Madison Ranch gets yellow light

The development of Madison Ranch in Hayden can move forward, provided the plans meet standards set Tuesday by the Hayden City Council.

Council members approved a zone development agreement outlining conditions for Madison Capital, LLC to develop a parcel near the intersection of Hayden Avenue and Huetter Road.

Construction cannot start on Madison Ranch until the project meets the list of conditions, written based on input by city council members.

“We’re still at four dwelling units per acre,” said Councilman Ed DePriest. “Four dwelling units per acre is about as low as you can go unless you tell the people, ‘you can’t build on it.’ Which I believe we don’t have the right to do.”

As part of the agreement, a traffic study must be conducted and presented to the council for approval prior to construction.

“I’m a little reluctant to move forward on something I’m not sure of,” said Matt Roetter, council president. “What I want to know is what are those intersections graded? We know there are issues, I’d like to know what they are right now.”

DePriest and Roetter expressed concerns about the result of the traffic study, and how to mitigate the congestion on Hayden Avenue.

“I, too, have concerns about traffic,” said Councilwoman Sandra White.

Depending on the results of the study, the council can opt to increase the traffic impact fees to mitigate an undue burden on city streets.

Other conditions in the agreement include a requirement that a detailed landscape plan be approved by council members; townhomes would be a 50-50 blend of two- and three-story structures; an owners' association would be established in the townhomes with a contract that restricts the lease of a townhome within one year of purchase; and there will be no more than 30 townhome units.

Scott Kurtz, Madison Capital president, asked to revise one standard for staggered heights and rooflines that resulted in a compromise with council members.

Hayden Mayor Scott Forssell had requested that townhome buildings on the parcel have roof planes with alternating heights.

“We talked about Monopoly hotels and how I envisioned it differently,” Forssell said. “When I drive down Hayden Avenue, I’m looking for variety as I go down there.”

Changing roof heights within one building is "cost prohibitive," Kurtz said.

“I don’t envision having different rooflines within one structure,” he said. “From an aesthetic perspective … we’re all trying not to look like the Monopoly hotel blocks or the 24-plexes next door.”

The Villas of Carrington are three-story condo buildings next to the Madison Ranch parcel with very little landscaping or visual dimension.

Forssell and other council members agreed to allow the whole buildings on Hayden Avenue to have varying heights and no more than half of all the buildings to be more than two stories.

The result would be one-, two- and three-story buildings fronting Hayden Avenue for an aesthetic rhythm and sight lines between the buildings to landscaping.

The complete development is on an 18-acre parcel that will include a combination of single-family homes to the south, with a commercial building and affordable townhomes along Hayden Avenue to the north.

Other parameters discussed by the city council, but already outlined in the visual standards for a mixed use zone, include green spaces, pedestrian paths and a bike path that must be included in the final plans.

Ramsey extension status

Construction on the Ramsey Road extension must begin by 2024 in order to keep federal grant money for the project, said public works director Alan Soderling in an update to council members Tuesday.

For the project to proceed, 10 more properties have to be acquired through the coming year, including three public properties already in process with the county.

The remaining seven private properties are at varying stages of progress with three expected to progress to agreements. The last four properties present challenges where two are restarting negotiations and two have stagnated.

“My concern is with the homeowners who are unwilling,” White said. “This is something that impacts their home, their lifestyles. What’s the city’s responsibility?”

The two in stagnation are the properties of the most concern, Soderling said. If they continue to reject a deal through negotiations, the city will cover the costs of deferring the acquisitions to the courts to fairly mitigate the impact on property owners. In other words, it would move into eminent domain.

Eminent domain is the ability of the government to take private property and convert it into public use.

“Property acquisitions will be complete by the start of construction,” said Fonda Jovick, city attorney.

The consequences of failing to meet the 2024 deadline would be complicated and have not been fully defined in the terms of the grant agreement, Soderling said.

“There are potentially huge financial implications,” he said. “We’ve made a commitment, we have an agreement. When we started taking this money and spending it — we've been spending federal dollars since 2012, 2013 on this project — there are expectations.”