Planning commission approves Collins subdivision and grants sidewalk variance on Pierce Park Lane

The Boise City Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday recommended approval of a preliminary plat for Collins Subdivision at 5600 Pierce Park Lane and approved a variance to waive the requirement for a sidewalk on the north side of a proposed private street.

Planning staff told commissioners the application (SUB2439 and CVA2440) proposes five buildable lots and one common lot on roughly 0.98 acres in an R-1C zone. Jesse Lyle, the planning staff presenter, said the applicant will provide a 10-foot detached multiuse pathway along Pierce Park Lane and a five-foot detached sidewalk along the south side of the private street, but requested a variance to waive the sidewalk on the north side of the private road because a future extension of the street is not possible and the parcel lacks sufficient width to install full street improvements without creating nonconforming setbacks.

The nut of the commission’s finding was that the detached sidewalk on the south side and the 10-foot multiuse path along Pierce Park Lane provide continuous pedestrian access, and that the parcel’s physical constraints constitute a hardship supporting the variance.

Developer representative Ben Semple told the commission his client agrees with the staff report and with conditions recommended by ACHD. “We are in agreement with the terms and conditions of the staff report, including the ACHD staff report,” Semple said. He also told commissioners the project will form a homeowners association to maintain the private street and landscape buffer and that the developer intends to replace the current wire fence on the north property line with a six-foot privacy fence in response to neighborhood concerns.

Several neighbors testified during public comment asking for a perimeter privacy fence and raising concerns about headlights and the visual effect of different sidewalk widths and landscape buffers. Cindy Schechter, who lives immediately north of the site, told the commission she opposed the patchwork of detached and attached sidewalks and said the frontage improvements would make the street “look kind of messy.” Jack Burnstrom said the proposed home five feet off the property line would create headlight glare into his driveway and urged the developer to install a privacy fence.

Commissioner Schaeffer moved to recommend approval of the preliminary plat and to approve the variance to the access and connectivity standards. The motion carried on a roll call vote; the clerk recorded six yes votes and no dissenting votes. The planning staff report, ACHD comments and the applicant’s conditions of approval were incorporated into the motion.

The commission’s approval includes the conditions in the staff report requiring construction to meet the city and ACHD standards, provision of the multiuse path on Pierce Park Lane, the five-foot sidewalk on the south side of the private street and the maintenance responsibilities for common lots by an HOA.

Background and next steps: This is a recommendation to city council on the preliminary plat (the commission is the recommending body for plats); council will receive the commission’s recommendation and the same record if it takes up the item. If a final decision is made later on the plat, it may be appealed to city council per city rules on appeals, within 10 days of a final decision.

Speakers quoted in this article are members of the public and staff who testified at the hearing. The applicant’s civil team and ACHD provided technical comments that staff said were included in the packet.