Planning Fees cited as a source of Financial Hardship for doing business in Meridian Idaho

Mark Reinhardt- Boise Idaho During the months of April and May, the Commercial Real Estate arm of Arkansas Corporation Wal-Mart was working on modifying the original development agreement issued to them by Meridian Idaho Planning and Zoning. The original filing itself had mentioned that the City required the building of a Vinyl Fence near a local subdivision in the area. Wal-Mart Filing Document (full);

MDA 13 009 Walmart Overland Stoddard by acousticfreeze

According to a Google Map Street View image taken in 2011, this was what that particular area looked like between the Store's construction and the Bear Creek Subdivision. Bear Creek Subdivision Boundary with the Overland and Stoddard Walmart:
View Larger Map Boise area Law Firm Spink Butler had reported that their client had experienced unforseen costs in relation to the project. Citing Meridian Planning Regulations as the reasoning. According to the companies Annual Report for 2013, this was the financial balance sheet relating to investing capital, associated with construction costs involving the creation of New Wal-Mart stores. Full Report:

Wal-Mart 2013 Annual Report by acousticfreeze

While the Wal-Mart Stores Inc report highlights issues relating to their Investment Capital Fund involving new store construction. Issues with Meridian Planning and Zoning regulatory compliance has run into issues involving smaller businesses. A furniture store operated by Idaho State Representative Joe Palmer had recently faced Financial difficulties according to Planning and Zoning documents. Representative Palmer stated during the March 2012 filing, According to a Google Map image taken in 2011, this was the image of the store store described by Representative Palmer,
View Larger Map Google Maps had showed this as the image of how Meridian Road is originally constructed,
View Larger Map According to Idaho CBS Affilate KBOI 2, Meridian Road Construction had affected many businesses. The city's website had this to say about economic opportunity in Meridian, “We will stay focused on enhancing our business friendly climate that will be nurtured through the merging of Planning and Building and Development Services into one unified focus - Community Development Department.' While expressing this, the City of Meridian also stated, “While we have seen over 1400 new jobs in Meridian from 2010 to 2012, we have seen a reduction in Real Estate and Government jobs.” The fee scheduled issued by the City of Meridian had the following fees listed for building regulatory compliance,

Meridian Idaho Planning Fee Schedule by acousticfreeze

According to The 2012-2013 Annual report for the city, Property Taxes, Water/Sewer, and rebudgeting were listed as the highest sources of revenue, The primary allocation for the Meridian City Budget, is for City Support services and the Police Department, water and sewer being the third focus. As local businesses in the area struggle financially, budget allocations have placed Public Assistance and Public Safety as top city priorities.