No traffic study. School-crowding worries. Meridian OKs another big Ten Mile development

A 200-acre development with stores, restaurants, offices and housing will move forward in the area west of Ten Mile Road along Interstate 84 in South Meridian. It marks the final major burst of development on roughly 1,000 acres of what was farmland in the decade since the Ten Mile Interchange opened.

The Meridian City Council wrestled with worries about the project’s impact on traffic and school enrollment, but ultimately greenlit the development without taking the Idaho Transportation Department’s recommendation that a new regional traffic study be done.

The project, The District at Ten Mile, is spearheaded by Ahlquist Development and would include dining and retail, a hotel, over 500,000 square feet of office space including medical offices, industrial space for partner Adler Industrial, and up to 400 town houses.

Ahlquist’s project is the last big development to come to the area east and west of Ten Mile Road north of I-84 that is guided by the city’s Ten Mile Interchange Specific Area Plan adopted in 2007. The plan called for development that would “look, feel and function differently than a typical commercial area or residential subdivision,” “anchored by a lifestyle center” and providing “an exciting atmosphere for residents.”

The District at Ten Mile aims to deliver that lifestyle center.

Nearby developments include Ten Mile Crossing , which is primarily a business park, and the Gateway at Ten Mile, a 39-acre multifamily complex in construction that is planned to have 390 apartments housing an estimated 758 people, the Idaho Statesman previously reported.

The District at Ten Mile merges five properties already annexed and zoned by the city. Ahlquist representatives say developing them as a unit will help the site achieve “connectivity” not otherwise possible in a “piecemeal” approach.

“The design philosophy based on that centers on a real series of interconnected, very diverse and accessible spaces,” Tonn Petersen, Ahlquist’s chief development officer, told the Statesman.

Petersen says the project will also prioritize an integrated feel through an emphasis on walkability.

“Our vision,” Petersen said, “(is) to cultivate a very vibrant, walkable experience that resonates with the Treasure Valley’s spirit of place and belonging.”

Their first priority: finishing an east-to-west collector road connecting Ten Mile and Black Cat roads, already in construction.

Ahlquist collaborated with Fred Bruning, the CenterCal Properties developer responsible for The Village at Meridian.

Petersen said the project will incorporate “lessons learned” from the Village, though The District at Ten Mile will be twice as large.

“It’s integrating those components into a development that is very distinct from the Village, but will have some similarities in terms of curated landscapes, interactive public gathering hubs, integrated pathways that … serve as the stage for a real, memorable experience when you come to The District at Ten Mile,” Petersen said.

Not all community members are convinced.

Residents worry about traffic, crowded schools

In public comments submitted to the city and testimony offered in the public hearings Sept. 10 and 17, citizens raised concerns about how the project will affect traffic congestion on Ten Mile Road and the freeway, as well as school enrollment at nearby West Ada schools, particularly Chaparral Elementary about 1¼ miles north of the development.

“Ten Mile Road puts residents at risk every day,” one South Meridian resident, Justin Hamilton, wrote in an email to the city clerk’s office.

Hamilton described accidents he’s witnessed due to traffic congestion, arguing, “The safety of residents needs to be a primary focus of this council. Our infrastructure does not properly support our safety now.”

An Ada County Highway District staff report rates Ten Mile Road’s level of service during its afternoon peak at “F.”

An exact measure of how traffic will be affected by The District at Ten Mile is unknown; the last regional traffic impact study dates back to the creation of the Ten Mile Interchange Area Specific Plan in 2007, four years before construction of the interchange finished in 2011.

“I think we did ourselves a disservice by not updating the Ten Mile specific area plan,” Council Member Liz Strader said during the Sept. 17 hearing. “What I’ve been wrestling with is, do I sort of oppose this on principle, because I believe that is the decision we should have made, or do I just acknowledge where we are today?”

Meridian’s population grew 56% from 2010 to 2020, according to Census data.

ITD proposes traffic study ‘too late’

ITD has recommended a regional traffic impact study, but Ahlquist representatives say ACHD’s 33-page staff report provides enough information.

“Once again ITD is at the party too late,” Geoffrey Wardle, the development’s counsel, said of ITD’s request, which came shortly before public hearings began. “ITD has known that these parcels have been zoned this way for years. … It’s consistent with your plan.”

Raising concerns about school overcrowding, Natalie Wixomm Purcell, a Meridian resident, said in public testimony: “In recent years it seems that the needs of developers have taken precedent over the wellbeing of Meridian citizens. Education has taken a back burner in our city’s planning, and our children are now the collateral damage.”

Purcell said her son is one of 37 in his fifth-grade class at Chaparral.

Wardle said the project could contain up to 400 units of medium-density town houses, including a rezoning of nine additional acres for this purpose. Wardle put these nine acres in contrast with the 200 total in the project.

Purcell balked at this: “It doesn’t matter if it’s nine acres, (Mr. Wardle) says. It matters to me, and it matters to my family,” she said.

The West Ada School District estimates The District at Ten Mile’s 400 town houses would translate to 53 school-aged children.

2,700 new students projected within 1 mile

In a memo to the City Council, Hether Hill, who works on long-range planning for the city’s planning division, noted that in the past five years, 1,653 single-family and 2,939 multifamily units have been approved within a one-mile radius of The District at Ten Mile. Hill estimates this will result in 2,681 school-aged children.

West Ada’s historical enrollment data shows enrollment at Chaparral jumped from 361 to 537 from the 2020-21 school year to the 2021-22 school year, and since has leveled off at 533 last year. Districtwide enrollment has dropped by 1,633 students since the 2019-20 school year, the Statesman previously reported .

Ahlquist representatives ultimately argued that the project is in accordance with the council’s Area Specific Plan, and that the developers will take steps to alleviate traffic concerns, including by building the collector road. They also said the extension of the nearby Idaho 16 highway south to I-84 (in progress) and the construction of the Linder Road overpass ( construction scheduled to begin in late 2026 ) will help alleviate congestion.

Council Member John Overton pointed out that some of the broader concerns about traffic are out of the developer’s control. “It’s the guy stuck with the last piece that seems to have to try to make that puzzle piece fit,” Overton said during the public hearing.

Wardle argued a similar point about the concerns raised at the hearing: “I think we have to work on it collectively, but we also have to recognize that the ship has largely sailed, because we have implemented a plan by zoning and annexing properties that we now need to move forward with.”

“That’s the consequence,” he continued. “When we come in trying to implement the plans that municipalities adopt, we can’t get crucified for doing what we were told you wanted.”

The council ultimately agreed, forgoing ITD’s traffic study recommendation. In a 5-1 vote, the council approved the project, including the rezoning of 9.26 additional acres for medium-to-high-density housing and 2.66 additional acres for high-density housing.

The lone no vote came from City Council President Luke Cavener, who said he wanted to pursue ITD’s recommendation for a regional traffic impact study.

“My decision to oppose stems largely from a desire to have greater clarity of information,” Cavener told the Statesman by phone.

With approval, The District at Ten Mile will begin construction, with the first goal of completing the collector road connecting Black Cat to Ten Mile, which Ahlquist anticipates completing in spring 2025.

Cavener says this is not the last time the developers will appear before City Council.

“There will be other opportunities for Council to have a bite of the apple,” he said.

New Meridian library branch hopes to be an ‘anchor’ in future development hot spot

Meridian mom leads charge for Riley’s Residence, ‘loving home’ for kids with disabilities

A proposed McDonald’s ‘smell’ causes a stink for South Meridian neighbors and City Hall