Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us June 14, 2005 Revised Clay St. project goes back to planning commission Wetland addressed in new plan, which drops number of units by 10 percent By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Last time the Ashland Planning Commission debated the merits of annexing into the city a 10-acre lot on Clay Street, the plans called for a 130-unit subdivision that would have engulfed a wetland that drains into Bear Creek and done away with a stately cottonwood tree near the old farmhouse. Tonight, the commission will hear a revised version of this request, as the developer has agreed to leave approximately 1/2 acre in open space for the wetland and to leave the area that hosts the large cottonwood undeveloped for the time being. The total number of units has been reduced to 117. Pacific Northwest Building and Design, the developer for the project, is still in the process of having the wetlands assessment verified at the state level. Senior city planner Bill Molnar said most of the wetland is being left open and a small portion will be built over. He said approximately 2,000 square feet of wetlands would need to be reconfigured under the new plan. The wetland is part of a Bear Creek drainage that is one of 13 identified by the city to have a “significant water quality component.” The developer has also decided to preserve for now the farmhouse and the three large cottonwoods on the northwest corner of the lot. When last this application was publicly debated, the largest tree was given much attention by the public for its exceptional size and overall health and appearance. Two other cottonwoods are also of considerable size. “We’ve basically taken the whole corner where the house is out of the scheme,” said Andy Cochrane of Pacific Northwest Building and Design. He said the company will turn this corner into its own tax lot, so it can be either preserved, sold or developed in the future, calling it “phase 2.” “At some point in the future, if the trees perish, our design can adapt to that,” he said, noting that large, old cottonwoods are known to lose limbs or break. “Not everyone is convinced these are the right trees to be saving in this instance. That age poplar and that dense of a population are not a good match.” To facilitate these added design features, the developer has envisioned a more curving neighborhood, rather than the traditional block layout they brought to the commission in February. “The streets are not in a grid pattern,” said Andy Cochrane. “There’s more curvature to the neighborhood. It’s a slightly different look, but conceptually it’s the same idea.” Molnar said the “overall design has changed considerably.” He said all of the single-family units have been removed and now the project is primarily made up of two- and four-unit blocks. He added that many appear to be single-family dwellings from the outside. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams