2024-05-06 Julie Langlois
Charlene Way
From:J. Langlois <julie@rustler.farm>
Sent:Monday, May 6, 2024 9:05 AM
To:City Clerk
Subject:Burnside Ridge Estates 2023-0055
External Sender - Please use caution with links or attachments.
Mayor and City Council,
We in Stetson Estates have been advocating for southwest Meridian since 2019 during
the Comprehensive Plan changes. Although we were not able to retain the rural designation or
get more generous open space requirements, we, as do many of the residents who commented in
the MyMeridian Vision survey, are still hopeful that southwest Meridian can maintain some of the
historic, cultural and rural openness that at one time made Meridian so livable. I
was disappointed at the approval of Windrow subdivision as it certainly does not “raise the bar”
for annexed property in southwest Meridian. Windrow will create exactly what the
Comprehensive Plan warns against, “….a maze of monotonous expansion."
I would like to compliment David Young and Darcie Dill for their continued efforts to solve the
problems which the proposed subdivision creates for Stetson Estates. Mr. Young attended the
neighborhood meetings, answered our questions and was candid about his plans for
Burnside. Darcie met with all the neighbors individually whose homes would be impacted by
Burnside and worked diligently at creating an acceptable transition as city meets country. The City
of Meridian is coming to our back door, we are not coming to the city. As we have shown the
council previously, we raise animals and food on our properties, have large burn piles, discharge
firearms and slaughter and process our animals in our pastures (no photos this time).
One of the problems we foresee is the remote area Burnside will create at the west end of their
10’ regional pathway which will run alongside the Calkins lateral. This pathway ends at our
private property, the north/south Givens lateral easement. Our 30' easement contains one of our
Stetson Estates pumps and the Weir Box for the laterals. It will be a dark and remote place,
perfect for shenanigans. The Burnside pathway also invites people to continue their walk onto
our property north to Victory. We are asking that a barrier and signage to be placed at the end of
the Burnside pathway which ends at our property. We would like this to be part of the DA, and
that no city department or city staff, at any time in the process, cancel this part of the DA.
I am going to repeat what I said in the letter I sent to the
council regarding MU in February. W hen neighbors are sent a neighborhood
meeting notification for a project to be built nearby, a four day in hand notification is
disrespectful of our time and advantages developers. Four days does not give residents
time to do any research or due diligence on projects that developers have spent years
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working on. I understand there are 3 neighborhood meetings, but my point remains that 4
days is not enough time to plan for a meeting with such long lasting implications.
I am also, again, advocating for the privacy of residents giving testimony. 20 years ago when
residents came before council, only the people in the room would hear their address, now those
addresses are instantaneously broadcast world-wide. Meridian can do better.
"Public Access Opinion 14-009 recently established that a public body cannot require
a person to disclose his or her address during the public comment portion of an open
meeting. This binding opinion, published on September 4, 2014, serves as a warning
to public bodies that its actions will be carefully examined for violating the Open
Meetings Act ("OMA"), 5 ILCS 120/3.5 (West 2012)."
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/public-bodies-prohibited-requiring-community-
members-to-disclose-address-public-comm
Lastly, I am requesting that the Burnside application be moved up on Tuesday evening's overlarge
agenda.
Thank you,
Julie Langlois
ADA County resident
P.S. Isn’t the “Letter of Cooperation" from 2022, which was added on 4/23/24, unique to the
2022 packet? Why was only that taken from the 2022 application and added to the current
packet as it is no longer relevant? It was also received after the June 7, 2022 hearing for Burnside.
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