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`TOD' visits Central Point Development style cuts need for transportation By SUSAN JAY CENTRAL POINT -- Imagine living near Pine and Front streets and being able to walk to work, bike to the park or stroll down the block to shop. Imagine being able to choose from a variety of housing types, all within walking or biking distance from each other, including apartments, townhouses and various single-family homes. Such concepts in an area of town are a lot closer to reality than most people might think. City planners -- along with Portland consultants, property owners and the Rogue Valley Council of Governments -- have been working on a different approach to developing the part of town which spreads north and west from the intersection of Pine and Front streets. This approach to developing neighborhoods, downtowns and communities -- called Transportation Orientation Development -- is unique to this area. The aim of TOD is to reduce traffic and people's dependency on their cars, use land more efficiently and improve the quality of life. To accomplish this kind of development, cities zone land for a higher density of residents, allow developments to combine residential, retail and commercial spaces and incorporate a variety of housing types close together for a diverse mix of residents. A meeting on why this is happening, what this type of development could look like and to hear community feedback is planned for 7 to 9 p.m., Wednesday at the Richardson Elementary School library, 200 W Pine St., Central Point. "The city has an opportunity and an interest in thinking about how to grow their community in a way that's beneficial to its citizens, rather than letting it happen piecemeal," said Paul Morris, a partner in the planning consulting firm McKeever/Morris Inc. The planning effort involves about a quarter of the city, "so it's a big deal," he said. Morris will be at the open house and wants to hear from residents about what they want in neighborhoods, and their concerns about growth and development. Developing along the TOD approach has a lot of advantages -- including reducing traffic, saving energy and encouraging the use of mass transit, said city planner Tom Humphrey. "In our particular case, it has the capacity for putting more people closer to our downtown, thereby having a greater incentive to use downtown shops," he said. It's projected that by using the TOD approach, the city could see another 1,313 dwellings in the area and 390 more jobs. By bringing a higher concentration of people closer to downtown, Humphrey said, "it gives the downtown more of a fighting chance to compete with the other shopping centers being contemplated or constructed." The city is in the midst of downtown revitalization with business and property owners. There are many reasons why this approach is being used. Medford, Central Point, Phoenix and the area in between in Jackson County belong to a Metropolitan Planning Organization. To meet state and federal requirements and receive federal funds for road, housing and water and sewer improvements, the MPO has to show how it's going to reduce vehicle miles traveled inside the MPO by 5 percent in 20 years. In 1995, the MPO saw 173,965 vehicle miles traveled in the morning peak hours between 6 and 8 a.m. The municipalities involved looked to RVCOG to help figure out how to reduce traffic. RVCOG and the Portland planning consultants McKeever/Morris Inc. have identified nine locations that could act as transportation centers, or nodes, where higher concentrations of people, businesses and activities would better support mass transit and other alternative transportation modes. The node or activity centers in Central Point are at Pine and Front streets, and possibly between Scenic and Pine streets near Front Street. There are several transportation-active centers in Medford, including one near the Southeast Plan, downtown and Delta Waters Street. Central Point is moving quickly because the targeted area has a lot of vacant land, and much of it is owned by property and business owners who are supportive of the new development approach. They want to get the community's input and move forward. Brett Moore of W.L. Moore Construction Co., which owns about 150 acres in the targeted area, is excited about the TOD process. He believes TOD can become a reality because much of the area is vacant land. `If you've got a big area you can plan and it works better," he said. "The bigger the parcel, then it's easier and you have more opportunities to make things work better." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA