Letter by Wendal Martin & Ann Hutchinson 2/28/14 PZFeb 28, 2014
Wendell Martin
Anne Hutchinson
3404 N Private Ln
Meridian, ID 83646
Re: PP 14-001 Preliminary Plat for Heritage Grove Subdivision
To members of the Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission:
We would like to submit these written comments regarding the proposed Plat for
the Heritage Grove Subdivision. We are the owners of the 5 acre property due
west of the proposed development and will share approximately 600 feet of
property line with the development. We were unable to attend the
"neighborhood meeting" held on January 14th due to the short notice given -less
than 1 week- as we had made other plans. An attempt to obtain additional
meeting materials via an email request to Tucker Johnson was not responded to.
We have two specific concerns about the proposed development:
1) We feel 120 homes are excessive for this development given traffic volume and
quality of life for a neighborhood of single family homes.
2) We see no reason to help pay for a fence on the western edge of the
development per the comment in the proposal "...we will work with neighbors to
retain or replace the fencing and share in the costs according to the Idaho Code".
Perimeter fences are traditionally paid for entirely by the developers.
Detailed descriptions of the above two concerns:
1) We would like to remind the commissioners that the original R-15 zoning was
approved for a project by the name of Chateau Marseilles on the same site. This
was for 120 units (four-plex and duplex units) to be occupied by owners age 55
and over. The current proposal for 120 single family units is very different for two
reasons. First, with single family homes traffic into and out of the subdivision will
much higher since families with children spend much more time running errands,
taking children to school, etc. than the age 55 and over demographic. This will
result in much more traffic through the existing Wanda's Meadow and Heritage
Park subdivisions than the previous proposal. More traffic equals a less safe
neighborhood. Second, from a quality of life standpoint and Meridian's "parks"
emphasis, this proposal should have more park and walkway space and not less
than the Chateau Marseilles proposal. The assumption here is that families with
children have a need for more park and walkway space than a 55 and over
community. The only way to achieve more park and walkway space is to reduce
the total number of homes potentially by eliminating the two alley-loaded home
areas and replacing them with standard-width streets, regular sized home lots
and parks.
2) We have lived on this acreage here in Meridian for over 20 years and have
watched both the Grant's Place and Heritage Park subdivisions built. We have
never been asked to share in the costs of the fences between our property and
these developments. Hence, we were surprised to see that the Heritage Grove
developers would approach us to share in the costs of the fencing. The Chateau
Marseilles proposal was for astamped-concrete fence paid for by the developer.
Perimeter fences are a requirement for new subdivisions and usually developers
attempt to minimize their impact on the neighbors financially. It's hard to see why
the neighbors would contribute to the profits of the developers. In addition, we
would request that the fence be built at the beginning of the development during
Phase 1 as opposed to the last Phase 4. Our experience with the Heritage Park
and Grants Place developments was that construction debris was blown by the
wind into our property. Without an adequate fence from the start we will again
experience excessive wind-blown debris into our property from this development.
We ask that the commission reject this proposal and require that the developer
return with a plan with fewer homes, more parks and walkways and a fencing
plan that doesn't require a financial outlay from the neighbors.
We will be unable to attend the hearing on March 6 due to other commitments
but request that this written testimony be considered the same as an oral
testimony.
Thank you,
Wendell Martin
Anne Hutchinson ~'~
V
L~
a~-1~~ '