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Growth brings change to valley Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Salon owner Julie Ellis, right, gives Annie Adams a manicure in Shady Cove. The town�s 71 percent increase in population over the past decade is good for business, Ellis says. But city officials say it�s a challenge to manage. Cities struggle to keep up with population rise By Jessica Smith Julie Ellis can see Shady Cove growing. She can see it in the amount of traffic that rumbles through town every day. She can see it in the number of clients who walk through her door at Fantasia salon. She can see it each summer, when the water pressure drops in homes and businesses around town. "I definitely see it," said Ellis, whose business sits on the edge of downtown Shady Cove. "It�s all the time. It�s not just your travelers coming up in the summer." BURGEONING BURGS CITY 1990 2000 % change Shady Cove 1,351 2,307 71% Talent 3,274 5,589 71% Central Point 7,509 12,493 66% Eagle Point 3,008 4,797 59% Medford 46,951 63,154 35% Phoenix 3,239 4,060 25% Ashland 16,234 19,522 20% Jacksonville 1,896 2,235 18% Gold Hill 964 1,073 11% Rogue River 1,759 1,847 5% White City 5,891 5,466 - 7% Butte Falls 475 439 - 8% Figures released this week by the U.S. Census Bureau confirm Ellis� observations: Shady Cove has grown 71 percent in the past decade. Its population stood at 2,307 in 2000, compared to 1,351 in 1990. But Shady Cove isn�t the only burgeoning burg in the valley. Census figures show Talent, Central Point, Eagle Point and Medford also have experienced substantial growth in the past 10 years. Like Shady Cove, Talent�s population swelled 71 percent since 1990. According to officials in both cities, the bulk of the growth came in the early 1990s. That was before Shady Cove implemented system development charges to offset the effects of growth and before Talent established a moratorium on building. "It used to be free lunch up here," said Tom Anderson, Shady Cove mayor. "People were allowed to do just any kind of development they wanted. But Shady Cove is no longer the cheap place to build." To control growth, Shady Cove four years ago adopted fees that attempt to force growth to pay for itself. The fees are expected to help Shady Cove build roads and improve its sewer and storm-drain system. But if the city continues to grow at its current rate � an average 3.5 percent a year since 1997 � something will have to be done about Shady Cove�s water supply, Anderson said. The city relies on wells for water, but there�s only so much to go around. Proposed fixes include a municipal water system and/or a water district. Concerns about water supply have put a damper on growth in Talent, where the moratorium stays in effect until spring 2002, when the city finishes linking its water system to the Medford Water Commission�s network. Kelly Madding, Talent city administrator, said she expects to see some growth once the moratorium is lifted. Since Talent put the brakes on growth in 1997, population increases have stayed as low as 1 percent a year. Before that, the average growth rate between 1990 and 1996 was about 6 percent. In Central Point, officials say the majority of the city�s growth has come in the past five years, when Central Point began annexing land for development. There were 66 percent more people living in Central Point in 2000 than in 1990. Growth in Central Point has been a "double-edged sword," said Jim Bennett, city administrator. "It�s good for the city because it adds to the tax base, it encourages economic growth, there are more homes," he said. "The downside is that growth never pays for itself. The cost of growth is never made up. You�re never getting quite as much revenue as you�re spending." Central Point collects development fees to pay for new roads and other infrastructure, Bennett said, so an eventual downturn in growth could cause problems for the city. "That�s bad. Revenue goes down, but you still have expense increases," he added. But it could be five to 10 years before development slows in Central Point, he said. Officials in Eagle Point say the city has struggled to provide services that keep pace with growth. "We�re just taking it bit by bit � one baby step at a time," said Dave Hassell, city administrator. In the past two elections, voters approved building two new schools and annexing Eagle Point into Jackson County Fire District 3. With 59 percent more people living in Eagle Point since 1990, Hassell said he expects other changes in the next few years. Traffic congestion and other livability issues are at the forefront, he said. Keeping a community livable while it grows is the real challenge for cities in the Rogue Valley, said Mark Gallagher, a senior planner for the city of Medford. Medford � which saw a 35 percent population increase between 1990 and 2000 � has struggled for the past several years to balance growth against its impacts in areas such as traffic congestion and sprawl. At some point, Gallagher said, residents and officials need to talk about the tradeoffs that are inherent to growth. "I don�t think everybody grasps how hard it will be to make the decisions you need to make to keep a city livable," he said. "They�re going to have to bite the bullet and say they�ll give �this� up to maintain livability." Reach reporter Jessica Smith 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.