HomeMy WebLinkAboutCarico- Letter of Opposition_VerbanaRanch 01.14.25Brad Carico
16227 S Kimball Ave
Caldwell, ID 83607
Re: Opposition To Verbana Ranch
I wish to submit this document in opposition to the proposed Verbana Ranch development.
While I understand that development in our region is a given, I believe that much of this
development has happened at such a pace that careful considerations have not been given
to all aspects of this development in our community.
I am a retired Battalion Chief with the Caldwell Fire Department, having retired in July 2020
after 26 years of service in the city. In that time, I have seen highs and lows that the city and
its staff experienced in that time. My concerns will deal with the impact that this and future
developments will have on the infrastructure, staffing of city departments and the quality of
life within our community.
CONCERN: Development Density
As presented at the Planning & Zoning meeting, Verbana Ranch is being proposed as
multiple Planned Unit Developments (PUD) which by City code allows for a higher number
of buildings per acre than normal residential land use codes. I would question this higher
density given the surrounding developments have all been built to the standard R-1 zoning
of three or less units per acre. As an example, the Element Ridge subdivision has a
proposed density of 2.75 units per acre whereas, Verbana Ranch is being proposed for four
units per acre. Understanding that the PUD designation allows for this density, my question
is this consistent with the existing and proposed developments within the proximity of this
development.
A further concern that I have relates to the multiple proposed developments within the
Verbana Ranch property. As submitted, there are six proposed developments within the
boundaries of this property. Given that each development has multiple proposed phases,
the City’s requirement that each phase be started within two years of the previous phase
and the traffic concerns that the community has, there will be constant infrastructure
development over the next 10 – 12 years.
CONCERN: Traffic
For this development, as well as the Element Ridge subdivision, multiple comments have
been made concerning the traffic that these developments will have on South 10th Avenue
near Vallivue Middle School. These are questions that I have.
As proposed, there will be a stop light at South 10th Avenue and Homedale Road and
eventually one added when Moss Street is extended to and beyond South 10th Avenue.
While this may help with the overall traffic flow between Homedale Road and State
Highway 55, it does not address the impact on intersections of David and Daniel Streets in
the Stecher and Somerset West subdivisions. Also, Toll Brothers is proposing only to extend
the singe north and south lanes and the turn lane in front of the middle school; this does
not adequately address the turning needs at the school entrances.
During the Element Ridge subdivision public hearing, Ardurra Engineering presented
numbers dealing with the number of vehicles per hour for the section of South 10th Avenue
and Highway 55. It is my belief these numbers are understated, as further developments to
the north and south of Highway 55 will increase the traffic on this section of roadway.
Currently Highway District 4 has Farmway Road closed for thru traffic and this traffic is
being detoured on South 10th Avenue; these current traffic levels are more realistic for the
purposes of a traffic study. Has there been an actual traffic count conducted, using traffic
monitoring sensors, on this stretch of roadway or is this traffic study based on conjecture
and assumptions?
Has there been an impact study on traffic into the two schools that border this
development? During certain times of the day is almost impossible to turn left onto South
10th Avenue from David Street or Daniel Street due to traffic coming and going to Vallivue
Middle School. I do not foresee the proposed traffic lights at Homedale Road and Moss
Street reducing this traffic impact on David and Daniel Streets very much. Toll Brothers,
Ardurra Engineering and the school district need to sit down and discuss a two-lane
roundabout on the south entrance into the middle schools parking lot. Roundabouts have
proven to improve traffic flows and easy congestion at intersections.
To this point South Montana Avenue has not been discussed very much but the new
elementary school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2025. Has any consideration been
given the traffic impact on South Montana and its related intersections?
Concerning Highway 55, has there been any discussions concerning the stretch of S 10th
Avenue from Homedale Road to Highway 55 during the reconstruction of this 10th
Avenue/State Highway 55 intersection. This would be an opportune time for discussion to
take place about widening this stretch of roadway before final construction of the
intersection is completed.
At the Element Ridge hearing, a comment was made concerning the ownership of the
South 10th Avenue roadway. It was stated, I do not remember by which party, that the
ownership of this section of South 10th Avenue was going to be transferred to the City for
maintenance and control. Is this correct? If so, what is the amount of funds Highway
District 4 is asking for compensation? What is the impact of the new section of roadway
going to cost the city to maintain? It has been stated in public hearings that the only way
the city can develop and maintain new roadways is through developers paying for the new
roadways; this suggests the city may not have the budgetary means to maintain this new
section of roadway.
One of the developments was proposed as a gated community; this is an acceptable use
however I have some of my viewpoints that I developed over twenty-six years as a
firefighter. The engineer and planning staff indicated the city does not have any current
standards for gated communities; they indicated they were in the process of developing a
new standard.
• Gates look good from the roadway, but my experience has been when I needed to
get a fire engine through the gate it did not work as was expected. The usual excuse
occurrence was the gate would not open when we used the remote that we were
provided with; in those cases, it was later determined that the codes for the remote
were changed by the subdivision but were not communicated to the fire
department. Another failure that I experienced was the total failure of the gate due
to the lack of maintenance.
• It has been my experience that many developers narrow roadways considerably so
more units can be fit into the development. This creates the unintended
consequences of a roadway being narrowed further by parked vehicles which
restricts the ability to get needed emergency apparatus to the scene. Examples that
I can give include the Sagewood Lane development just off Cleveland Boulevard
and Laster Lane. While not gated communities, the current street width in most of
the mobile home parks are another example of crowded narrow streets that
emergency apparatus must navigate at times.
CONCERN: Water System
With the overall rapid growth of the city, what planning has been completed to provide
adequate water supply for use by all community members? With new growth and
additional wells, will the city be able to maintain their current score for fire flows ISO
ratings? The ISO rating is important for every fire department as it correlated to the
department’s ability to respond adequately to emergencies. Insurance companies also use
this rating to determine the insurance rates for the citizens of Caldwell.
Will the proposed storage tank at Element Ridge provide water flow to Verbana Ranch or
will Verbana Ranch depend upon a pumped water supply as Element Ridge will?
Will there be any domestic wells be drilled around Verbana Ranch; it was indicated at the
element Ridge hearing that no new wells were planned. If the city drills new wells in the
area how deep and what impact will these wells have on surrounding residential wells that
are outside the city limits, such as Stetcher and Somerset West subdivisions? What
assurances can the city give the subdivisions that their new well will not impact on our
current wells. Will the subdivision wells have senior water rights over the city well, so if our
wells are impacted we can have some input on how the city manages the well?
The water budget is an enterprise fund and is only funded through the user fees if collected
from the citizens. At what point will the citizens of Caldwell have to pay for additional
improvements through increased user fees?
CONCERN: Wastewater System
What impact will this development and any other new developments have on the city
wastewater treatment facility?
There was a time when Caldwell’s growth was limited by the size and operation of the
wastewater facility; the city made extensive investments to upgrade and modernize the
plant so new development could occur.
My question now, does the wastewater system currently have the capacity to manage this
development as well as the newly built or proposed subdivisions? In the general vicinity of
our residence alone there are upwards of three thousand new homes being proposed or
being built; there must be impact on the wastewater capacities. While the developers are
paying the initial cost of wastewater lines in their developments, who will pay for any
upgrades to the wastewater plant when the time comes?
The sewer budget is an enterprise fund and is only funded through the user fees if collected
from the citizens. At what point will the citizens of Caldwell have to pay for additional
improvements through increased user fees?
CONCERN: City Staffing
I would like to give my thoughts concerning the level of staffing, essential vs. non-essential,
that the city currently has and is expected to need in the future.
First, addressing emergency services, I know the city has been hiring additional staff for the
fire and police department, however, has the city been able to maintain a consistent level
of staffing for the fire and police? It has been my experience that the fire department is able
to maintain overall staffing levels while the police department has consistently had
problems due to staff leaving for better paying jobs at neighboring departments.
With the need to provide consistent staffing for these departments, it is sometimes
necessary to hold over personnel on overtime to ensure adequate coverage. Before I retired
mandatory holdover overtime was a rare occurrence but talking to my son, who is currently
a Battalion Chief at Caldwell Fire, I was told that holdover is a daily fact when scheduling
staff.
Taking units of service is another problem that occurs when there is not enough staffing for
each shift. Station 2, which is the busiest station in the department, is set up to have an
engine company and a squad staffed responses. On days when staffing levels are reduced
the squad is taken out of service there by reducing the number of units available to
respond.
For law enforcement there is a comparable situation, but they do they have the luxury of
reducing staff levels to run a minimum number of units per shift I can remember times
when there were only three patrol units on the road for a given shift. Think of it, three law
enforcement officers to deal with sometimes high-risk activities. During these times, if
something major happened units from the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office were pulled in to
assist, thereby reducing the available number of deputies to respond to emergencies in the
County.
At the time we had a high turnover of staffing in both agencies due to wages and benefits.
The city would take on new employees, run them through their mandatory training and then
lose them to other departments in the valley because of higher wages. I know that the city
council tried to address this issue after I retired but this is still a major issue and has an
impact on city staffing.
Looking now at the staffing at the other departments, one only needs to look at the building
services parking lot in the morning. I understand that with growth comes the need for
additional staffing but at what cost? Each of those vehicles cost a certain amount to
operate and maintain. If the number of vehicles is any indication, then the building service
department’s budget has expanded exponentially.
Currently, everything points to continued growth and overflowing tax coffers. But let me
pose this question. What if we experience an economic downturn like the one the city
experienced in 2008-2009? Will the city departments be able to hire and maintain an
adequate staffing level for the needs of the community? When the downturn occurred, the
city was scrambling to get a budget put together that met the public needs and met state
statutory requirements.
As an example, in 2011, the city and firefighters’ union negotiated the buyout of five
senior staff members to reduce the amount of the overall benefits line-item for the
department. However, this was not enough to ensure that adequate staff were still
working. It became necessary for the city to apply for and receive a two-years FIRES
grant to keep six employees on staff that otherwise would have been laid off.
CONCERN: Commercial Development
With the projected residential growth throughout the southwestern part of Caldwell, where
will commercial growth be at to support this new population?
With these residential developments along both sides of 10th Avenue and Highway 55, there
will be no ground available for commercial development. This lack of easy access to
businesses such as grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, etc. without a lot of driving,
will increase the amount of traffic that residents will have to endure.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Brad Carico