In an unusual move, Meridian denies a subdivision city planners had approved. This is why
A development came before the Meridian City Council and was met with a familiar list of concerns: traffic congestion, road safety and the burden on West Ada schools.
The Blayden Subdivision, spearheaded by John A. Laude Sr.’s Trilogy Development in Boise, would have 312 apartments, 10 single-family townhouses and 14 acres of commercial use, including two office buildings, on 38.5 acres. The site, on the southwest corner of Black Cat Road and Chinden Boulevard, would be annexed into the city.
For the council, the project was too much, too soon.
Attempting to show that the development met what Council Member Liz Strader called the council’s “high bar for annexation” was David Bailey of Bailey Engineering, representing Trilogy.
In a public hearing Tuesday, Bailey said the project was five years in the making. At the time of its inception, he said, “the surrounding area just wasn’t mature to get us to where we needed to go … So we’ve been through a bunch of iterations, and we think we’ve got it to the right place now.”
Trilogy worked with city planners over the past year since the application was submitted in August 2023 to address concerns, said Bill Parsons, planning supervisor in the city’s planning division.
“We spent a lot of time, before it even got to the hearing, with the applicant to try to get them to modify their plan so it would better align with the comprehensive plan,” Parsons told the Idaho Statesman.
Parsons said that after city planning provided five rounds of comments to the developer – more than typical – the application was ready to move forward to public hearing with the planning staff’s recommendation for approval, with several contingencies.
“We try not to go into the hearing with a denial,” said Parsons. “We try to work with developers on making sure they meet the city requirements. That’s our job.”
Among the concerns staff advised the developer to address were traffic congestion on Black Cat Road.
Bailey told the council that the development would connect Ramblin Court to Levi Lane east to west, complete with a traffic signal, in its first phase of development. Bailey said no development would occur on Black Cat Road until its second phase, after the Ada County Highway District constructs a roundabout at Black Cat and McMillan roads in 2028.
The council was not entirely reassured.
“You may not be connecting directly to Black Cat until your later phases, but you’re still adding a significant amount of traffic indirectly,” Strader said during the hearing.
Traffic concerns were echoed in public testimony. Steve Elliott, a board member of the Bainbridge Subdivision’s Homeowners Association and one of the few residents within a 500-foot radius of the proposed development, testified that his main two concerns were “traffic and the safety of our kids.”
“Infrastructure in – not just Meridian, in Ada County – the development is backwards right now,” Elliott told the Statesman by phone. “We build, build, build, and then worry about the roads, roads, roads.”
Elliott said many children walk to school in the area surrounding the proposed subdivision. “There’s a lot of kids running around on bicycles and doing what we all did when we were kids ... The more traffic you pour towards that, the less safe they could possibly be.”
A letter to the City Council from the West Ada School District similarly stresses the importance of “safe walkways, bike paths, and pedestrian access for our students to schools and community resources.”
Overcrowded schools are a concern, too. The school district’s data shows nearby Pleasant View Elementary School has 679 students, 29 over capacity. Star and Owyhee middle schools are at 95% and 98% capacity, respectively.
A traffic impact study by CR Engineering estimated the subdivision would generate almost 5,200 trips per weekday, with 60% of those on Black Cat Road. ACHD plans to begin construction to widen the road in 2036.
The City Council voted unanimously to deny the project, rather than delay it by asking the developer to return at a later date with alterations.
Said Council Member Brian Whitlock before moving to deny the project, “I think Mr. Elliott summed it up: It’s traffic and kids. And I don’t think that this project clears the bar in alleviating those concerns.”
“I like some of what is proposed and being discussed, I just, I think it may be too early for prime time,” Whitlock said.
Parsons told the Statesman, “Council historically has not denied very many projects, OK, but in this particular case … they didn’t seem like the plan was far enough along in order for them to support it … Timing for this was just off.”
Elliott said he was “pleasantly a little bit surprised” by the council’s decision. “I was kind of impressed with the council members and their very well-placed questions.”
“No ill will towards anybody,” he said. “We just all need to do better.”
Bailey declined to comment on what Trilogy might do next and told the Statesman via email he did not “have anything to add” to what he told the council.
