Public Testimony 4/1/13~a~~
Machelle Hill
From: Bill Parsons
Sent: Monday, April 01, 2013 12:07 PM
To: Machelle Hill
Cc: Caleb Hood; Sonya Watters
Subject: Public testimony for UDC Text Amendment on 3/23/13 CC MTG
Attachments: scanner@gmail.com_20130326_164330.pdf; 12-210 Carport Letter.doc
Machelle,
Attached are two letters of support for the UDC text amendment (reduction to the nu-nber of carports) for the April 23rd
CC meeting.
Thanks,
Bill Parsons, AICP
Associate City Planner
Community Development Department
33 E. Broadway Avenue
Meridian, Idaho 83642
PHONE: (208) 884-5533
FAX: (208) 888-6854
bparsons@meridiancity.org
From: Matt Swain [mailto:mswain@perryhomesutah.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 3:11 PM
To: Bill Parsons
Subject:
Bill,
Please find attached letter of support for the new code amendment referring to a change in the covered parking
ratio. Please let me know if there is anything else we can do.
Thanks,
Matthew T. Swain, MRED
Perry & Associates
Director of Commercial Development
17 East Winchester St., Suite 200
Murray, Utah 84107
Cell (801) 554-6905
Office (801) 264-8800
mswain ~perrycommercialproperties.com
~~1 Perry & Associates, Inc.
March 26, 2013
Bill Parsons, AICP
Associate City Planner, Meridian City
Community Development Department
33 E. Broadway Avenue
Meridian, Idaho 83642
RE: Covered Parkine Code Amendment
Dear Bill,
We as a company wanted to write you a fetter of support for the proposed code amendment that would
lessen the number of required parking stalls within multifamily developments. As you know, we are
planning on developing a community of 276 units within Meridian City. We discussed numerous times
with you, during the initial entitlement process, of our concern over the ratio of required covered
parking stalls to units. We have developed and currently own and manage a portfolio of over 1.400 units
of multifamily. Many of these units are located in Boise and Idaho falls. We also manage many units in
the Salt Lake market. None of the areas in which we have built have required such a large amount of
covered parking stalls. Even in the Saft Lake market, which has much more severe weather than does
Meridian, the ratio is almost half of what Meridian City current code outlines. We believe there are
some very sound planning policies behind this rationale.
First, we have found that car ports detract significantly from the aesthetics of any project. Due to their
profile and interface with the residents, they block much of the landscaping and architecture that we
work so hard to create. They detract from an open living atmosphere and view corridors throughout the
project. Second, we believe that they are an amenity for residents. Being an amenity should allow
residents the opportunity~to decide to pay for the amenity or not. We have found that there is a small
portion of residents that willingly pay for the use of a car port. Due to this, Meridian City's current code
forces developers to pass on these costs in the farm of higher rents which puts Meridian City at a
disadvantage to compete against neighboring communities to attract residents that may be able to get a
like kind unit for a cheaper price.
We strongly urge the City Council to consider the real impact of the current code and amend the code to
dramatically diminish the required amount of covered stalls. We appreciate your consideration.
Sincerely, ,
r
Matt Swain
Director of Commercial Development
Perry & Associates
17 East Winchester St., Suite 200 Murray, Utah 84107. {801) 264-8800
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Date: March 26, 2013
To: Bill Parsons, Associate City Planner
Planning Department
City of Meridian
33 E. Broadway, Suite 210
Meridian, Idaho 83642
Subject: Proposed changes to covered parking requirements
Mr. Parsons,
499 Main Street
Boise, ID 83702
(208)343-2931
www.taoidaho.com
From: John Price, project architect
It is my understanding that the City of Meridian is considering modifications to the zoning ordinance
requirements for covered parking for multifamily housing projects. I would like to give you my thoughts
on this issue. Our architectural office has designed thousands of multifamily residential units in the last
20 years, both in the Treasure Valley and in many of the surrounding states. In our experience,
Meridian's requirements for covered parking far exceed those we see in most cities that we have designed
projects in. While single family and duplex homes often require covered parking, it is unusual to have
covered parking requirements for larger multifamily projects in most cities. The few times that we have
seen covered parking required, it typically amounts to no more than one covered space per unit.
We recently designed The Fields at Gramercy Apartment project in Meridian, which had 50% 1-bedroom
units and 50% 2-bedroom units. For this project, the covered parking count was 1.5 covered spaces per
unit. This works out to 85% of the spaces being covered and 15% of the spaces being uncovered. The
large number of covered parking spaces has a negative impact on the overall feel and design of these
projects, since the garages/carports clutter the site visually and make the site feel cramped. The
carports/garages also make access to the buildings by the fire department more difficult. The Meridian
Fire Department has been very helpful in working with us to allow the carports between fire truck lanes
and the buildings, but the carports do compromise the fire department's access.
My suggestion is to eliminate the requirement for covered parking completely. Covered parking can have
some benefit in extremely hot or cold climates, but that is not a real issue in this area. The requirements
for covered parking on multifamily sites should be driven by the market and developer of the project. In
higher quality market rate projects, the developer will usually provide one covered space per dwelling
unit since that is what is required to compete in the market. For lower income or subsidized multifamily
projects, the developer should have the option to reduce or eliminate the covered parking as a way to
compete in the market and offer lower rents.
Sincerely,
John Price, The Architects Office PLLC