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1 Star City Council Meeting Minutes April 18, 2017 The regular meeting of the Star City Council was held on April 18, 2017 at 7:00 pm at the Star City Hall, 10769 W. State Street, Star, Idaho. Mayor Chad Bell called the meeting to order and all stood for the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call: Councilmen David Hershey, Richard Lockett, Trevor Chadwick and Kevin Nielsen were all present. Approval of the Agenda: Lockett moved to approve the agenda, Chadwick seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Consent Agenda: Lockett moved to approve the Consent Agenda consisting of: Regular Meeting Minutes of April 4, 2017, Craftsman Subdivision Final Plat, Phase II, Liquor License Approvals for: El Mariachi Loco, Helina Marie’s and The Rusty Cup, Chadwick seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Old/New Business: Request from “Concerned Citizens of Star” for Reconsideration – The Mayor stated the City received a letter from the Eagle Law Center, LLC, requesting a review of the Council’s decision on the S. Springs Rezone with Development Agreements application. The Mayor turned the discussion over to City Legal Counsel, Chris Yorgason. Yorgason explained that requests for reconsideration are allowed in the Unified Development Code and does allow for reconsiderations to be submitted upon final decision of the Council, but prior to Findings. The request must be from an affected party which could be the property owner, the applicant or anyone that has given testimony at the public hearing. The letter starts out asking for a review by the administrator. The decision that was made two weeks ago was not an administrative decision; review by staff is not legal. The letter states at the bottom, the code specifics. The Code has four standards for reconsideration: The requesting party must have been party in the underlying action; the request must be in writing no later than seven days after the Council action, the group has met the timing requirement; the request must state a basis for the request. In the letter it raised issues about adverse effects on their property, traffic, failure of the City to follow Code and the letter refers to the Pachner letter. All of this is good and fine. However, the fourth standard is the applicant making the request must include relevant information not previously presented and brought up at the meeting. The fourth standard has not been met. The consideration is that Council consider the request at the next regular meeting and the requesting party does not have to be present. The requesting party will not have an opportunity to testify nor will the Council ask for testimony. This is just for the Council’s decision. If it is denied, then at the next meeting the findings would be adopted. If Council approves, the party has 10 days to pay the fee and if not paid by then, the reconsideration will be revoked. If approved, there will be a brand new public hearing and there has to be new information. When Yorgason reads their letter, there is nothing in the letter that states they have ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 new information or relevant information to present to the Council. They did raise issues, but nothing that was not already presented at the public hearing. As a result, I don’t think the City has legal grounds to consider the reconsideration. If it is approved, a fifteen day notice is required for a public hearing. It would probably be six weeks before it is heard. Whether you approve or deny – there is still an appeal of your decision. It then goes to court. Nielsen stated it also says it should include the name of the party and address. Yorgason stated they do not have the group address, but this is not a technical defect. Chadwick asked what the public hearing would look like. Yorgason stated that because it is based on new information, it may be a short hearing. It should only focus on new information that was not presented before. New information that had Council known, they might have made a different decision. Chadwick asked if the new information should be in the letter. Yorgason read the code, the word “must” is mandatory. Mayor stated the decision tonight is whether or not we will consider granting or denying the reconsideration. Chadwick stated that based on what Yorgason is saying the letter does not include any new information. We can’t legally approve the reconsideration. Chadwick moved to deny the request for reconsideration based on legal findings and our City Code as no new information has been provided, Nielsen seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Public Hearing – Pinewood Lakes Villas – The Mayor will explained the public hearing requirements. Everyone will adhere to the rules of the hearing. Applicant will start, staff will provide any additional information, public input will be taken and will be kept to three and a half minutes. The Mayor stated that we would take a few minutes break to allow the audience to leave. The meeting resumed. The Mayor stated the applicant will have the opportunity to rebut and after that, the public hearing will be closed. The Mayor asked the Council for any ex parte contact or conflicts of interest. Hershey stated that he lives in Pinewood Lakes and has not talked to anyone about this application and does not live in the impact area. Yorgason stated he has no issues. Chadwick stated that he also lives in Pinewood Lakes and has received an email from the President of the HOA. Yorgason stated that Chadwick is okay as well. The Mayor opened the public hearing and asked the Applicant to speak. Applicant – Jeremy Telford, 2048 W. Astonte Street, Meridian, stated he is the owner and manager of the Arte Investment Group. He showed a picture of his family which is the Executive Group. He is ---PAGE BREAK--- 3 presenting this application and showed a picture depicting “the elephant in the room”. Telford showed a picture of the proposed development. He has talked with the residents regarding the number of units, parking, residential along State Street, a separate HOA, a landscape maintenance agreement and not having walkable commercial. The irrigation capacity has been resolved. He did consider the four-plex idea, but it doesn’t make sense to put residential along State Street, so he transitioned the residential to the internal side. He looked at commercial along State Street. He is proposing twenty individual townhomes. He is a fan of townhomes, but doesn’t like blocks of townhomes; it is also a consideration for the fire department. Telford showed pictures of Harris Ranch, the internal buildings, the floor plans are similar and each building is developed separately. They will have built in ovens, cooktops and counters will be granite. There is a private service driveway for vehicles of these units; current residents will only see the fronts of the units. Telford is proposing twenty foot deep driveways at each home, plus each home will have two car garages. Surprise Valley homes were shown with twenty foot driveways. The fronts proposed, thirty to thirty-two foot setbacks from Barclay Bay and then sidewalks as compared to the patio homes that have twenty foot setbacks in Pinewood Lakes. Telford tried to show the separation between homes and landscape buffers and sidewalk. They would have a fifty-two foot setback, if the twenty foot was approved. The parking solutions include no parking along Highbrook and Barkley. The homes have two car garages along with parking for an additional two parking spaces. There are eighty onsite parking spaces, and 32 additional spaces on the street. This exceeds code. The sewer pump station will be tied to residential zoning. The commercial will be on the outside of the development. They are proposing 7.2 units per acre compared to 7.5 in the patio homes. The Milligan’s Day Care is not a part of the application. They may ask to open more commercial lots to make five commercial lots. The zoning exception is for a three foot setback, it is thirty-two feet from the street. Lastly, as part of the development, they are looking at residential service type commercial along State Street and Highbrook. They are looking for medical, dental or even restaurant types of business. Telford has no commitment for any commercial. The models reflected in the pictures are to size. There may be a credit union as well. The other pad is for medical/dental office types and Telford has spoken with a dentist. St. Lukes might also be interested. The larger pad could be for a big box store and he has created flexibility. Telford has worked with Michael Keyes on the Pinewood HOA Board and they have agreed to have the Villas be a part of the Pinewood Lakes Community. Telford will provided money for amenities, they also have shared sidewalks throughout the community. Benefits to the Pinewood Lakes Community will be architectural control of the Villas, a unified HOA maintenance & parking enforcement, initial capital contribution to the Pinewood Lakes HOA to become a part of the HOA for amenities. It will also provide additional HOA dues. The neighbors will benefit by restaurants, retail, and professional lots. The Villas are designed to be owner occupied townhomes. They have also solved the traffic solution by bringing kids closer to Day Care, and brings the “dirt entrance era” to an end. ---PAGE BREAK--- 4 The Mayor asked if Council had any questions. Hearing none, the Mayor asked Staff for additional input. Staff - Ward stated she had received a letter from US Fish & Wildlife stating that Council should deny the application. Ward contacted Mr. Kiebler letting him know he may not have the correct address for the development. Mr. Kiebler stated that he would have to get back to her at a later time, but has not responded. Chris Yorgason stated that in referencing the executive order in Kiebler’s letter means that all federal agencies are to avoid adverse effects on waterways. It is more of a directive that federal agency’s should not affect the flood plain and doesn’t believe the executive order complies. Public Input - Michael Keyes, 228 S. Long Bay Way, Star, read a letter into the record. (See attached) John Turnipseed, 11725 W. Caribee, Star, stated he couldn’t resist - he hopes that nobody goes into cardiac arrest over his approval. The development does meet the criteria and Mr. Telford was open and honest in working with the HOA. He recommends approval. Michael Traficante, 201 S. Selwood Way, Star, asked Council if they need anything else in their toolbox to approve this application; he ask that this be approved. Gary Smith, 258 S. Langer Lake Way, Star, stated that if you had a heart attack with the previous approval, you would surely have one with his approval. He complimented the HOA board and Telford. He was in opposition to the previous development as it was not harmonious with the subdivision. Telford sat for two hours with Smith; and Smith has sat through four of Telford’s presentations. He watched and observed. He is here in support of this project. What he likes is the workable solution and Telford came forward and worked with the community, the other development were boxes and Telford brought