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Wetlands rules under scrutiny Medford board set to send revised laws to council By JIM DAVIS Meeting is tonight WHO : Medford Planning Commission WHAT : Consider approving establishing a Riparian protection corridor and wetland protection law and sending the proposals to the Medford City Council; WHEN : 7 p.m. tonight WHERE : Medford City Hall, 411 W. Eighth St. A controversial set of ordinances to protect the city's fish-bearing creeks and wetlands will go before the Medford Planning Commission tonight. Commissioners -- who have struggled with the ordinances through two public hearings and three study sessions -- will not take any more testimony on the proposed ordinances, said Jim Eisenhard, the Medford planning director. Instead, the commissioners are expected to send the proposals to the Medford City Council for more review and then final approval. "We've made a number of revisions that we feel are good ones," Eisenhard said. The Riparian corridor ordinance and wetland protection ordinance affect more than 400 homeowners and some still have misgivings about the proposed laws. Even so, at least one opponent is happy with most of the revisions. "I commend the planning commission for many of the changes that they did make and taking into consideration many of the concerns of the property owners," said Mitchell Seidman, who got a copy of the revisions last week and has been sharing it with his neighbors. The ordinances are part of the city's effort to update its comprehensive plan. If the Planning Commission approves the changes, the Medford City Council will take up the proposals at a public hearing either in December or early next year. The ordinances still create a 50-foot setback along Bear Creek and Larson Creek as well as some wetlands in the city. Within the setback, homeowners still won't be able to build any new structures -- such as a gazebo or a swimming pool -- if the law changes are adopted. But Suzanne Myers, an assistant planner working on the laws, said there are major revisions from the initial draft including: Allowing, if not encouraging, homeowners to continue to use fertilizers and other chemicals within the setback; Allowing new fences to be built within the setback if the plans are approved by the city's planning director and state agencies governing the creek; Spelling out a grandfather clause that allows homeowners, for example, to rebuild their decks or even build a swimming pool where their deck had been; Calculating the top of bank from the original top of bank for improved creeks. This provision was put in to encourage developers to improve the creeks by widening the banks, such as has occurred in the Alder Creek subdivision along Creek View Drive. Creekside property owners have feared the ordinances would restrict them from what they can do on their property. They also fear the ordinances will drive down their property values. Seidman said he was happy the planning commission addressed many of the homeowners' concerns. Even so, Seidman said he thinks the city should have done a better job of informing homeowners of the new changes. He also thinks that the city should narrow the setback to 25 feet on improved portions of the creek. Johnny Hubbard, an outspoken critic of the ordinances, still disagrees with the ordinances. He said he wouldn't buy a house with restrictions on what he could do in his backyard. Also, he said he doesn't think the ordinances will help bring fish to the wetlands and creeks. "It's a whitewash job," Hubbard said. "The state wants it, Medford wants to do it no matter if it will help or not." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA