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Keep Eagle Point rural, citizens say Concerns shared at town meeting By MELISSA MARTIN EAGLE POINT -- Eagle Point has a reputation for being small and friendly, yet that's part of the reason it's one of the fastest-growing towns in Southern Oregon. How the town can keep its rural feel while growing at an average rate of 5 percent each year was a concern expressed by the 50 people who attended Monday's Town Hall meeting at the city's new community center. "Our children grew up here and now we have eight grandchildren," said Donna Hickman, an Eagle Point resident for the past 30 years. "It's Eagle Point's rural quality of life that we need to maintain. We need fields for kids to play in and clean creeks for kids to put a stick in and fish. We need to keep that in Eagle Point." Eagle Point will have 12,652 people in 20 years, more than Central Point had last year, said Bunny Lincoln, the city's planner. She gets her population projections partly by using in the formula the fact that Eagle Point has 1,779 approved lots ready to build on. She multiplies that by 3.1 people per household, a figure she confirmed recently when a high school class surveyed residents door to door, receiving 538 responses. The survey showed that Eagle Point residents want a return of many of the businesses they used to have, such as a pharmacy, a doctor's office, a downtown market, another bank and more restaurants. "If we want to get tourists off of Highway 62 to shop in Eagle Point, we have to have something to offer them besides the museum," Margaret Dietrick said during the Town Hall meeting. But Hickman said if people want merchants in Eagle Point, they must be willing to support them. "It takes money to drive our cars into Medford to save a few cents on an item," Hickman said. "We need to be willing to spend our money here. I worked at Butte Creek Mill for a while and most of the customers were people from out of town. Small business needs to be supported by the residents." Eagle Point is getting some of the things on the survey wish list, city administrator David Hussell told the audience. The first medical clinic since Dr. Kevin West left Eagle Point about 10 years ago is scheduled to open next to Eagle Point's first retirement home, a 70-unit assisted living facility on Loto Street. "By the end of the summer, we could possibly see a medical facility," Hussell said. Eagle Point is becoming a bedroom community for Medford, judging by the survey data that shows 80 percent of residents drive to jobs outside of Eagle Point. But some people don't want to drive to Medford to renew their driver's licenses, resident Caroline Baker said. "We need a DMV in Eagle Point," Baker said. Also during the meeting, Hussell went down the list of goals in the city's 5-year-old vision statement and asked the audience if Eagle Point is reaching them. Many have already taken place, such as the widening of Highway 62, but others, such as developing a nice historic district, haven't. In response to resident Theresa Erickson's concern that Eagle Point is a "pro-growth"town, Mayor David McFall said that being discovered by developers is countered by the city's reputation for having some of the highest system development charges in the state. The city requires developers to build parks, roads, storm drains and other infrastructure to support the added population. "We are growing like we did in 1912 or like the big spurt in the 1970s," McFall said. "But our big growth spurt in the 1970s was followed by a recession when growth dropped off to almost nothing. We're on a high right now and it seems like it's out-of-control, but it will level out." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA