Document text
Eagle Point council OKs complex that extends Elm Way By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune EAGLE POINT - Overturning a decision by the Planning Commission, the City Council has approved plans for a commercial complex that will extend Elm Way. The decision allows developer Thor Thompson to proceed with plans to construct the complex at Highway 62 just north of Linn Road. It will include a Figaro's Pizza, a Subway sandwich shop, a third restaurant (yet to be determined) and two or three retail spaces. The plan includes right-turn-only lanes to enter and exit the complex off Highway 62. It also extends Elm Way, now a dead end, into the parking area around the complex and the adjacent Eagle Point Plaza. "The plan was denied at (the) Planning Commission (meeting) based on concern for public health and safety as pertaining to traffic impact on the surrounding street network," said City Planner Bunny Lincoln. Thompson then brought his appeal before the City Council, which approved the plan Tuesday. "The main reason was because this was a project that was designated to be this way 30 years ago," said Mayor Jim Goan. "The Elm Way plan was approved to go through if and when it was needed." The public has until Feb. 12 to file an appeal with the state Land Use Board of Appeals. Neighbors on Elm Way and intersecting De Anjou objected to the extension, saying traffic would increase and they would lose their quiet neighborhood. Thompson said the extension of Elm Way out to Highway 62 would happen with or without him. "Their grief isn't with me, it's with the city's (comprehensive) plan," he said, adding that there will be benefits to the extension. "It'll be convenient for the community as a whole," he said. "It does provide them an easier way to get onto the highway." Thompson said he doesn't anticipate any appeals to LUBA and thinks he'll be able to begin work in early March. "I'll probably try and do the dirt work and the storm drains and sewer lines in the spring," he said. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.