City Council Regular Meeting

Star City Council Meeting Minutes April 3, 2018 The regular meeting of the Star City Council was held on April 3, 2017 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, Michael Keyes, Trevor Chadwick and Kevin Nielsen were all present. Approval of the Agenda: Keyes moved to amend and approve the agenda moving 6-B Bike Racks to 5-A Committee Reports, Chadwick seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. Consent Agenda: Chadwick moved to approve the Consent Agenda consisting of: Regular Meeting Minutes of March 20, 2018, Claims Against the City for March 2018, Final Plat for Starcreek Phase IV, Idaho Crime Victims’ Rights Week Proclamation, Liquor License Renewals for: Sam’s Saloon, Helina Maries, Bobbie Jeans, Maverik, and El Marachi Loco, Keyes seconded the motion. All aye: motion carried. Presentations/Public Input: Committee Reports: Beautification & Public Relations Committee Chair Mike Olson stated the committee meets the 3rd Wednesday of every month. They have added a second meeting for the next month or two. Members Keyes, Fox and Olson attended the Looking Glass Academy where they teach members to look at the community from a different perspective. The next session is in two weeks and is open to everyone. They are working on bike racks. The helmet stations will be placed after the bike racks are in place. Olson discussed the locations for bike racks. The projected budget is for 15 bike racks. The price has increased. The Mayor said the City’s contribution is $5,000 from the Recreation budget and $5,000 from the City, both general fund items. Nielsen is looking at other traffic and asked how they decided on the locations. Olson stated that Pickering chose. It was suggested that the location in front of City Hall may not be the right place. Olson stated the Purple Heart dedication will be May 12 at Blake Haven Park and they would like the Mayor to give opening remarks. Scott Brock with the Star Courier is placing an ad regarding this event for free. Olson asked the Mayor to contact Governor Otter. The Committee has asked Blake Trailers to do a couple examples of City of Star signs. They will be presented to the Council for approval. They want to have them installed before the Hometown Celebration. Olson stated they need help getting locations. Jennifer Salmonsen, EDC Committee Chair, stated they have newly appointed committee members Dan Sample, Alex Fox and Kevin Deats. The EDC Strategic Plan is on a holding pattern right now. They will be making suggestions and she and Nielsen will be talking to Brian Cole. The EDC Committee meets on the second Tuesday of every month at City Hall at 7 pm. Dana Partridge stated she is the Activities Committee Chair. They are working on the Hometown Celebration. Events will be a Fun Run, parade, a wet zone, luncheon at LifeSprings Church, children’s activities/games, talent show, band and fireworks. There will also be food trucks and a raffle for the Mayor’s Scholarship Fund. There will be an article in the paper explaining the activities. The Committee meets on the third Thursday of each month. 1 Michael Trafacante, Pathways & Transportation Committee Chair, stated the Committee is up and running. They are working on their goals and will provide Council with plans. They are working on roads and pedestrian friendly pathways. They will meet tomorrow night and April 18. Their meeting dates are yet to be determined. Public Input: Davona Sebastian, 8355 W. Kingsbury Road, Middleton, knows nothing about Star. She went to the meeting last week and there was a lot of information generated toward people the City is trying to impact. She would like to know more about Star. Gary Smith, 258 Langer Lake Way, Star, stated he attended the Comprehensive Plan meeting. He is looking for a plan for growth. He brought up a cap a few years back. There has been two traffic studies made with development in the City. Transportation has no funding for five years. Albertsons and BiMart will add day trips. The impact of 1500 homes will be great in the next few years. As we go through the Comp Plan, he wants a survey to be done by the City to all the citizens. The last thing, Mark Butler is not a certified planner. He is concerned about him doing our planning. Old/New Business: Public Hearing River Ranch – Ada: Mayor Bell explained the procedure for the public hearing. He stated that there would be no comments from the public unless they are at the podium. The Applicant will speak, then staff, public comment will follow, anyone wanting to speak must sign the sign-up sheet. Public comments will be limited to three minutes. At the end the Applicant will rebut testimony and after that we will close the public hearing and move to deliberations. The Mayor asked Council if they had any ex parte contact or conflicts of interest; hearing none, the Mayor opened the public hearing. Applicant: Jay Walker, Allterra Consulting, stated that he represents the Applicant. A power point program was set up. Walker lives between Star and Middleton and is hoping to be a part of the activities. Walker thanked City Staff for the staff report. They are seeking a Comprehensive Plan Map Amendment from a Mixed Use designation to a Commercial designation and a Mixed Use designation to a Residential designation on two different parcels. Development of the property is consistent with the neighbors; they have no development plans at this time. The property is surrounded by annexed property. Walker pointed out the two parcels and the zoning they are proposing. The properties lie between Moyle Avenue to the west and east, and is south of Highway 44. It is a delineating factor for developing commercial development. There is potential for neighborhood commercial. Walker pointed out the designation to the east is Commercial (C1) and the south parcel is Limited Office (LO) with existing Commercial (C1) access to State 44 and Highway 16. Originally the property has an Ag background, when the expressway was punched in the property saw a lot of changes. This is all a part of the migration changes. Walker was involved in the vetting process. The future urban interchange is at State and Highway 16. Star River Ranch – Ada is located south of State Street and includes five parcels. It conforms to surrounding uses. On the 9.47 acres they are requesting a zoning designation of Commercial (C1) for small scale uses along Highway 44 and on the 24.02 acres they are requesting Residential (R12). All utilities have been stubbed to the property. They are having preliminary discussions with the irrigation districts. They are monitoring flood zoning. The base flood elevation has been determined for these parcels. Ingress and egress will occur from S. Moyle to Wildbranch St. and then to S. Calhoun Place. They have received both reports from ITD and ACHD. The development team 2 is in favor of the ongoing transportation plan for this area and more than happy accommodating the meetings with neighbors. They agree with ACHD’s report and will work with them and the City to make sure they improve infrastructure. They are asking that costs be done in a pro-rata form to include all neighbors. They are having ongoing discussions with ITD, ACHD and the City on the intersections. Most everyone’s comments are concerns about the intersection at State and Moyle. Walker stated that there are options to resolve the problems and correct some previous problems. Walker discussed a video about turn lanes, the Michigan Turn is one example. He has presented it to ITD staff. They are in talks with Star Fire who monitor and serve the area. The neighborhood meeting was held on January 23rd. The addition of the designated pathway was shown for the continued Ridges to Rivers pathway plan. They are committing to the City to provide a path and they will continue it in perpetuity. Architecture and landscaping plans will be forthcoming upon development. In summary, Star River Ranch - Ada is consistent with other elements of the Comp Plan. The annexation incorporates and infills zoning consistent and is transitional to the surrounding area, it is a natural fit. The application is compliant with all City and other agency requirements and will potentially generate revenue for the local economy. Chadwick asked what the name of the turn video was. Walker stated that the turn is called a “Michigan Left Turn”. Chadwick asked if the owner was staying in that location and how many acres will be dedicated for the house. Walker stated that the owner wants to buffer his home and river front and will let Paul Larson address this. Paul Larson, 855 S. Calhoun Place, Star, stated that there is not a lot of rocket science in coming up with the R12 designation. He looked at R16 on one side and R4 on the other side. He has looked at communities of four-plexes and retirement communities, so he thought R12 would be something in the middle. Larson is good with R8 as it is a balance between R4 and R16. He does plan on living there for quite a while. His intent is to go from single family to higher density. Keyes stated that when he looks at the map it appears there is 17 to 18 acres that are developable at that density and the zoning should only apply to the developable portion of the parcel. Walker stood for questions. Staff – Ward stated that she received a letter from ITD regarding the property. Essentially the letter stated that they are not in favor of the annexation and zoning. Ward stated that after a conversation with our Traffic Consultant, Dave Szplett, he had sent an email stating that the ITD letter was to cover ITD and that they did not have any jurisdiction over the application. Public - Joe Owen, 145 W. River, Star, stated that he has concerns with the parcel in front being Commercial (C1). He has read the Idaho Statues and 67-6508A states that you can’t violate the property rights or impact property rights value. He moved to the area because it was zoned Mixed Use. This was supposed to be the zoning buffer between the commercial and residential, where is the buffer. The Mayor stated that it could be a mixed use. Owen stated that a gas station would be approved if that parcel is C1. Owen stated that it is not safe to live near a gas station. He googled it, there are health issues and it had two pages of the items and stated several. It is a health issue of all the by-products they will be breathing because of a gas station, not to mention diesel fuel and fumes. Owen stated that FHA won’t loan money on a home located near a gas station. Owen stated that the Mayor was interviewed on the TV and was asked why you were voting for that zoning when there were a number of irate neighbors that didn’t want the zoning and you said because it was zoned that way, you didn’t have 3 a choice. Owen asked the Council not to approve the zoning and then you don’t have to be put in that position. RaeNell Atkinson, 23847 Wesley Drive, Middleton, stated that she is not here to comment about the subdivision, she wants to talk about the Comprehensive Plan Amendment meeting and the fact that none of the Council bothered to come to the meeting the other night. You would have seen the outcry of people that are against it. Yorgason stated that he wanted to make sure that comments were pertinent to this public hearing. We cannot be talking about something that is not. Atkinson stated that it was not what was stated on the agenda. The Mayor stated this is a public hearing for the River Ranch application. Atkinson asked where the other sign-up sheet was. Nielsen stated that this application has a Comprehensive Plan Map Amendment, but is not the one you are talking about. Atkinson asked when that meeting would be. The Mayor stated that it would be on April 19, 2018 at 6:30 pm at LifeSprings Church. Nielsen stated that one other comment – it wasn’t that we didn’t bother to come to the meeting, we do have a public hearing and we need to provide impartiality and therefore did not attend the neighborhood meeting. Devona Sebastian, 8355 Kingsbury Drive, Middleton, asked why the City doesn’t have a complete Comprehensive Plan. This application is asking that you amend a plan. The Mayor stated this is a plan, a living document, when someone makes an application the plan can change and it changes constantly. Property owners have property rights and they come to us and want to do something with their property. We can’t force them to do something with the Comp Plan, only Ordinances and zoning not just Comprehensive Plans. We do our best to plan for our City, and it requires a lot of planning in a fast growing economy. Sebastian pointed out that the person doing the planning stated that the Council didn’t want him working on other areas right now. The Mayor stated that this is getting off topic and we need to return to the public hearing. Nielsen stated this area is already covered by our Comp Plan, but this applicant wants something more specific. Sebastian stated she did not understand with what the planning guy had said. David Baumann suggested discussing that this was not about the Comp Plan Expansion. The Mayor stated that we had already clarified it earlier and everyone will have an opportunity to clarify their statements. David Baumann, 232 Langer Lake Way, Star, stated he would like to clarify and ask a question. Baumann wanted to point out some apparent errors in the staff report when it talks about the surrounding area, on the residential it does match the website map, but was part of an application that went before judicial review and has been remanded back as RT. Baumann stated that Ward has listed high density on the east side of the master plan map and it all should be Mixed Use. The staff report also says no agency had any adverse comments; the ITD report did have adverse comments as well as COMPASS and ACHD. ACHD suggested examining the overall trips. The Applicant stated that he wants to work with us and Baumann believes it would be prudent to have the traffic impact study done now so we can identify what zoning we should place on it. And lastly, it was music to his ears to hear about a retirement care 4 facility that would be very appropriate there and generate less traffic. The Comp Plan says Mixed Use, the annexation could be approved with the zoning being made Mixed Use. The applicant could have multi-family and a development agreement which would give Council control over the multi-family and the nursing facility. Nielsen asked staff to clarify the land use question Mr. Baumann brought up. Yorgason stated that he did not know when the staff report was done, if prior to the court decision of the judicial review and 42 day response time. He doesn’t know if it’s sufficient enough to warrant problems for this application. The property owner has declared his own filing as he was not named in the original judicial review and the court may find that the property stays as it was. The Council and public are aware of this. Applicant rebuttal – Walker stated he does not have further clarification. Development application with appreciated values and mixed use as mentioned by Baumann – it does allow several of the same type of businesses. He does not know who can quantify with pollution levels and rpms on State Street. They would certainly be smart with their development. Walker thanked members of the community for their participation and Council for their consideration. Council - Keyes stated he has no objections to the C1 zoning. He is wondering if there was any conditioning on this for acceptance. Walker stated the owner has not specified where the gas station will be located and he would be willing to listen to recommendations. Walker stated they have followed all the rules as set forth by Ward and the Applicant wants something that he can be proud of. Keyes asked if Council grants the C1, a development agreement might limit that. Walker did not know what development applications are coming. Walker would rather work under the auspices of trust and have it go on the east side of Moyle. Mr. Larson stated he won’t put a gas station on the west side of Moyle. The Mayor closed the public hearing. Keyes stated they have two parcels and would like to discuss limiting density to only the developable property and wants that as a condition. Keyes stated the applicant noted the property was between an R4 density and a high density to the east, the best practices would be R8, as a reasonable approach applied to the acreage. Nielsen asked about the thoughts behind an R8 or R12 applying only to the developable acreage. Keyes stated he wants the zoning to only apply to the developable acreage. He stated he is open to a concept of keeping it to Mixed Use if the Applicant is okay with it, if we do this now it could be inferred as an entitlement. Beyond all that he is concerned about traffic, even at a medium density that is still about 100 home sites with the addition of the 192 at Crystal Springs, we still have no resolution. He has no idea of how we will get people in and out. Keyes stated that a part of him would like to delay this, but he is not sure we can do that to wait on a traffic study. Hershey stated they cannot do a traffic study without development, we tried that with the neighboring properties and it didn’t work. The traffic study will be triggered with any of the zoning changes. The Mayor stated that everything we approve or deny all have conditions of approval that will always require agency conditions to be satisfied before the development occurs. If we approve it, the applicant will have to comply with all the agencies before he will get a building permit. They will have to comply with the transportation agencies, that’s why they are the traffic experts. If we make the decision, they have to have it done. The Mayor has the same concerns, the real decision is, is this what we want, if so, we approve it and move forward with it and make it happen. 5 Nielsen asked Keyes a question regarding his statement that if we zone it Commercial (C1) and the Comp Plan calls for Commercial, what further controls would we want in place. We have created an entitlement, what further controls are you looking for. Keyes was asking if applicant would give some. Keyes is disappointed that we did not get more input from the neighborhood that is directly affected. He would have liked more input from the neighbors close. The only comment coming from a neighbor that lives two miles away. Having said that, he supports the residential at R8 applicable only to the developable property and vote affirmatively for the C1. Hershey stated that he heard some good ideas with a senior community. Frankly he would like to see a 30 and under community as they stay up too late and he doesn’t understand their music. He doesn’t know if a senior center needs to be R8 or R9 but maybe stepping down from the property to the east he can support an R8. He feels it gives them more allowance with a traffic study that has to happen. He would like to leave it open if they go with mixed use. Chadwick asked if Hershey was wanting Mixed Use for all the property. Hershey stated that he is not talking about the commercial, as we have all decided that needs to be commercial, but the residential property with the density applied to the undeveloped property. Nielsen stated that if we do a development agreement we have to do it now because we can’t do it later. Hershey stated that he doesn’t want to add controls, leave it as R8 for the undeveloped property. Nielsen stated we’ve talked about the lower density of the west and higher to the east and talked about R8, can we ask the applicant what he wants. Yorgason stated that we have to open the public hearing to ask the question. Nielsen stated that before we do that he is thinking about the intent, he is happy with this transition from lower to higher density to the east. In his mind R12 allows for that, where R8 doesn’t for flexibility and maybe the applicant can come up with a better overall product if it is a higher density. Yorgason stated that we will have to open the public hearing to ask the question. Nielsen stated that he would rather see the application stand as it is. The Mayor stated the application is for R12, we have asked the applicant if they would not use that space as part of the calculation. He has already given up a fair amount. A retirement community is much more workable for the applicant because you can make pods. The Mayor stated that it gives more flexibility for transition from one side of the property to another. Chadwick stated the R8 is more appropriate, the Applicant can come back to go to a higher density of R10 or R12 if he wants to do a retirement community. Not knowing the actual development, R12 is 120 houses. Nielsen stated that if you make it Mixed Use it could be as dense as possible. Chadwick believes the R8 is appropriate and likes that step down toward Heron River. He’s very interested in the Michigan Left Turn and swears he has seen that somewhere. Keyes stated that it is proposed for Glenwood and State. Nielsen asked to re-open the public hearing to ask the Applicant what he wants. Chadwick agreed and wants to know about R8 or R9. Nielsen stated that he understood the application requested zoning for the entire parcel. Chadwick is okay with R8 on the entire piece. The Mayor reopened the public hearing to address the Applicant. The Mayor asked the Applicant if he is open to an R8 on all the property or just the developed property. Larson stated his preference would be R8 on the whole piece. He went from R12 to R8. He would like R8. He doesn’t know what they are 6 doing with the property right now. If he has to get higher density because of surrounding properties, he will, but they are a long ways from that. Public Comment – Cindy Owen, 145 Furness, Star, stated she wanted to clarify they were told specifically that a gas station was going to go there. The Mayor stated that we weren’t talking about the commercial piece and it was not open for discussion. We are talking about the residential piece. The Mayor apologized for the misunderstanding. Owen asked if she could ask another question. Since residents have received so much miss information she stated that there was no communication, aren’t the residents supposed to be a part of the discussion. She stated that she and her husband spoke with several residents and they didn’t get notice. Chadwick stated that legal notice is only required for the people within 300 feet of the property. Owen stated they weren’t notified and they did have a meeting but it was at 7:00 pm and it was too cold at the site. The Mayor stated that notices went out to people within 300 feet, a notice was put in the paper, it was on the web site and the property was posted, residents knew and that’s why we are here tonight. Michael Trafacante, 301 Selwood Way, Star, stated he did the math on the two different densities. After hearing everything tonight and the transportation discussion, he would encourage approval of the application at the requested R12. David Baumann, 232 Langer Lake Way, Star, regarding the R8 vs R12 and in order for the City not to paint itself in a corner and allow the Applicant more flexibility, he believes Mixed Use is the way to go. Terri Haugh, 12527 Wildbranch, Star, stated that she obtained a copy of the application and it does say the Applicant applied for an R12, but the owner is okay with an R8, she would like some clarification. Ward stated that the Applicant did apply for an R8, but his neighborhood meeting stated R12, so that’s how we proceeded as that’s what the neighbors were told. The Mayor stated that the application is for R12 and it cannot be changed after the neighborhood meeting without having another neighborhood meeting. Mike Proctor, 84 S. Rivermist, Star, stated he was never notified about the meeting and he knows of two other neighbors that were not notified. The Mayor asked if he was within 300 feet. Proctor stated that his fence line is against Moyle. Margaret Sharpener, ____________, Star, stated she heard the applicant say he is agreeable to R8, why do we keep going back to R12? Why did we bother to open it up again and have the Applicant come up and speak and say he’s okay with R8? The Mayor stated we are just discussing now, not making any decisions. That’s the reason we call it deliberations. Nielsen stated that he needed clarification in order to make the decision on what the Applicant wants. He appreciated the question, but that is why the public hearing was re-opened. The Mayor closed the public hearing again. Keyes moved to amend the Comp Plan Map to Commercial and to Medium Density Residential, approve annexation of the two parcels with zoning designations of Commercial (C1) on the property to the north and Residential (R8) on the southern property and that is all inclusive and all the conditions of approval, 7 Chadwick seconded the motion. Discussion – Nielsen asked if there were any issues regarding the two that didn’t get notice. The Mayor stated that we receive the addresses for the 300 feet people from the Applicant who receives them from the County, and we also put it in the newspaper. Yorgason stated that the mailing was proper. All ayes: motion carried. REPORTS: Staff - Chief Vogt stated that the river is still rising, but it is not at flood stage. He did attend a School Safety meeting on March 22 with the Mayor. All the Mayors, Police Chiefs and school personnel were present. There is a huge emphasis on safety and plans to continue the meeting. Ward stated that Fish and Wildlife have sent over a draft proposal for the Star River Ranch area by the River. It appears to be the same one that was presented to Council, but she will email it over to the Council for further review. Council - Nielsen had nothing to report. Chadwick – The serial taggers have it figured out and caused a mess. Chief Vogt stated that if you are able to put cameras on your house please do so. They were able to track the vehicle because of the home cameras. Keyes stated he finished Looking Glass Academy and highly recommends the City planning personnel attend it along with elected officials that can attend. He attended an air quality board meeting, they discussed the bill that affects emission testing. His committee is working on bike racks and welcome to Star signs. Hershey stated he approached Ingraham and the pawn shop owner about having an advance concealed weapons class. It will be at the end of May first or June at City Hall. Mayor – The Mayor stated the Maintenance building is complete. As soon as it is prettied up we will have an open house. Everyone toured the property on Main Street, we will be making decisions on how fast we will move on it. The Mayor is meeting with a land owner and securing land for an event center this week. The web site is completely done and into the coders, expecting it to go live any day. The two lots in Hunters Creek Park had been reassessed and will have them on our agenda in two weeks for Council to declare as surplus and after that a public hearing and public comment and set those up for public sale. With regards to the completion of the audio visual stuff in the Council meeting room, the Mayor has signed an order for it to be complete, but doesn’t know where it’s at right now, he will find out. Executive Session: Chadwick moved to go into Executive Session under Idaho Code Statute 74-206 (1)(f) Pending Litigation, Nielsen seconded the motion. Roll Call Hershey, Keyes, Chadwick, and Nielsen – all ayes: motion carried. Keyes moved to adjourn from the Executive Session, Hershey seconded the motion. All ayes: motion carried. 8 Adjournment: The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 9:33 pm. Approved: ________________________ Respectfully submitted: Charlten Bell, Mayor _____________________ Cathy Ward, City Clerk 9