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Council approves CenterPoint modification to add 26 deed-restricted units, raises AMI cap to 80%
Summary
After extensive neighborhood testimony about traffic, parking and privacy, council approved a modification to the CenterPoint Apartments development agreement and CUP to convert 213 market-rate units to 239 deed-restricted affordable units with a 40-year restriction and an 80% AMI cap; the approval included conditions on parking, window/privacy treatments and coordination with ACHD and the HOA on traffic calming.
Council approved a modification to the CenterPoint Apartments development agreement and conditional-use permit on Nov. 19 after hearing extensive public testimony and applicant commitments. The applicant sought to replace two interior 3-story buildings with 4-story flat-roof buildings to add 26 deed-restricted units (moving from 213 market-rate units to 239 affordable units) and requested alternative compliance for certain parking-lot landscaping under solar carports.
Deborah Nelson, counsel for the applicant, told council the changes were necessary to make the affordable-housing financing feasible and said the project would provide deed restrictions for 40 years serving households at 30–80% of area median income. "We meet that need by providing deed-restricted property for 40 years to serve Meridian residents whose income is 30 to 80% area median income," she said.
Neighbors raised strong concerns about traffic on private drives, parking spillover, views and privacy from 4-story elements adjacent to existing homes, and irrigation/water availability. Doug Stern, a neighborhood spokesman, told council, "There's way too many unknowns to approve" the higher-density changes. The applicant responded by pledging additional on-site parking (adding eight spaces above city-code requirements), reducing upper-story window sizes and adding landscape screening and fences where appropriate, and by agreeing to work with ACHD and the homeowners association on no-parking signage and potential traffic-calming measures.
Council motion language captured conditions adopted during deliberation: conversion to 239 affordable units; inclusion of a 40-year deed restriction with AMI up to 80% consistent with HUD guidelines; alternative-compliance approval to remove parking-lot landscaping under solar carports; window/privacy treatments and additional parking; and a requirement that the applicant work with the HOA and ACHD to identify up to two additional localized traffic-calming measures (e.g., speed cushions or raised crossing features) in coordination and subject to public-safety constraints.
The motion passed on roll call. Staff will finalize the development-agreement amendment, track required design-review items (roof heights, window details), and coordinate implementation items (signage, traffic-calming measures, parking enforcement) with the applicant and HOA.
