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Council nixes Manor plan By Jessica Smith A new state guideline on traffic loads were enough to reverse the Medford City Council�s disapproval of one expansion project, but it didn�t help the Rogue Valley Manor. At its noon session Thursday, the council reversed its April 1999 denial of OnTrack�s proposed expansion. But it held the line on its decision against the local retirement center�s plans for a new commercial complex. "We�ve been shut down again without an opportunity to be heard," said Manor attorney Rob Patridge, who persuaded the council to include the proposal on its Thursday agenda. The council took no public testimony, but Patridge was prepared to again ask the council to consider pulling the commercial component of the Manor�s three-phase expansion plan back from the state Land Use Board of Appeals, where the entire proposal is scheduled for a hearing next week. The council denied the request May 4. Five of the council�s eight members upheld that decision Thursday, voting against a motion to call back the commercial center plans before LUBA�s review. "We ought to let LUBA do their work," said Councilman Skip Knight. "This action would preempt (LUBA�s review) and I�m not in favor of that." The council turned down the commercial complex in 1998 � when it approved the rest of the Manor�s expansion plan � citing traffic problems at the south Medford interchange. The Manor appealed that decision to LUBA. The council�s denial was rooted in a state transportation policy that prohibited developers from adding traffic to the interchange during peak hours. The Manor�s plans would have added 138 vehicle trips. The Manor was banking on a new policy � developments that create no more than 25 peak-hour vehicle trips are acceptable � to overturn the council�s objection to the commercial center. In fact, the council used the same new transportation guideline to reverse its denial of a zone change that will allow OnTrack to expand its alcohol- and drug-treatment center on 2.8 acres of 3.88 acres its owns at 3397 Delta Waters Road. After the council�s denial last year, OnTrack appealed the council�s decision. LUBA ruled that the city failed to provide a legal basis for overriding its own planning commission. Neighbors and a few council members argued Thursday that the project would aggravate traffic at Delta Waters and Highway 62 � especially if the property is developed to its full potential of 30 residential units. But the majority of the council found that the new transportation guideline permits OnTrack�s expansion. Although the council also could apply the traffic policy to the Manor�s project, council members said other issues entered into their decision. The proposed center on Ellendale Drive could complicate the planned south Medford interchange overhaul. State transportation officials are working with the city to fix the Interstate 5 interchange, considered one of the worst bottlenecks in the region. One prominent option would move the interchange farther south, with on- and off-ramps possibly at Ellendale Drive. "It�s just not going to be possible to allow any development (near the interchange) until we have a solution," said Councilman Jim Key. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA