HomeMy WebLinkAboutOaklund, Dennis & Marilyn - Letter of Opposition_Springhouse Townes_06.26.25From:dennis oaklund
To:PZ
Subject:Springhouse Townes Subdivision Revised Plan
Date:Thursday, June 26, 2025 4:09:44 PM
June 26, 2025
City of Caldwell
Mayor and City Council
Planning & Zoning Commission
RE: SPRINGHOUSE TOWNES SUBDIVISION, ANNEXATION & PUD
PARCEL NO. R32756010
CASE NO. ANN25-000002, PUD25-000002, SPP25-000003
Honorable Mayor Wagoner, City Council and P & Z Commissioners,
We are again writing in opposition to the proposed Springhouse Townes Subdivision proposed
on Midway Road. The developer's revised plans have done little to improve on the original
plan that was denied approval at the previous P & Z meeting.
The revision does not address many of the issues P & Z had with the original plan. Items not
addressed include neighborhood compatibility, overall appearance of the buildings, traffic and
the impact on the Vallivue School District. We feel this revision should first be resubmitted to
P & Z before being submitted to the mayor and city council.
While the revision has reduced the total number of units, it has done next to nothing to
improve the compatibility with the adjacent neighborhoods. These are not going to be single
family owned as Ms Constantikes stated in her meetings with the community and P & Z
Commission. They are simply high-density apartments owned by absentee investors. They are
still large monolithic two-story buildings that resemble WW 2 military barracks especially from
the rear. That rear elevation is what is facing our subdivision in two 178-foot-long buildings
positioned the minimum distance from the lot line. That puts 12 units sharing the fence with
two single story custom homes on lots of ½ and 1 ½ acres respectively. That would result in a
serious loss of peace and privacy for the existing homeowners. The proposed 6-foot vinyl
fence does absolutely nothing to abate the noise and lack of privacy. At a minimum an 8-foot
concrete block wall should be required.
The revised plan attempted to address the parking shortages, but it still seems inadequate.
Most of the guest parking seems to be located on the southern side of the property with no
provisions for parking on the north side, the sports court, dog park or play area. This could
result guests and tenants parking on the street and in violation of the fire lanes.
The plan states that it complies with all R2 zoning requirements. Perhaps we don't understand
but looking at the table the planner provided it seems to be in violation of several criteria:
Interior lot minimum area, corner lot minimum area, and all lot minimum lot frontage.
As stated in our previous letter of June 9, 2025, CBH homes is already building a large
subdivision directly across Midway Road from the proposed Springhouse Townes
development. Traffic on Midway Road is already congested, and Midway Road is not
scheduled to be upgraded for at least a decade.
Vallivue School District is already overcrowded and even with new schools under construction
will not be able to accommodate the huge influx of students they are receiving. High density
developments like this only exacerbate that situation.
Again, we question the large rectangular area of the property that encompasses the Elijah
Drain and Notus Canal #2. Was that acreage counted in to determine the total number of
units allowed per acre? That portion of the property is not available for building and basically
inaccessible to the subdivision for any purpose. It should not figure in when calculating how
many units could be constructed.
Once again, thank you for your consideration,
Dennis & Marilyn Oaklund
16925 Jerica Court
Caldwell, ID 83607
This email has been scanned for spam and viruses by Proofpoint Essentials. Click here toreport this email as spam.