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Residents voice opinions on extending street By BUFFY POLLOCK CENTRAL POINT � More than 30 Donna Way residents gathered at a City Council study session Friday to voice concerns about the city�s proposal to make their quiet neighborhood street, composed of a dead end and cul-de-sacs, into a thoroughfare. Resident Jim Rose said he rallied neighbors together after learning of the Planning Commission�s tentative approval to extend Donna Way, part of the West Pine Villa Subdivision, to Taylor Road. The extension would provide access to a proposed 47-lot residential subdivision called Brookfield Estates. The City Council is expected to make a decision on the proposal at its meeting April 12. Rose presented a petition and 13 residents spoke before the council Friday, all citing safety and livability as their primary concerns. The 1,700-foot street turns sharply twice and has no sidewalks. Children play in the streets. Limited parking forces neighbors to use the street for additional space, they said. "There�s a lot of kids playing, people who walk their dogs and people who park in the streets," Rose said. "People driving through wouldn�t be able to see. There is very limited visibility. We�re all aware of it, but people coming through wouldn�t know about it and things could get ugly." Residents said the street was never intended by the developer, Newton Mead, to be extended. When Mead received approval to develop his property into the West Pine subdivision in 1966, he left a small plug of land in his name at the end of Donna Way. Title to the piece of property is held by Mead�s estate. Mead�s stepdaughter and executor of the estate, Maxine Cardwell, appeared at the meeting to make her late stepfather�s intentions known. "My stepfather did not want that opened up. He held on to that one-foot of property to keep it from happening. It is not made for traffic," she said. But City Administrator Jim Bennett said that a title error was the reason Mead held onto the property. He explained that, by gaining approval to develop the subdivision, Mead agreed to abide by ordinances in place at the time. One of those ordinances, dating from 1963, states that "where a subdivision adjoins acreage, the Planning Commission may require streets within the subdivision to be extended for future access to that acreage." "The city has the right to obtain any property to extend a street, end of story. The council can decide to extend the street or not," Bennett said. Bennett said the "bulb design" at the end of the street may have led residents to assume Donna Way was intended to be a cul-de-sac permanently; but it was designed to provide a turnaround for fire trucks and ambulances, he said. At a previous meeting, Police Chief Michael Sweeny said extending Donna Way would provide a second access to the West Pine subdivision for emergency services. Several residents suggested extending the road and allowing emergency access only. "I think this can be a win-win situation. We can get what the city wants and what we want," said Rose. But most residents who spoke Friday were adamant that one access was adequate for emergency response. "I�ve lived here 25 years and never seen emergency services have a problem getting in here. If this pushes through, my house is going up for sale," declared Myrl Jacobsen. The topic especially hit home for council member Donna Higginbotham, who lives off Rachel Drive adjoining Donna Way. "I can understand an emergency access, but there is plenty of traffic already. Just leave these people alone," she said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.