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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Obituaries Weather Archive Hot Topics Forum Photo Gallery Past Readers Polls Revels Etcetera Backpage O-Zone Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Online Games Movie Preview October 11, 2006 Helman Street mixed use project continued By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings A two-building, 16,054-square-foot, mixed use project proposed for the corner of Helman and Van Ness Street had endured six historic commission meetings and two tree commission meetings before making its way to the planning commission agenda on Tuesday night. After a three-hour land use hearing on Tuesday, the project still has at least one more public meeting before it can be approved because a majority of the planning commission believe the project needs some refining. "It's a very complicated site," said project planner Mark Knox. "We've been working on it since November 2004." Knox said the site topography, which slopes in several directions, and the confluence of several different zoning districts, including a historic neighborhood, make it hard for the project to meet land-use code. The project would create 6,888 square feet of general office space and six residential condominiums. The project would replace the Pyramid Juice headquarters, which is moving to a spot near the skate park. That building is listed with the National Register of Historic Places as contributing element to the nearby Skidmore Academy Historic District. The project's proximity to this historic district was one of two reasons planning commissioners voted to continue the hearing until the design could be amended. Though the historic commission thought the building's design transitioned appropriately into the historic district, city staff and the planning commission disagreed. Commissioners and staff thought the building should be pushed back from the street to keep in tact the open line of sight down Helman Street. "It's usually viewed as a good thing to have a building at the street," Maria Harris, a senior planner with the city, said. "But in this case you really need to consider the site." When the commission asked if the applicant could move the building back three to five feet, Knox said they could have the design amended in time for the next planning commission meeting. "If the commission thinks it is important we can do it," he said. The commission also asked the applicant if they could bring the building up to grade-level on Helman Street. As it is currently designed, it sits some two-feet below grade on that street. Commissioners felt because that street would be the primary access to the building it should relate well to the that street. "It may seem minor, but on the other hand the way it sits will determine the way it feels in the neighborhood," Commissioner Pam Marsh said. Eric Navickas, who worked at Pyramid Juice 16 years ago, lamented the changing face, and demographics, of this neighborhood. "It was a real working class, industrial part of the city," he said, noting that much redevelopment happened on A Street without doing away with the original architecture of the area. He also wondered why this project was allowed to be considered as one contiguous building with two masses connected by underground parking when other recent projects, such as Northlight, were considered as two buildings. In a staff report the project is said to have met a gross floor area requirement because it was technically one building, even though the report also refers to building 1 and building 2. "When one situation benefits a developer we see one analysis and when another situation benefits a developer we see another analysis," Navickas said. "I think it should be one building but there needs to be some consistency." The project will come back to the planning commission at its regular November meeting. Because this hearing took longer than expected the planning commission didn't have time to discuss a proposed ordinance relating to condominium conversions. That issue will be discussed at their study session on October 24. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x. 226 or [email protected] . Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Advertisement: Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.