forward something that really fits. These will be owner/occupied and that was a big thing to the Pinewood Lakes HOA, it will be part of the HOA. He is in favor of this project and it is a good project in Star and an example of how to do projects in Star. Harry Ostenpenco, 627 N. Paddington Place, Star, stated he lives in Saddlebrook, arrived here four years ago. He is a hiker and that brought him to Boise, he likes it a lot. Four years ago traffic was light, things have changed. At the Meridian intersection he used to be fourth in line. He is concerned about infrastructure. He believes there should be a moratorium put in place until development catches up. He has friends in Meridian that can’t go anywhere. Applicant rebuttal – Telford stated that he didn’t bribe anyone. He lives in Meridian and this application did not hit the threshold of requiring a traffic study. Council - Nielsen asked how the parking along Highbrook and Barkley Bay will be regulated. It is in the development agreement and ACHD will post it. It is just a request. Telford has no objection to people getting towed. The other consideration it is twenty-one feet on Barkley Bay, ---PAGE BREAK--- 5 it goes to on street parking, but it is past the development. The application has plenty of parking spaces. The Mayor declared the public hearing closed and moved to deliberations. Lockett stated he liked to see the developer working with the community. Chadwick felt it is a good representative of what we want with residential in the middle and commercial to the outside. Thank you for working with the community. It is a quality project. Hershey had nothing to add. Hershey moved to approve File #RZ-DA-01 & PP-17-01 with all the conditions of approval, Lockett seconded the motion. Question, the posting of no parking, it will be requested. All ayes: motion carried unanimously. The Mayor stated we are making an effort to purchase a better sound system for the meeting room and a system was purchased for outside use. Request for Consideration – Soccer Fields – The Mayor explained a developer is willing to donate two soccer fields and he is willing to build the facilities, with the cost being taken off his lots in impact fees. The question is do we want and need these fields. Lockett asked how many lots for impact fees. The Mayor stated it will depend on how much the development will cost. Is there rooms for restrooms on the site? Yes. It is located in the Fallbrook Subdivision. We will need to make room for parking. The developer is willing to make the offer. Nielsen asked if it affects their open space. No and there is a drainage field right next to it. Council can look at the property and then decide later. Nielsen would like to put a plan together for park and open space. The Council could go and view the property as a special meeting or can look at it individually. The Mayor stated that we are reformatting our meetings. Some people are noticing that the public input was not on tonight’s agenda. We will be putting public input on the first meeting of the month and land use items will be at the second meeting. Committee reports will be at the first meeting of the month along with the Police Chief’s report. It will be more efficient. We will continue to have public input, but only at the first of the month. Reports: Staff - Chief Vogt stated he had two things: one is concern about the river. He wants to reassure citizens the Army Corp has their thumb on the flooding and it is a balancing act, they have done a tremendous job. They are projecting mid-June for this high level of water. They have sensors along the river along with cameras. Everything is being done that can be done. An old gravel pit ---PAGE BREAK--- 6 was re-enforced along with shoring up the river bank. Second is, as temperatures go up vehicle burglaries go up, please close garage doors at night and please make sure to lock your cars. Chadwick stated they are releasing water this weekend. The Chief stated the rooster tail at Lucky Peak will be on, it is expected we won’t have an influx of water due to irrigation. Council – Hershey stated the Activities Committee is meeting on Thursday. They will have a report. Chadwick stated the Beautification Committee did the walkability study. He has some things to work on. He is walking gingerly from laying sod at the skate park; the grand opening is from two to four on Saturday. Nielsen asked if the Mayor will be on a skateboard. The Mayor stated that he would on the 32nd of the month. Mayor – The Mayor thanked the community for helping with the sod and thanked the Chamber for the Easter Egg Hunt. He attended the TVP meeting, they had three generals at the meeting and they presented to the Mayors of the valley, they are trying to land the F-35’s to come to the valley to replace the loss of the A-10s. It is a huge economic value to the State. They are the fifth largest employer in the State. We as the City, pledged support to try and help them. If you would like to show your support go to “Gowen Strong”. We are one of five sites, but by the end of summer they will be down to two sites. It is crucial for support. The other thing discussed at the COMPASS meeting was legislation regarding cities and transportation. There are five or six bills that passed that affect transportation. An emergency road and bridge bill passed. They did spend a lot more money on transportation than they have in the past. COMPASS gave us the estimate on population of 9,290 people in Star. The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 8:25 pm. Approved: Charlton Bell, Mayor Respectfully submitted: Cathy Ward, City Clerk