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Homeowners oppose sidewalk Photo by Jim Craven Danny Clay and his neighbors along Hillcrest Road are concerned about the effects a proposed sidewalk would have on their property. Clay's hedge, left, and the tree in the background would disappear. East Medford residents say landscaping, privacy would be sacrificed By JIM DAVIS Neighbors along a busy east Medford street don't want a sidewalk proposed to be built outside their homes. The sidewalk on a 1,550-foot stretch of Hillcrest Road would run through landscaped yards and flower beds, trees and fences and retaining walls, the neighbors said. "There are hedges that have been here for decades," said Danny Clay, 42, who owns a home on the street. "They provide some kind of sound barrier and privacy, but that's not going to exist anymore." The neighbors plan to attend the July 15 meeting of the Medford City Council to speak against the project. The sidewalk, however, is an important link in the city's goal to have a concrete pathway extend from downtown Medford to North Phoenix Road, said Bob Deuel, the city engineer. The affected strip of land would be in the city's right of way, he said. "In the next couple of years, with the planned projects, you're going to have sidewalk that's fairly continuous out there," Deuel said. The affected stretch runs from Valley View Drive to Black Oak Drive along Hillcrest. The project includes the sidewalk on the north side of the street and bike lanes on both sides of the road. City engineers estimate the project would cost $122,700; the city is getting more than $97,000 of that cost from a state grant, which becomes available this week. Deuel said the project wouldn't even be designed until later this summer because of other projects waiting in line. Already, the city has stretched sidewalk from downtown along Jackson Street to Berkeley Way, just past Hedrick Middle School. In the next few years, the city plans to add sidewalk to Jackson along the curve that connects to Hillcrest. Other projects -- including this one -- would push sidewalk to North Phoenix Road, Deuel said. The Hillcrest neighbors found out about the plan in April when the City Council accepted the grant money from the Oregon Department of Transportation. The neighbors -- about 18 households -- started meeting and came up with a number of concerns about the project. Charles Mickelson, 72, of 2406 Lyman Drive, would see one side of his home affected, including a hedge and possibly his pool. "We don't see the need of the thing," Mickelson said. "Virtually nobody walks up and down the street." He said the city should have put the sidewalk into the street when it was first paved, rather than disrupt the neighbors years later. "It's just going to bring the streets right up to our houses and it's going to destroy a lot of our privacy," he said. Mary Burich, who lives with her father, retired doctor Fred Burich, said she worries the city will ruin the historic look of her father's home. The pink stucco home with terracotta roofing was built in 1937. She doesn't think the city is budgeting enough money to do the project and retain the look of the "old east Medford neighborhood." "I've seen the city's work before," Burich said. "They tend to put in off-the-shelf material and use people who don't have a background in working with historic materials." Clay, who lives at 2309 Hillcrest, said he understands that this is a problem with the growth of cities. But he equates losing landscaped yards, hedges and flower beds to losing the charm of his neighborhood. "Our neighborhood is the way it is and we like it that way," Clay said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA