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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 28, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend January 6, 2005 Lithia’s wetland study gets first OK By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Jackson County commissioners gave Lithia Motors the thumbs-up Wednesday to study cleaning up part of the Greenway in exchange for development of wetlands on a portion of 113 acres near the Medford airport. Lithia will pay $45,000 to see if it’s possible to clear the many environmental hurdles to develop the property along the old Medco Haul Road northeast of the airport. The land could be used for auto dealerships or a corporate headquarters. In exchange, Lithia would clean up about 30 acres along the Greenway between south Medford’s South Stage Road and north Phoenix’s East Glenwood Road — at a cost of up to a half- million dollars. The wetlands, comprising up to 28 acres near Highway 62 in north Medford, are part of 113 acres in that area owned by Lithia. Bill Greenstein, who manages real estate holdings for Lithia, said the quality of wetlands on the Lithia property is very poor. The site was formerly used as a log pond that became filled in with wood chips. Advertisement Most wetland mitigation projects amount to one or two acres, which underscores the technical difficulty in making this 28-acre proposal work, he said. County Commissioner Jack Walker thought the proposal would help not only the Greenway, but alleviate concerns about birds disrupting flights at the Medford airport. "If you’ve got wetlands, you’re going to draw waterfowl," he said. "You don’t want to suck up a duck into a jet engine." Walker said the proposal would help a portion of the Greenway that he says is overgrown with non-native vegetation. "It is kind of ugly through there," he said. Karen Smith, Jackson County Greenway coordinator, cautioned that the study doesn’t mean the proposal will work. "Nothing is going to happen on the ground without a lot more discussion," she said. "We don’t want people to think this is a lock." She expects it to take at least a year before the study is available for public review. During that time, she said both the county and Lithia have the right to pull out of the agreement. Smith said Lithia’s proposal would benefit the Greenway, improving the riparian areas. The Lithia study will look at a total of 80 acres along the Greenway between Medford and Phoenix to pinpoint 30 acres for cleanup. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers