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Soterra No 2 Amendment
DEV26-000001, SPP26-000001, ZON26-000001
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Memorandum
To: Katie Wright, Planner III
Caldwell P & Z Department
From: Steven Pendleton, Land Development Manager
Hallie Hart, City Engineer
Re: DEV26-000001, SPP26-000001, ZON26-000001 (Soterra No 2 Amendment)
Date: April 3, 2026
The Engineering Department provides the following comments on a request by the applicant,
Ardurra, on behalf of Land Ex Soterra LLC, is requesting approval of a development agreement
modification, a rezone, and approval of a preliminary plat modification for Soterra Subdivision
No 2. The applicant proposes to rezone 11.38 acres of the site from C-2 to R-2 to accommodate
51 single family lots. The remaining 4.39 acres would remain as Community Commercial. The
entire phase 2 site is designated as Community Commercial within the Future Land Use Map,
which is compatible with both R2 and C-2 zoning. The 15.77 acre site (R3258300000 and
R3258301100) is located on the southwest corner of the intersection between E. Ustick Rd. and
S. Kimball Ave, in Caldwell, Idaho.
Development Plans
1. Development Plans – Prior to commencing construction and applying for building permits,
plans must be prepared by the developer’s engineer and approved by the City Engineering
Department which shall include the following items:
a. Street section and alignment (including curb and gutter);
b. Sidewalk (sidewalk width based on street classification);
c. Sanitary sewer (per City and DEQ requirements);
d. Potable water (per City and DEQ requirements);
e. Pressure Irrigation (per CMID requirements);
f. Stormwater facilities (per City requirements/storm water manual);
g. Street lighting (per City standards);
h. Street signage (per City and MUTCD requirements);
i. Vertical Datum based on NAVD 88 Datum.
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General
1. Applicant shall follow the requirements and processes of the subdivision ordinance for the
development of this project. For the purposes of this project, all conditions outlined in the
subdivision ordinance pertaining to receiving the City Engineers signature on, or the
recordation of, a final plat shall be applied to the submission of building permits.
2. The proportionate share of frontage improvements along classified roadways adjacent to the
preliminary plat shall be completed prior to the signature of the final plat for each phase
development regardless of the location of the phase being developed or bonding. To be
determined at the time of civil construction drawing approval.
3. Easements for public utilities outside of the public right-of-way shall be as listed below.
Easements will be required to be larger if deemed necessary by the City Engineer in order to
facilitate future maintenance operations of utilities.
a. 10 feet wide minimum.
b. Domestic water only,15 feet wide minimum
c. Sanitary sewer only, 20 feet wide minimum
d. Sewer and water combined; 30 feet wide minimum
4. Appropriate easements for emergency access, transmission lines and/or other utilities shall be
clearly indicated, with recorded instrument numbers provided for said easements, on the
construction drawings.
5. All utilities on and within the boundaries of the subdivision shall be located and/or relocated
underground.
6. All public streets, sewer, water, pressure irrigation fire protection, and street light facilities must
be dedicated to the City. Some conveyance facilities for stormwater drainage may be eligible
for dedication to the City.
7. Construction of facilities to be dedicated and/or within public right-of-way shall be performed by
an appropriately licensed Idaho public works contractor and shall be inspected by and
constructed to City of Caldwell specifications.
8. Prior to commencement of construction in any dedicated right-of-way, or construction of any
improvement intended for dedication to the City or connected to a City facility, the City
Engineering staff is to be notified. This preferably will take place in a pre-construction
conference scheduled by the engineer of record in which all appropriate personnel and utilities
are present. Appropriate City personnel are to be notified in advance of all testing (including
compaction, pressure and coliform, etc.) and given opportunity to be present during conduct of
the testing. The engineer of record or his designated representative is to witness all tests (not
covered by City inspectors) and a log of inspection visits and testing results is to be kept by the
engineer of record or his representative.
