The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutExhibit 4_Pubic Comments_CC - Verbena RanchOctober 7th, 2024 To: City of Caldwell Planning & Zoning Commission and City of Caldwell City Council Regarding: Toll Brothers’ proposed Verbena Ranch development Greetings, We own approximately 78 acres adjacent to Toll Brothers’ proposed Verbena Ranch development and were recently informed by Toll Brothers of their desire to develop their property. Although we were unable to attend the neighborhood meeting last spring, Kyle Prewett with Toll Brothers was kind enough to provide us with all relevant plans and information for their proposed development. After reviewing their plans, including overall site plans, amenity concepts, and pathway layouts, we are in full support of the proposed Verbena Ranch development and are excited to see it be brought to reality. Toll Brothers is known for creating beautiful communities that provide affordable, yet attractive and upscale homes. Being a neighbor to this development (our property is located immediately to the west), we recognize that it will bring change to the area, however, we feel that what Toll is proposing will provide a great addition to the City of Caldwell. Sincerely, Charlie Hoff 208-559-4360 charlieh@hoffc.com EXHIBIT 4 - PUBLIC COMMENTS Dec. 1, 2025 Dear Commissioners, I live in the area that will be impacted by both Element Ridge and also Verbena Ranch subdivisions. Our homes consist of well-established custom homes that have their own character and architecture on lot sizes averaging ½ acre per home +/-. We have enjoyed the panoramic views, Squaw Butte to the north, a nearby middle school, the ability to walk our animals & ride bicycles safely in the quiet and peaceful surroundings, with a nearby park and easy access to both Highway 55 and 10th Ave. So many amenities that have drawn us to our homes. The following are concerns with regards to Element Ridge include: · 214 single-family homes (basically 3 homes per acre) being built along with plans for several multi-family units, (which should NOT be allowed) and which is absolutely NOT low density as they want you to believe. In addition, they have minimal road widths to handle the additional volume of cars, school buses, emergency vehicles, etc. The number of homes proposed, is highly excessive for this area, and needs to be reduced to stay in line with already existing homes. The following are compelling reasons for this: · The number of additional cars at this time, will create a “crippling” affect impacting not only our community of homes, but more importantly, that of the safety of school children attending Vallivue Middle School. Where is the concern regarding the lack of infrastructure to handle the huge volume of additional cars combined with school buses and existing traffic?? This should be the first concern when considering the massive amounts of houses planned for this area. The so-called “in house traffic study” that was done is simply laughable. We are already experiencing more congestion and lines during school hours, as well as large increase in traffic due to cars being detoured from other road construction around us. Actual thoughtful “planning” of this area is so imperative for the future of our community. · A huge water tower and large well house (water which by the way is not for us but for the other new neighborhoods) is planned to be built on the corner of David and Airport, which very well will potentially have a grave impact on our existing wells that supply our community presently – something that is very concerning to our residents and is something that is highly probable. As well, many homes will decrease in value, as a result of this huge tower. We ask for consideration in moving this tank away from our existing homes and wells. Growth is inevitable, however to allow unchecked growth is demoralizing and unfortunate. Those of us who are impacted by this change, ask you, as keepers of the future families of our community, to carefully consider what is in the best interest of not only these new builds, but as well, our established families. A very daunting task. Please, do not annex more than south 10th can handle. These developers need to be kept in check to protect our community from their own greed. Thank you for taking these concerns into consideration. Sincerely, Julie A Harris 15074 Daniel St. Caldwell, ID 83607 12/13/2024 To whom it may concern: My young family lives in an area that will face impacts of proposed Verbena Ranch and Element Ridge subdivisions. What drew us to this home was the established and quiet neighborhood with large lot sizes (over 1/3 of an acre as far as the eye can see), and the panoramic views we enjoy day and night of Squaw Butte and farmland which brings countless birds to observe. You see, we moved here because we want our small children to have a big yard with mature trees and the opportunity to grow food and raise small animals. We love rural Canyon County. That being said, my family has concerns about two major developments being planned in front of us. This area of Caldwell is outside of city limits and, as mentioned, there are mainly large lots over 1/3 acre for miles. It seems counterintuitive to place multi-family homes in an area that has been county for years, let alone homes any less than 1/3 acre. I'm afraid the effect of this many residences will be disastrous to 10th avenue traffic. The views our neighborhood has enjoyed since 1970 are at risk if buildings are higher than ours. Please keep this in mind for the residents whose property value will see decreases due to the loss of views and the construction endured for 7+ years. We feel safe in our neighborhood currently. We do not get strangers walking through. We enjoy peace, quiet, and privacy without worry. This cannot remain if we build over 1,000 residences nearby. There will be theft, noise, disputes, traffic accidents, and less space for everyone to breathe. While many are moving to Idaho for safety, putting houses on any less than 1/3 acre cannot be good for anyone especially in this area that has been spread out forever. The only complaint we have about our neighborhood is the rate of speed on David Street. The people who live nearby (or their visitors) consistently drive well above the 20mph speed limit. Luckily the amount of traffic is so small, it's not currently a major issue. But it will become a major issue with more homes in the area. I'm afraid that cars will use David Street as a shortcut to bypass 10th Ave on their way to Hwy 55 and will use David Street as a sort of runway. -- Thank you, Briana Cheverton From: Camille Lane <lanetobycam@outlook.com> Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2024 2:53 PM To: City Clerk <CityClerk@cityofcaldwell.org> Subject: Verbena Housing Development at Homedale and 10th and Developing Montana and 10th I am writing with major concerns about this project. Our schools, roads, and emergency responders can't keep up with this growth. We need to stop approving and stop building housing developments. We can't keep moving forward with the attitude that "we will figure it out as we go". Trying to get in and out of both VMS and VHS is already a nightmare. A new school will open in this area next year which will add more traffic. Allowing this development will add a thousand more homes, which means closer to two thousand more vehicles will be on these roads a day. This is extremely dangerous for our kids driving to and from school and the rest of our community trying to get to work and appointments. Our emergency responders are also suffering from this growth. I hope and pray that no one in our community finds themselves without emergency care because there wasn't an ambulance available. Please take this into consideration when discussing this development and stop approving more housing units. Sincerely, Camille Lane 01.06.2025 Teri Belle funnylizard@mac.com 1/10/2025 Good afternoon. I live in Somerset West subdivision, directly south of proposed Element Ridge. As I commuted my 4.1 miles to work this morning, I witnessed yet another example of why ALL proposed subdivisions near South 10th need reconsideration. At 7:55am Emergency vehicles were attempting to head south on 10th toward Karcher Road..I could see them from David Street when I turned onto 10th heading north. The congestion was so bad between Homedale & Linden, the emergency vehicles could not get through. There was very little space for vehicles to pull off & let emergency vehicles through. Two years ago it took me 7 minutes to travel from the intersection of 10th & David to Everett Street. Now I plan on 20 minutes for that commute. How can anyone think that adding 200 more homes in Element Ridge (400 more cars) will not cause major traffic problems? Also the endangerment to our children trying to cross 10th to get to Vallivue Middle School makes me cringe! When it’s dark or foggy, or in spring the sunrise is blinding… that is terribly dangerous! Sincerely Teri Belle 15404 Cypress Caldwell ID 83607 9862016453