A 270-home subdivision facing fierce neighborhood opposition got the green light from Meridian City Council. But the heart of the neighbors’ fight over the planned development is not the usual traffic or density concerns. It’s a small park they’ve paid to maintain for a over a decade that is now expected to be broken up and partially developed as part of the new subdivision.
The subdivision, called Adero, is planned near the northwest corner of crowded Ten Mile and McMillan roads in North Meridian. Boise’s Jim Conger will head the development, which is expected to include the single-family homes, 44 commercial lots and four office lots — a dense plan for the nearly 70-acre property.
“I’m really upset that we are here again,” said Meridian resident Patricia Fritschle, who lives just west of the proposed subdivision, at the City Council meeting on June 10.
Fristchle and other residents of the neighboring Bridgetower West subdivision testified to a fraught history with their subdivision’s developer going back years. The developer, Mike McCollum, has controlled the homeowner’s association in part by retaining ownership of a single parcel in the subdivision, meaning homeowners don’t have a say over their HOA, residents said. He also overbuilt a park onto property not yet slated for development nor intended to be a park, residents said. Now, part of that park will be developed by Conger Group…