9. The developer is to employ a responsible design professional, preferably the engineer of
record, to oversee and inspect construction, to perform and/or observe all requisite testing of
Soterra No 2 Amendment
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completed facilities, and to certify that improvements have been constructed according to
approved plans and in compliance with applicable City, State, and Federal standards.
10. The engineer of record shall be held responsible to ensure that improvements are in
compliance with said engineer’s design. Following the construction of the improvements, the
developers engineer shall provide the City of Caldwell Engineering Department with electronic
(.dwg) format record drawings spatially referenced to the Idaho State Plane Coordinate
System-West Zone, North America Datum (NAD) 83. Vertical control shall be referenced to the
North America Datum (NAVD) 88 for future reference and to establish that the engineer of
record has caused construction to occur in substantial compliance with the design of said
engineer of record.
11. Any note, item or drawing element on the plats, construction drawings, engineering drawings
and/or design drawings related to the property inconsistent with City Codes, Policies and/or
Ordinances shall not be construed as approved unless specifically addressed and granted by
City Council.
Rights-of-Way
1. Ustick Road is classified as a Principal Arterial roadway. The applicant shall dedicate as public
right-of-way a minimum forty-eight (48) foot half width right-of-way (from centerline) along the
entire Ustick Road alignment (per City Standard R-810A).
2. Applicant shall provide necessary right-of-way on Ustick Road to construct an eastbound right-
hand turn lane at the intersection of Kimball Avenue. Per standard drawing R-810F
3. Kimball Avenue is classified as a Collector roadway. The applicant shall dedicate as public
right-of-way a minimum thirty-five (35) foot half width right-of-way (from centerline) along the
entire Kimball Avenue alignment (per City Standard R-810C).
4. All interior local streets classified as residential shall be dedicated to the City. The applicant shall
dedicate as public right-of-way a minimum fifty-three (53) foot full width right-of-way (per City
Standard R-810 E).
5. Applicant shall dedicate to the City of Caldwell any required right-of-way along all classified
roadways within 30 days of written request from the City of Caldwell.
6. A note shall be placed on the Final Plat indicating that all rights-of-way are to be dedicated to
the public.
7. All right-of-way details and street exhibits provided as part of the preliminary plat that do not
meet current City code standards are not approved as part of the preliminary plat entitlements
process. This shall be determined at the time of civil construction drawing review.
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Street
1. Full frontage half street improvements shall be completed to all classified roads adjacent to the
proposed project including (Ustick Rd. and Kimball Ave.) in accordance with all City of Caldwell
standards and specifications improvements shall include (but are not limited to) curb, gutter,
sidewalk, asphalt, streetlights, joint trench, spare communication conduit along classified
roadways, storm drainage facilities, etc.
2. The proportionate share of frontage improvements along classified roadways adjacent to the
preliminary plat shall be completed prior to the signature of the final plat for each phase
development regardless of the location of the phase being developed or bonding. To be
determined at the time of civil construction drawing approval.
3. All interior circulation routes proposed within this development shall be a minimum of 26’ in
width measured from face of curb to face of curb.
4. All private internal circulation routes shall fully comply with City of Caldwell standards and be
approved by the Caldwell Fire Marshall.
5. Applicant shall construct westbound left-hand turn lanes on Ustick Rd. at the intersection of
Kimball Ave. and the West entrance to the site.
6. Applicant is responsible for 25% of the widening of the bridge structure and surface
improvements at the crossing of the Phyllis Canal in the alignment of Ustick Rd. located in the
N.W. corner of the site.
7. No lot/building shall have direct access to/from Ustick Rd or Kimball Ave.
8. Applicant shall coordinate with the United States Postal System to determine a cluster mailbox
unit location. Said location shall be interior to the site and shall be located in a manner that will
not impact, or cause queueing onto, Ustick Rd or Kimball Ave.
8. Applicant shall gain plan approval from Highway District No. 4 (HD#4) for improvement along
HD#4 owned and operated roadways.
a. Any improvements that may be waived by the City Engineer shall also be approved to
be waived by HD#4 Engineer.
Traffic Impact Fees
City of Caldwell has adopted the “Caldwell Area Capital Improvements Plan & Impact Fee
Program”. The applicant will be required to pay traffic impact fees per table 7 of the
Impact Fee Schedule to be assessed to the building permit/s when applied for.
All accesses proposed within this preliminary plat shall meet City Of Caldwell and
Highway District 4 spacing requirements. Any deviations proposed within this
development shall be reviewed and approved on a case by case basis to be determined
by the governing agency at time of plan review.
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Any proposed traffic mitigation as proposed adjacent to the site by the traffic impact
study shall be evaluated for required improvements or access by the governing agency
at the time of plan review.
Water
City of Caldwell Public Works Department has reviewed the recently adopted Caldwell
Water Facility Plan System and determined that certain shortfalls exist in water pressure
zone 2 south of Interstate 84, zones 3 and 4. While these shortfalls are being remediated,
the Engineering Dept. doesn’t contest the approval of the Preliminary Plat and the
construction of onsite infrastructure, but reserves the right to hold any phase of final plat
and associated building permits until adequate water is obtained within the affected
zone. The Applicant is encouraged to work closely with the Engineering Department to
determine potential construction timing and impacts.
1. All on site water mains will need to be looped into existing mains for fire flow and water quality
purposes. Internal main sizing and construction plan approval, will be dependent upon the
availability of fire flow.
2. Each buildable lot shall be supplied with potable water. If buildings are constructed to include
individual units that could feasibly or will be sold separately, each unit shall be serviced
separately
3. Each phase of development shall have a redundant/secondary supply of domestic water.
4. The location of water service, including sizing of mains, providing of easements, frontage
construction, and offsite construction are to be decided during review of improvement plans.
This development will be required to comply with the Water Master Plan.
a. An 18” Water line is required in the alignment of Ustick Rd. adjacent to this site in
compliance with the Water Master Plan. Applicant shall upsize the existing 12”
water in accordance with the Master Plan or provide monies in-lieu of
construction to be determined by the City Engineer at the time of civil plan
submittal.
Sanitary Sewer
1. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant’s engineer to verify that connection to existing sewer
mainlines will not exceed the functional capacity of said mainlines. Provision for connectivity by
future developments shall be met in accordance with current City standards.
2. The location of sewer service, including sizing of mains, providing of easements, frontage
construction, and offsite construction are to be decided during review of improvement plans.
3. This development will be required to install a 12” trunk line in Ustick Rd. specified within the most
current version of the sewer master plan that reside within the limits of this preliminary plat.
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4. The Developer will be required (where applicable) to extend all sewer and water mainlines to the
center of adjacent roadways for connectivity by future developments. Locations of said
extensions will be decided during the review of the improvement plans.
5. Each buildable lot shall be supplied with a sewer service. If buildings are constructed to include
individual units that could feasibly or will be sold separately, each unit shall be serviced separately
6. Any easements for sewer lines not in the right-of-way should be at a width sufficient to construct
same and not less than 20 feet in width. Easements for adjacent sewer and water lines spaced
12’ apart not in the right-of-way shall be at a width sufficient to construct the same and shall be
no less than 30 feet in width.
7. A 20’ wide all-weather surfaces may be required to be constructed over mainlines that fall outside
the public right-of-way. All weather surfaces shall be constructed sufficiently to support heavy
equipment necessary to construct and maintain sewer under all seasonal weather conditions.
Irrigation
1. Existing easements and/or right-of-ways for any irrigation facility shall be determined and
clearly indicated on the construction plans. Construction across or re-routing of these facilities
is subject to approval by the governing irrigation district and at their discretion or their assigns.
2. The Developer shall maintain any existing upstream drainage rights and downstream irrigation
rights across the property. During the design phase of this project, the developer or his
engineer is to contact the appropriate irrigation district to help ascertain these rights.
Appropriate facilities shall be provided by the developer to convey irrigation and drainage water
across the property to take care of these offsite needs. There is to be no discharge of
gravity/pressure irrigation return water into the projects storm water system.
2. The development is to include a non-potable water pressure irrigation system. The design of
this pressure irrigation system is to be reviewed and approved by the Caldwell Municipal
Irrigation District prior to construction plan approval. It shall be required that the system will be
operated and maintained by the Caldwell Municipal Irrigation District.
3. Each lot, or building area, shall be provided with a pressure irrigation service in compliance with
Caldwell Municipal Irrigation District standards.
4. All pressure irrigation mainlines shall be located in the public right-of-way or within a public
utility easement, with a minimum width of 10 feet, centered over said mainlines as per current
City standards.
5. Applicant shall place the pump station in an area that is easily accessible with a recorded
perpetual easement sufficient for convenient access and maintenance of said pump station.
The lot shall be owned and maintained by the home owners association.
6. The applicant shall ensure that an adequate continuous irrigation supply flow is available to
meet the pressure irrigation system requirements of CMID.
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7. The applicant shall transfer a proportionate share of any existing water right(s), except those
held in trust by an irrigation district, to the City of Caldwell for both irrigation and domestic water
supply for the subject development. If this should occur, The City shall assist in registering the
transfer.
8. Applicant shall pipe the pump station delivery ditch from the source point (head gate) to the
pump station. Pump station overflow shall be piped from the pump station to the point of
discharge into an irrigation facility/canal/drain/etc. maintained by an irrigation district.
9. Upon Applicants connection to or use of the existing irrigation pump station, should they
choose to do so and CMID deems it appropriate to connect to, the applicant shall:
a) Supply the City of Caldwell with a water model of the whole pressurized irrigation
system including the piped overflow showing the system design meets all Caldwell
Municipal Irrigation District standards.
b) Applicant shall complete all upgrades to the system as required by CMID. Said
upgrades will be determined during plan review”
10. All plans and construction drawings submitted to the City of Caldwell for review and approval
for any out-of-season irrigation work to be performed within or across facilities located within (or
owned by) irrigation districts other than CMID shall be submitted to the Caldwell Engineering
Department no later than August 15th. Submittal of plans after this date may result in Applicant
not receiving plan approval in time to complete out-of-season work.
Storm Drain
1. As noted previously, provision is to be made for the disposal of stormwater drainage in
accordance with the City Stormwater Management Manual and any updates adopted
subsequent to this application. A copy of this policy is available upon request. The engineer of
record is to provide calculations, which indicate that the assumptions in his stormwater
drainage plan comply with the requirements of the stormwater manual. In this case, if a storm
water system is existing, the burden of proof is on the developer to verify the capacity is
sufficient for the proposed development.
2. The applicant shall identify and retain all historical drainage discharge points from the property
for the purpose of draining on-site storm water detention facilities.
3. Storm water detention basins are required to remain on-site and are to be operated and
maintained by the Home/Business Owners Association/etc.
4. There is to be no discharge of storm water overflow into any irrigation water return/discharge
facility/ditch/pipe/etc.
Plat
1. Prior to approval of the final plat, subdivision facilities must be completed or an appropriate
construction security provided. There may be temporary restrictions to the obtaining of building
permits, even with acceptable construction security, depending on fire protection, emergency
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service requirements, and City approval of the sanitary sewer system. A 20% temporary
restriction to obtaining of building permits will be enforced until all facility construction has been
completed, inspected and certified by the Applicants engineer including all punch list items.
2. A note shall be added to the final plat stating that no lot shall have direct access to/from W.
Ustick Rd. or S. Kimball Ave.
3. Upon recordation of the plat, the Engineering Department is to be provided with a PDF copy
of the recorded final plat and 3 full paper sets.
4. An electronic (dwg.) copy of the Final Plat suitable for mapping and addressing purposes will
be required with Final Plat application submittal.