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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us June 12, 2006 Helman Baths subdivision hinges on hot spring By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings A proposed 18-residential unit subdivision slated for the historic Helman Baths property will again come before the Ashland Planning Commission Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the council chambers on East Main Street. When the planning commission first considered the project in March, it voted to continue the matter to allow the applicant to provide additional information about the hot spring on the property. Specifically, the Commission requested that the applicant “incorporate the hot spring as a natural feature for the benefit of the subdivision as a whole,” according to a city planning staff report. The plan currently calls for 20 lots to be created on a 4.3-acre parcel at 247 Otis Street. Seventeen will contain new single-family homes and two will be preserved as open space. The remaining lot includes a historic house, a swimming pool and the hot spring, which feeds the pool. The staff report says “the revised application proposes to locate [the hot spring] and indoor pool fed by the springs, as well as the historic residence, on one tax lot. ... this seems to indicate that the current property owner would retain [this lot] and continue to utilize the spring and the pool for private use.” However, the staff report adds, “If the majority of the commission believes the spring is a ‘significant feature’ then it would be required to be ‘included in the open space, common areas and unbuildable areas.’” When the application first came before the planning commission the hot spring was to be included in a future phase of the project, rather than the current phase. Since then the applicant, Sage Development LLC, has redesigned the subdivision to make the historic home and pool, as well as the hot spring, part of a single tax lot included in this phase, but not slated for redevelopment as a part of this application. At the March 14 meeting, developer Devian Aguirre argued that the hot spring was no longer a natural feature because it had been covered up by a man-made well for so long. However, rather than risking a denial, Aguirre agreed to continue the public hearing at that time. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x. 226 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 Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams