Help Stop Irresponsible Development on Warm Springs!

To:       Boise Mayor, Boise City Council Boise Planning and Zoning Commission Planning & Development Services Director Planning Division Director Public Works Cc:  ACHD Commissioners, Idaho Fish and Game, Army Corp of Engineers Re:  PUD17-00007, CAR17-00004 Rezone - Public Opposition (125 Unit apartment complex proposed at Proposed Apartment Property). In the spirit of making Boise the ‘most livable city’, We, the undersigned Neighbors and the Concerned East Boise Citizens Group, are submitting a petition in opposition of the rezone and proposed use of the subject property to build an apartment complex, which includes: 24-hour access onsite management office, clubhouse, complex-wide lighting, and 179 parking spaces, metal carport awnings, limited guest/visitor parking (creating overflow issues), (12) commercial trash/recycle dumpsters and 4’-6’ high wrought iron fencing along the southern property boundary. See Detailed Apartment Elevations. The proposal is not compatible with the Comprehensive Plan (BluePrint Boise), the Barber Valley Specific Plan goals outlined in the Barber Valley Planning Area Policies (BV-CCN1, BV-CCN2, BV-CCN3, and BV-C1, BV-C2, BV-NC1) and the Specific Plan for Harris Ranch (SP01), which state to 'use the adopted specific plans for Harris Ranch and Barber Valley as a policy basis for properties outside Harris Ranch and the Barber Valley' for the following reasons: Developer is requesting rezone from A-1 (1 unit/acre) to R-2 (14.5 units/acre) - an out-of-context rezone to allow for a multi-family residential apartment complex in an incompatible residential area. Subject Property is surrounded on 3 sides by low density, single-family homes (equivalent zoning of R-1B). SP01 Master Plan - by careful design, planned for high-density housing along the Park Center commuting corridor and Barber Station, not along E. Warm Springs Ave and Barber Road. SPO1 design has 1500 apartment units already planned and entitled in its master plan. SP02 also allows for high-density and multi-family apartments along the Park Center area. Clearly the 125 additional apartments are not needed! Adjacent developed subdivisions set an established precedence - Antelope Springs and Privada, both came into the City with the very same grand-fathered legacy Commercial land use designation (when these properties operated small-time family businesses, in Ada County) as the “old Duesman Farm”. All 3 of these original parcels came into the City with the same land use designation. Both subdivisions were recently approved by City Council to equivalent zoning of R-1B (4 units/acre), and are very compatible with the surrounding development and zoning that aligns well with SP01. Legacy Commercial land use designation - is outdated for the property, given surrounding developed context. The designation for this property needs to be amended in the Comprehensive Plan. When SP01 and SP02 were adopted, the planned Commercial corridor relocated to a better, well-designed area with clustered high-density residential surrounding the corridor. The proposed apartment complex is not following the intent of aligning adjacent properties with SP01, and most importantly, is not the highest and best use of the property. 830+ vehicle Apartment ingress/egress traffic - with only one private-road access onto Warm Springs Avenue, a narrow, minor arterial, and is not designed for high-traffic volume or speeds (in front of proposed apartment complex. The estimated generated 830+ vehicle trips/day will increase traffic volume heading west onto Historic Warm Springs. Increased Warm Springs Traffic -  More Developments Coming! – More Traffic towards downtown and/or cause a nuisance level of traffic and pedestrians on the Warm Springs/Barber Road area, to the south and east. Historic Warm Springs will be inundated with an additional 830+ vehicle traffic from the proposed 125-unit Apartment Complex. Other new developments, recently approved Warm Springs Village (60+ more homes), new phase El Paseo (18+ more homes), and future phases of El Paseo (180+ more homes), plus other smaller developments in the works for the Mesa Foothills, will feed an alarming amount of traffic onto Historic Warm Springs! Increased Public Safety Concerns - including, but not limited to, evacuating 179 vehicles in the event of natural or man-made disasters. Bi-directional traffic congestion on Warm Springs - (fronting the 668 feet of the property), will increase public safety relative to school and retail access, pedestrian and recreational access, wildlife access and emergency services. No Connectivity Provisions - proposed for access to the Boise Greenbelt, Ridge-to-Rivers, Harris Ranch property to the south, new proposed Albertsons or elementary schools. Not adhering to Barber Valley Connectivity Goal BV-C2. (Note: A sidewalk along the north boundary of the property, pathways to Antelope Springs, or the Dallas Harris Estates mailcenter, does not constitute connectivity). Animals Trapped within Perimeter Fencing - Developer indicated they will provide fencing on 3 sides of the complex. There will be increased danger to wildlife (and humans) trapped by the boundary fencing, especially in a fire emergency. There is a higher potential for vehicle/deer collisions from the deer trekking thru Privada crossing Warm Springs Ave due to speeding traffic in this area. Small Wildlife Corridor - The proposed 50’ wide Wildlife Corridor (along west property boundary) nor the propose complex open space, is not nearly enough open space for wildlife for the apartment building/vehicle density. There should be no pedestrian walking paths within wildlife corridors. Wetlands Destruction - proposal includes elimination and “cover up” of existing wetlands utilizing the wetlands mitigation bank and compacted fill. Questionable fill already exists in the general southern area of the property. Using/purchasing extensive wetlands bank credit(s) will compromise the sensitive topography of the site. De-watering issues are concerning during excavation with heavy construction equipment trekking on saturated wetlands ground. Noise Pollution due to Long-Term Construction Life-Cycle - Construction equipment containment onsite is also very concerning to the Neighbors due to the land-locked nature of the site, and the Harris Ranch ponds below. Construction Parking, Neighborhood-Overflow Parking – Neighbors are wondering if all parking will be kept onsite, neighbors do not want contractor parking offsite, filtering thru the neighborhood, creating security concerns. Storm-Water Containment Onsite – Due to the complex geometry of the site, and the natural sloped grade, how effective is the onsite containment, given the property is entirely land-locked, with no natural drainage access to the Boise River. The Harris Ranch ponds exist directly adjacent to the southern boundary of the property. Lots of apartment roof-tops and roadways create extensive run-off that is challenging to contain and disposed of onsite. Increased Night-time Light Pollution - the design, development and dense apartment population will increase sky-glow and decreased night sky access, and negatively impact nocturnal environments. The project does not follow BV Goal BV-CNN 1.2 (Protection of Night Skies) nor is Dark-Sky compliant with a 24-hour onsite management office, vehicle traffic and complex parking lights. In summary, the Community is not adverse to well-planned, responsible growth, and welcome development to the Barber Valley area, including this land parcel. We believe that all development should be appropriate and compatible with the area plan and its immediate neighbors. In the previous Commercial use, the Duesman family used to operate a small honey bee farm and sell honey to neighbors. In this capacity, its Commercial use was never an issue, it fit in well with the neighborhood context, and received no complaints. A similar (like-kind) use would not be opposed, nor would the neighbors oppose to a change in use and development that is similar to the surrounding residential developments. We are adamantly opposed to a Rezone Application request to allow for the construction of a high-density residential apartment complex that is NOT appropriate or compatible with the area and creates many serious concerns that have not been properly addressed by the developer proposal. Contrary to the submitted letter of intent, though the developer held pre-application required meetings prior to submittal to P&Z with the nearby Neighborhood Associations, and adjacent property neighbors, the developer did not 'take the responsible approach' as stated in the letter. The developer did not work with the neighbors to come to some form of agreement or compromise, nor did the developer explicitly solicit or obtain input that was used to create the current design, nor factor in any meaningful density changes or concerns that were stongly voiced by the neighbors.  As one very successful, local Barber Valley developer recently quoted in the Idaho Statesman newspaper, “You’ve got a sophisticated community there,”, “You’ve got to understand them. You’ve got to embrace them. You’ve got to be a good corporate citizen. You need to do all three” - from IdahoStatesman Link. We would like to see responsible single-family home ownership in this area. We strongly believe that if this rezone application is approved, it will set a negative land-grab precedence for remaining small acreage undeveloped Barber Valley parcels, as developers will continue to seize the same opportunity to build high-density apartments in areas where neither SP01 or SP02 planned for – and create high-density urban blight in an area that is known for its high-quality of live and natural beauty. As a Community, we are signing this petition, and will continue to voice our concerns to Planning and Zoning (refer to written testimonies Set 1 and Set 2), but are fully aware that the final authority rests with you, the Mayor and City Council.  Thank you sincerely for your consideration. Barber Valley and East Boise Neighbors, Concerned East Boise Citizens Group EastBoiseConcernedCitizens@gmail.com