space; and 715 apartments (including a self-parked project called Bri
at The Village, with 166 units, at 2233 North Records Way on a parcel now owned by BVBC
Cadence Village LLC). This level of retail, restaurant, and office use requires 2,052 parking
spaces. Table 1 below demonstrates the changes in non-residential uses and associated required
parking over the evolution of the development.
Non-Residential Square EootaRe Required Parking
Current+ Current +
Original DA Required Original DA
{Ph 1/ Ph 21 Proposed Parking Ratio (Ph 1 /Ph 2) Proposed
Development Development
Retail 973,775 645.150 1/500 sq ft 1947,15 1290.4
Office 135,800 150,077 1/500 sq ft 271.6 300.2
Rdstaurant. 115,347 1/250 sq ft - 461.4
Total 1,209,575 910 5Oq 705Z
Table 1
The available parking has also evolved over time as new pads are developed and also as
new parking is created with structures and internal street frontages. The Village site, with all
current and planned projects, provides 4,589 parking spaces. Less the current (built and planned)
6 2008 Development Agreement,p. 58,Exhibit A.2.
7 See 2008 Development Agreement generally,but also Staff Report attached to the 2008 Development Agreement
and incorporated by reference on page 51 of the 2008 Development Agreement.
8 Restaurant use was not quantified separate from retail uses in the 2008 Development Agreement.
9 CenterCal amended the concept plan with a Development Agreement Addendum in 2011,which included
essentially the same estimated levels of retail and office as the 2008 Development Agreement.A second addendum
was recorded in 2012 but is not relevant to this application.
10 2008 Development Agreement, Section 5.2,and Staff Report attached to the Agreement and incorporated by
reference on page 37.
Page 3
non-residential use parking demand of 2,052, this leaves 2,537 extra spaces that are available to
serve The Bridge project and all uses.'1
As summarized in Table 2 below,the parking required for The Bridge project is 650 spaces
under the code in effect at the time the application was filed in September 2022,12 or 707 spaces
under the code adopted by the City effective November 1, 2022. Under Idaho law, the parking
requirements that apply to this application are those in the city code in effect at the time of
submission.13 Even under the new ordinance,the site has more than enough parking for the project.
City Code at Time of City Code as of Nov.1,
Application 2022
Residential Number Ratio I Ratio
Studio 107 units 1.0* I 107 spaces 1.0 I 107 spaces
1 BD 328 units 1.0 328 spaces 1.0 328 spaces
2 BD 114 units 1.0 114 spaces 1.5 171 spaces
Residential
Subtotal 549 units 549 spaces 606 spaces
Retail 18,878 SF** 1:500 38 spaces 1:500 38 spaces
Restaurant 15,669 SF** 1:250 63spaces 1:250 63spaces
Non-
Residential 34,547 SF 101 spaces 101 spaces
Subtotal
Total
Required 650 spaces 707 spaces
Parking
Parking Garage 600
734spaces 734spaces
Provided Frontage 134
*The prior Code does not include any parking requirement for studios in
vertically-integrated residential;we assume 1 space to be conservative.
** Numbers reflect assumed future uses.
Table 2
The Bridge project is providing 734 parking spaces-600 structured parking spaces plus
134 frontage spaces. The project includes 84 more spaces than required under Code at the time the
application was filed, and 27 more spaces than required under the amended Code.
Given the 4,589 parking spaces at The Village to serve all uses, and a current parking
demand of only 2,052 spaces to serve non-residential uses,The Village continues to have sufficient
excess parking with The Bridge's parking demand. Conservatively using the new Code
" The Bri at The Village is self-parked and does not contribute to or use the available shared parking of 4,589
spaces.
12 UDC § 11-3C-6(prior to November 1,2022).
13 Ben Lomond,Inc. v. City ofldaho Falls,92 Idaho 595 (1968).
Page 4
requirement of 707, The Village including The Bridge still has an excess 1,830 parking spaces
over the parking required for all built and planned uses.
Conclusion
We will be prepared to present additional details regarding this request at the Council
hearing. In light of this information, we urge you to overrule the decision of the Planning and
Zoning Commission and to approve the application for a conditional use permit for The Bridge at
The Village. We appreciate your consideration.
Sincerely,
Lance Blackwood
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