Ada commissioners approve housing in southwest Boise over neighbors’ objections

Ada County commissioners have reversed an earlier ruling and approved a 206-home housing development on South Maple Grove Road that some neighbors said would create traffic and other problems.

After an hourlong hearing on Wednesday, Commissioner Jim Tibbs joined Chairman David Case in voting for the proposal from Charter Pointe Properties. Tibbs, who had opposed the application at the board’s July 26 meeting, said the developers had adequately addressed his concerns.

Commissioner Rick Visser voted against the proposal, as he did at the earlier meeting, saying he still had concerns about safety and the development’s potential to overburden area schools.

Tibbs said the offer by Charter Pointe Properties to build a parking lot for residents of a nearby apartment complex would alleviate most, but not all, of overcrowding issues that force residents and guests to park on the shoulder of Maple Grove. The Ada County Highway District said it would install “no parking” signs on the road if a parking lot is built.

But that, Visser said, would not be adequate. “Parking is a tragedy in this area,” he said. “More residents create more parking problems, and the proposed solution falls well short of any remedy.”

Visser said he was also concerned by comments from the owner of L&V Dairy that the development near his dairy could put him out of business.

The following story was published Sept. 25, 2018, under the headline, “Developer touts affordable homes in southwest Boise, but neighbors don’t want them.”

Developers of a 206-home project billed as affordable housing in southwest Boise hope to persuade Ada County commissioners on Wednesday to change their minds and approve it. But a neighborhood association objects.

In July, the board rejected Charter Pointe Meadows, a development bordering the New York Canal on South Maple Grove Road, south of West Lake Hazel Road. Commissioners cited concerns over increased traffic and parking on Maple Grove and potential dangers to children walking on portions of the road that lack sidewalks. They also worried about effects on the West Ada School District from school children in the development.

The proposal would bring more high-density residential development to an area that already has had too much for the available roads and that lacks stores, offices and employment opportunities, said Betty Bermensolo, who represents the Southwest Ada County Alliance, a neighborhood association in southwestern Boise and southeastern Meridian.

The developers dispute that it’s high-density, saying the 5.5 units per acre is comparable to the existing Charter Pointe development.

KM Engineering, which represents the developers — who include Don Hubble, a longtime Treasure Valley home builder and president of Hubble Group — requested reconsideration.

Charter Pointe was initially conceived as part of a subdivision approved in 2008. Because of the Great Recession, no homes were built.

In 2014, Charter Pointe Properties, which wasn’t involved in the original proposal, acquired a portion of the property. Two phases, with 33 lots, have been developed. Fifteen are in development. The proposed development would consist of 158 single-family homes, some attached to one another, and 12 fourplexes with 48 total units.

The development is meant to provide affordable homes for first-time buyers and others. Six existing homes listed for sale in the already developed section are listed for $269,000 to $331,000. They range in size from 1,836 to 3,566 square feet.

In a letter to commissioners, KM Engineering’s development coordinator, Kirsti Grabo, questioned the impact of added traffic from the development. But the developer also offered to provide a parking area for a nearby apartment complex to allow the Ada County Highway District to put up no-parking signs along a troublesome stretch of Maple Grove.

Grabo challenged several items mentioned by commissioners in their denial, including crime, traffic speeds and impact on schools.

On schools, “The same finding (could) be made of every residential application that comes before the Board,” Grabo wrote. “That being said, with the addition of new homes comes additional tax base, which will provide direct financial support to the local school district.”

Bermensolo, of the neighborhood association, said two-lane roads in the area are already overburdened, and there aren’t buses or other available alternative transportation services.

“These are all critical elements that are missing after years of allowed high-density development in Southwest Boise that are still absent,” she wrote. “Any additional high density without the presence of these elements only further burdens current residents.”

Wednesday’s hearing will take place at 6 p.m. in the commissioners’ board room at 200 W. Front St.

This story was originally published September 25, 2018 at 8:07 PM.