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Council remands 62‑acre Serena Crossing mixed‑use proposal back to planning commission over infrastructure, integration concerns
Summary
Council remanded the Serena Crossing annexation and mixed‑use application to planning and zoning for further review after staff and commissioners identified inadequate integration between residential and non‑residential areas and outstanding transportation and collector‑road coordination with ITD and neighboring property owners.
The Meridian City Council on June 16 voted to remand the Serena Crossing annexation and mixed‑use development application back to the planning and zoning commission for further staff analysis and commissioner review.
Staff presented an amended application covering approximately 62.44 acres at West Amity Road and South Meridian Road (State Highway 69). The revised plan proposed mixed commercial, office and residential uses with two distinct corners (northwest and southwest). Staff noted the project still exceeds several comprehensive‑plan targets: the residential share in the plan is about 68% of the site (exceeding the mixed‑use maximum of 50%), and the southwest corner’s gross density exceeds the 15‑units‑per‑acre recommendation. Staff also flagged transportation needs: timing and coordination of required off‑site intersection improvements, access spacing along Amity Road and State Highway 69, and completion of a collector roadway and pedestrian connections.
Applicant Ethan Mansfield (Hawkins Company) said the project has been reconfigured to add more office and quasi‑public open space and described a proposed STARS (sales‑tax) agreement that would use commercial sales tax to fund highway cross‑section improvements along State Highway 69. Mansfield said a grocery‑anchored shopping center would be used to generate the sales tax base necessary to fund road construction and that coordination with adjacent property owners would enable a collector street and sewer extensions.
Several council members expressed concern about assessing the two sides of the development as one mixed‑use area when a major arterial separates them. Multiple members asked for ITD, Ada County and planning‑commission review of revised plans, better documentation about the proposed STARS agreement and clearer commitments on the collector‑road timing and construction. For those reasons, Council voted to remand the applications to planning and zoning so staff could prepare an updated report and planning commissioners could revisit the recommendation.
Vote: Motion to remand passed on a council vote (unanimous in the recorded roll call). Staff said a remand will allow preparation of recommended conditions and additional review of circulation, pedestrian connectivity and any waivers requested for direct access to the state highway.
What happens next: The applicant may return to planning and zoning with revised materials or the commission may reopen the record; staff will prepare an updated report showing where the proposal does and does not meet the comprehensive plan and UDC standards, and the council may revisit the item after the commission’s action.
