Ten Mile is getting another subdivision. Neighbors aren’t just mad about traffic
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Meridian approved Adero, a 270-home subdivision with retail and office plots.
- Bridgetower residents oppose loss of park space they've maintained for years.
- Adero’s plan includes a $4M road to ease traffic at Ten Mile and McMillan roads.
A 270-home subdivision facing fierce neighborhood opposition got the green light from Meridian City Council. But the heart of the neighbors’ fight over the planned development is not the usual traffic or density concerns. It’s a small park they’ve paid to maintain for a over a decade that is now expected to be broken up and partially developed as part of the new subdivision.
The subdivision, called Adero, is planned near the northwest corner of crowded Ten Mile and McMillan roads in North Meridian. Boise’s Jim Conger will head the development, which is expected to include the single-family homes, 44 commercial lots and four office lots — a dense plan for the nearly 70-acre property.
“I’m really upset that we are here again,” said Meridian resident Patricia Fritschle, who lives just west of the proposed subdivision, at the City Council meeting on June 10.
Fristchle and other residents of the neighboring Bridgetower West subdivision testified to a fraught history with their subdivision’s developer going back years. The developer, Mike McCollum, has controlled the homeowner’s association in part by retaining ownership of a single parcel in the subdivision, meaning homeowners don’t have a say over their HOA, residents said. He also overbuilt a park onto property not yet slated for development nor intended to be a park, residents said. Now, part of that park will be developed by Conger Group.
“It was sold to us as, ‘Here’s your park, here’s your pool, everything’s great,’ and then we find out, ‘Oh, we overbuilt that ... it was never meant to be a park,’” said Richard Boyle, another resident. “Well, we’ve been paying to maintain it all these years.”
“It’s part of the reason I bought the lot,” Boyle continued. “I paid a premium for that lot because it backed up to a park. Now I’m not gonna have a park.”
Hethe Clark, a Boise lawyer representing Conger Group, told the City Council and neighbors that despite some of the park being absorbed into Adero’s residential component to the east, the remaining 10.2 acres of it would be turned over to the Bridgetower HOA. Clark said a buffer would be maintained along the east side of the park, which is mostly located around a large retention pond, and Adero residents wouldn’t have access to the park.
Boyle said the remaining park would be taken up by the pond and “rolling hills” to the west that are unsuitable for sports or other activities. The portion of the park that will be taken up by Adero, Boyle said, now has soccer fields and kids’ play areas that will be replaced by homes.
‘15-minute city’: Developer touts $4M road, walkability
Clark testified that Adero would bring benefits to the city including a $4 million road running diagonally through the subdivision to Ten Mile. That road is expected to help alleviate congestion at the Ten Mile/McMillan intersection once complete.
“It’s a really important piece to be able to help address some of the traffic issues in that area, get people off of McMillan and not have to make that left turn to get to Ten Mile,” Clark said. The road would also have pathways, he said.
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Clark noted that in a four square-mile area centered on Ten Mile — bound by Chinden Boulevard and Black Cat, Linder and Ustick roads — Adero is one of the last parcels still available for development. “It’s infill in a very real sense,” he said.
Clark called Adero a “15-minute city” where residents could walk to “essential services” including employment centers, grocery stores and retail, schools, health care offices and leisure centers such as the city’s Heroes Park.
That area has seen an explosion in largely commercial growth in the past decade since the Ten Mile Interchange first opened in 2011.
City officials appreciate ‘transportation solutions’
Council members grappled with frustrations of nearby homeowners and city benefits including the new road.
“We’ve got a room full of people that are really frustrated with somebody who’s not here, who caused all this grief,” said Council Member John Overton, referencing Bridgetower’s previous developer.
Overton said he appreciated Conger Group bringing “transportation solutions” to the city and agreeing to “a tremendous amount of modifications” through city and neighborhood meetings.
Council Member Liz Strader, who cast the lone opposing vote against Adero, said that though it is outside the city’s purview, she hoped there could be some civil recourse for Bridgetower residents. She requested that Conger ask McCollum to send a letter agreeing to cede control of the homeowner’s association by the time Adero receives its final plat. That proposed letter was not added as a condition of approval, Meridian planning supervisor Bill Parsons told the Statesman by phone. He described it as a “good faith effort” on Stader’s behalf to try to help Bridgewater residents resolve their conflict with McCollum and gain control over the HOA.
Council members voted 3-1 to approve Conger’s plan for Adero. Council President Luke Cavener was absent.
This irrigation pond and surrounding park in the center of this map are at the forefront of neighbors’ fight over a proposed subdivision. To the west of the pond is the Bridgetower subdivision. Undeveloped land to the park’s east is slated to become the Adero subdivision.
