Momentum plan would bring 690 homes, the most of any Meridian rezone request in three years

A plan filed with Meridian on June 12 would put 690 homes and 546,000 square feet of building space on about 106 acres near the southeast corner of Meridian Road and Lake Hazel. Called Momentum Subdivision, it would be the largest rezone request by home count the city has seen in at least three years.

The applicant is Brighton Development Inc., and the land is owned by SCS Investments, LLC. The Meridian Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on the plan Oct. 1. City records don't show what came of it, and the filing's status changed to pending on Oct. 16.

What the developer is asking for

Momentum bundles four separate requests. Each one changes a different piece of the rules that govern the land.

• A comprehensive plan map amendment. The city's future land use map is its long-range guide to what belongs where. This would switch about 61 acres from medium-high density residential to a mixed use regional designation.
• Two rezones. Zoning sets the rules for a specific piece of land. The request would move 19 acres from R-15 to R-40 and about 8.3 acres from R-15 to C-G.
• A preliminary plat. This is the map that divides land into lots. It shows 11 residential lots, 24 commercial lots and three common lots.
• A development agreement modification. A development agreement is a contract with the city setting conditions on a project. This would create a new one, update the concept plan and add design guidelines.

Bigger than anything recent

Among Meridian rezone filings over the past three years, the typical one proposed 71 homes. Momentum's 690 is far ahead of the next largest, District at Ten Mile¹ at 402 homes, and Apex Farr² at 381.

By land, it ranks third, behind Apex Farr's 126 acres and a withdrawn Touchmark plan³ at 120 acres. Its density, about 6.5 homes an acre, lands near the middle of the pack. Several approved projects packed homes tighter, including Driftwood Townhomes Subdivision⁴ at nearly 13 an acre.

Requests like this have generally gone through. Of 19 Meridian rezone filings in that period, 14 were approved, none were denied, two were withdrawn and three are still pending. The approved ones typically took 172 days from filing to decision. Momentum reached its first hearing in 111 days.

Built on an earlier approval

The application lists Apex Zenith⁵ as a prior approval. Meridian approved that project, also from Brighton Development Inc., on Jan. 28, 2025, for 740 apartments and 400,000 square feet of commercial space on about 142 acres, just under a quarter mile away. In April, the city approved a final plat for its first phase⁶: seven commercial lots on 11 acres.

Momentum lists fewer homes than Apex Zenith and more building space. The filing doesn't say how much of the Apex Zenith land it covers or which parts of the earlier plan it would replace.

Momentum's 690 homes would top every Meridian rezone request filed in the past three years; the next largest proposed 402.

Plenty is already underway nearby. The city approved Skyranch⁷, 284 single-family homes just under a quarter mile away, in January 2025. About three-quarters of a mile off, Apex Cadence⁸ won approval for 228 homes, and a Brighton filing for its first phase⁹, listing 56 homes, is in review. The landowner, SCS Investments, also appears on Apex Phenomenal¹⁰, a 64-lot subdivision about a third of a mile away.

What isn't known yet

• No documents are on file. There is no staff report, site plan or building drawings to review. At submittal, the city asked for elevations, an open space exhibit and other exhibits; the filing was accepted two days later.
• What kind of homes. The application counts all 690 as single-family, yet the plat shows only 11 residential lots, and the earlier Apex Zenith approval was for apartments. The filing doesn't explain the difference.
• The hearing schedule. City records show the Oct. 1 commission hearing, but the city's own project description lists a Nov. 5 hearing date. Neither explains the other.
• Smaller mismatches. The site is listed at 106.3 acres in one place and 106.1 in another. The application also reports 160,000 square feet of existing floor area without saying what that space is.