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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 16, 2006 Downtown Plan likely delayed Council’s priorities put code revisions ahead on to-do list By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings An update of the city’s Downtown Plan could be delayed by at least a year in the wake of the Ashland City Council’s prioritization of other projects. At a recent goal-setting session, councilors were asked to rank the urgency of the Downtown Plan update in comparison to changing land-use rules to boost affordable housing and finishing an overhaul of Ashland’s complex land-use code. Four of six council members present ranked the Downtown Plan update as their third priority among the three planning department projects, according to Councilor Kate Jackson, who didn’t put the plan update at the top of her priorities. “It was really a decision we would rather not have to make,” she said earlier this week. “Everyone wants to do the Downtown Plan update and everyone wants to straighten out the code. We can’t do both in the same year.” Unlike the council’s previous annual goal-setting sessions, city staff members were asked to present information on the costs and staff time various projects would take. Councilors used the information to help prioritize their goals. The Downtown Plan update already had been postponed for a year. The city began holding public meetings to gather input on the update in January 2005, but halted the project after it became clear the issue was contentious and the understaffed Community Development Department might not have time to spearhead the effort. The city council then authorized spending $15,000 for the Portland firm Crandall Arambula to develop a work plan for the creation of the Downtown Plan update. That firm began gathering input again in January of this year to create the “plan to make a plan,” as some have dubbed it. The council has not identified money to fund the actual Downtown Plan update. Crandall Arambula has done downtown plans for other communities at a cost of $175,000 to $400,000. Councilor David Chapman, who voted to prioritize Ashland’s Downtown Plan update at the council goal-setting session, said he hasn’t decided what the right amount is to spend on the update, but he believes it is important. He said the update already has been delayed too long. Some residents have said there is an urgent need for a Downtown Plan update to guide development, especially in the wake of controversial projects like the Bemis project behind the Ashland Springs Hotel and the Northlight complex on the old Copeland Lumber site. Both those projects were denied by the city, but spurred debate over the future of the downtown. Other residents have said the downtown already functions well and there is no need to spend large amounts of money on an updated plan. The council will formally adopt its annual list of goals at a future meeting. Staff writer Vickie Aldous can be reached at 479-8199 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 Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams