Meridian is making comprehensive long-range plans ahead of development rather than playing catch-up
By Hilary Costa - hcosta@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 05/21/07
Meridian officials have a plan they're confident will bring developers to the city.
The comprehensive Ten Mile Interchange Specific Area Plan is an extremely detailed document laying out what future development should look like in the area surrounding the planned Interstate 84 interchange at Ten Mile Road.
Open fields still dominate the landscape there, but once the interchange is built (construction is expected to begin in 2009), the region is expected to boom with retail, residential and commercial developments.
"Will they come? I think they will," said Pete Friedman, a planner with the city.
The Meridian Planning Department will present the Ten Mile plan to City Council Tuesday night. If approved, it would be added to the city's Comprehensive Plan, which dictates land uses within the city.
The Ten Mile plan is a highly detailed proposal more than a year and nearly $100,000 in the making. It began with open house public meetings last summer and included a four-day planning summit called a charette, which brought representatives from the Valley's major transportation and municipal agencies together to lay out the future of the Ten Mile area. Friedman said about 700 people were involved in the process.
It has gone through multiple hearings at the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, which recommended its approval, prior to tomorrow's council hearing.
The plan that will go to council outlines a 2,798-acre area of new commercial and residential development, with a heavy focus on mixed-use neighborhoods.
The plan allows for single-family homes but emphasizes denser housing blocks ranging from apartments to townhouses, with built-in or nearby commercial uses that would encourage residents to live near where they work and walk most places they need to go.
At full build-out, the area would support more than 30,000 employees, according to city documents.
The plan also designates an upscale lifestyle center retail/commercial development, concentrated areas for industrial operations, park space and civic buildings.
To make the area come together as they envision it, city officials will have to work with the Ada County Highway District to plan roadways ahead of development, Friedman said, instead of playing catch-up to meet the transportation needs created by a new neighborhood or shopping district.
"We know developments going to move that way," Friedman said. "We just wanted to get in front of it."
Meridian has been accused in the past of allowing more growth than its network of rural, two-lane roads can handle.
The area also spans the current rail corridor, which city officials hope will one day house a light rail system connecting Caldwell to Downtown Boise.
The Ten Mile plan differs from anything the city has done before in that it relies heavily on design review guidelines. That means that once the city adopts certain design standards, it will have a legal basis to dictate how new buildings will look, down to the placement of windows on a store or the type of siding that goes on a condominium complex.
David Turnbull, president of Brighton Corporation, said he owns 120 acres of land within the Ten Mile area that the plan designates for mixed-use commercial, lifestyle center and high-density office uses.
Turnbull said design guidelines will help protect his investment because all surrounding development will be held to the same high standards.
Turnbull has been involved in the Ten Mile planning process from the beginning, and said there are still a lot of details to be worked out as it goes forward.
"It's nice to have kind of a blank slate of undeveloped property, and you can actually get some coordinated development plans going," Turnbull said.
• LDR: Low-density residential with a mix of lot sizes and a predominance of single-family homes.
• MDR: Medium-density residential of relatively low density with mostly single-family and two-unit homes. Also some three- to four-unit apartment buildings and community facilities such as libraries and schools.
• MHDR: Medium-high density residential with multi-family housing and community facilities, offices and smaller retail businesses.
• HDR: High-density residential with multi-family housing in larger and taller apartment buildings. At least 16 to 25 units per acre. Also retail/service businesses to serve residents.
• MUR: Mixed-use residential. Live-work units strongly encouraged.
• MUC: Mixed-use commercial with office, retail, recreational and employment uses with attached multi-family or single-family units.
• Lifestyle center: Upscale retail, professional services, offices, retail, civic services and residential. Outdoor format designed for pedestrians with open-air gathering spaces.
• LDR: Low-density office space for professional services and similar businesses. No retail.
• HDE: High-density employment for office, research and specialized businesses. No retail.
• Mixed employment: Office, research, light industrial. Retail designed to serve employees.
• Industrial: Typical industrial and manufacturing businesses. Not located near residential areas.By Hilary Costa
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