Preliminary planned unit development approved

HAYDEN — A modified version of the Hayden Sky preliminary development was voted through 3-2 during the March 12 council session.  

After nearly three hours of presentations and deliberations, the plan will be moving forward for a final plan to be developed.

Councilmembers Ed DePriest and Matt Roetter voted for the project, and Councilmembers Sandra White and Tom Shafer voted against. Mayor Alan Davis was the tie-breaking vote for the plan.

Jeramie Terzulli with Olson Engineering made his case to council explaining the proposed project will hold 412 housing units. 

He estimates between 360 and 400 of those units will be single-family units. 

Terzulli said 15 acres of parks will be part of the landscape.

Terzulli said the main goal of the development is to bring a variety of housing options to Hayden at a variety of prices.

Roadways will also be impacted as Dakota will be extended to Huetter, and Hayden Avenue will be widened.

Terzulli said the project is expected to be a seven to 10-year buildout through four phases.

Traffic is one of the larger concerns, as more people typically bring more traffic.

Eric Olson, an engineer with Olson Engineers, said a traffic study was done, and the level of service with several intersections along Hayden Avenue is rated at the worst level of service during peak hours.

Where Hayden intersects with Meyer, Huetter, Atlas and Ramsey all received an F rating.

Olson said mitigations were also proposed.

Mitigations include putting possible traffic signals or roundabouts at the named intersections.

In the proposal, the developer committed to funding a substantial amount of the costs included with the traffic updates. The updates were labeled to be done in 2030.

DePriest said he wants to see the traffic updates done before that.

Sewer service is also a concern, and Council President Roetter said he would like to wait until a sewer study is done to see if the city’s facilities can handle the service load.

A lot of the discussion and deliberation skirted around whether or not Hayden can handle the growth, and finally came to the point that the growth is going to happen regardless.

“We can’t just shut the gates,” DePriest said. “The region will grow whether we want it to or not.”

DePriest went on to describe how the city might have to raise taxes or find other outlets if the plan wasn’t approved.

He said the city needs to grab on to all of the help it can, or it will eventually have to propose a levy for roads.

He also said even if a levy isn’t approved through public vote, the courts can come through later and force the city to comply and find a funding outlet.

City Attorney Fonda Jovick validated that.

White voted against the approval, and cited that more policing would also be needed to cover the growth.

The final plan will be developed and brought to council at a later date.