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Townhouse project riles neighbors Cheryl Singleton walks a parcel of land below Roxy Ann Peak near Vista Pointe in east Medford where a developer wants to build townhouses. [Mail Tribune / Denise Baratta] Tuesday Feb 28, 2017 at 5:22 PM Feb 28, 2017 at 6:11 PM Damian Mann Mail Tribune @reporterdm A group of east Medford residents are opposed to a proposed townhouse project off Vista Pointe Drive, saying they fear it will clog streets with cars and devalue their quiet neighborhood. "What are we going to do with all this traffic?" said Cheryl Singleton, a neighbor who is spearheading the opposition effort. "People are very upset and angry about this." Developer Ron DeLuca has proposed building 132 townhouses on 8.5 acres based on a planned unit development approved by the city in 2003 that called for high-density housing. Each of the 11 townhouse buildings would contain 12 units. The project, called Mountain Top, would have a community building, community hot tubs and a six-lane, 25-meter pool. The site is on the western flanks of Roxy Ann Peak, adjacent to residential developments of upper-end homes near East McAndrews Road. DeLuca owns 25 acres at the site, but several acres will remain as open space, and another eight acres are set aside for single-family residential lots. Mark McKechnie, owner of Oregon Architecture Inc. in Medford, said the original planned unit development called for three-story apartments, but DeLuca didn't want tall buildings looming over the existing neighborhood, so he scaled back the height to two stories. "He wanted to do something that was a little more neighborhood friendly and a little more upscale," he said. McKechnie said the existing street system for the development, which will be a gated community, was designed for traffic from a high-density apartment complex. But Singleton, 62, said the project would be out of character with the neighborhood, which has houses priced in the $400,000 to $700,000 range. "With all the traffic, it disrupts the quietness of the neighborhood with the high-density development up there," she said. Many of the houses along the streets have children, and cars will be whizzing by as they go downhill toward McAndrews Road, she said. About 50 neighbors met Monday at Bethel Church on Vista Pointe Drive with McKechnie. Singleton said McKechnie continually called the project a "done deal" during the evening meeting. Matt Brinkley, Medford planning director, said, "We have not seen any plans yet." He said a planned unit development was approved by the city in 2003 as part of Vista Pointe, but Brinkley said he hasn't received anything from McKechnie about this specific project. McKechnie said, "It's a done deal as far as density goes." He said the city of Medford already determined the density of certain areas within the Vista Pointe development, but he said DeLuca wouldn't submit plans to the city until after the new project was shown to local residents, which he said is required under land-use laws. The 2003 plan calls for apartments, but McKechnie said DeLuca will propose changing the apartments to townhouses. He said the three entrances into the project haven't changed, and the number of units hasn't changed since 2003. McKechnie said it would likely take until 2018 for the project to be approved, barring any appeals. McKechnie, who is on the Medford Planning Commission, said he would recuse himself from voting on the project. Singleton said she hopes the city determines whether existing roads, sewers and drainage can handle the extra housing. She said schools could also be impacted. "We are not against development," Singleton said. "We want single-family residential housing that will fit into our neighborhood." — Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.