Fruitland board OK's subdivision blueprint
By Julie Engel | Argus Observer
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 1:13 PM PDT
Fruitland - The Fruitland City Council sent a favorable recommendation to the Payette County Planning and Zoning Commission for the proposed County Side Subdivision at its regular meeting Monday night.
The County Side Subdivision, presented by Rywest Homes Inc., is inside Fruitland's impact area south of Northwest First Avenue and west of Elmore Road in Payette County. The 30-acre parcel is currently zoned agriculture, and the request for a rezone is to rural residential. Fruitland City Administrator Rick Watkins said the land is designated as future single family residential in the comprehensive plan. The favorable recommendation came with four requests: a 35-foot right-of-way south of Northwest First Avenue to provide for the future 70-foot right-of-way that will be needed, a 60-foot right-of-way on the interior streets, a utility easement around the perimeter of the subdivision and the installation of a pressurized irrigation system.
The request will now go to the Payette County Planning and Zoning Commission and the Payette County Commissioners for final approval.
In other council news, Fruitland City Councilman Ken Bishop made a request that the city take a look at a four-way stop at Northwest 16th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. When traveling south on Pennsylvania, Bishop said he has to pull out into the street to see oncoming traffic because of trees and a chain-link fence. Bishop said he wanted to inquire about the process of installing a four-way stop at that intersection.
Fruitland Public Works Supervisor Jerry Campbell said an engineering study must be done before signage can be installed. Cities must follow the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which Campbell said are federal requirements regarding how entities sign their streets.
“You can't just do it on a whim,” he said.
Also, Campbell said a traffic count must be completed before installation. The Idaho Transportation Department usually requires the total number of cars on all four lanes of traffic to be close to equal before a four-way stop is installed, Campbell said. A traffic study was completed for the Syringa Springs Subdivision, and Fruitland Mayor Tom Limbaugh said they should take a look at that study to see if it addressed traffic on Northwest 16th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. The City Council decided to take a look at the traffic study and then talk with ITD about the issue.
