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Fighting for the value of neighborhoods Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Increases in traffic congestion and noise accompanied the dramatic growth along Delta Waters Road in east Medford in the 1990s. A neighborhood group has proposed changes to Medford planning laws to give more weight to neighborhood concerns in land use decisions. Here, students from Abraham Lincoln Elementary School get help across Delta Waters from crossing guards. Citizens group takes to the streets, and the city, to improve conditions By Jessica Smith When Betty Larsen moved to her Delta Waters Road home in the late 1980s, she could park her car on the street. Now, she�s lucky if she can get her car to her driveway. "Other drivers flat almost run over you when you try to turn into your driveway," Larsen said. "And you might sit out there 10 minutes to get out of your driveway." Proposed amendments for city neighborhoods Respect the integrity and livability of established neighborhoods. Identify arterial and collector streets before urban development to allow proper planning, design and construction without intruding on residential areas. Retain residential street classification for streets designed and used for residential purposes. Do not reclassify collector streets in existing neighborhoods to arterial streets. Make efforts to preserve and enhance the livability of neighborhoods bordering collector streets. Avoid impacts that will cause the deterioration of existing neighborhoods. Develop, maintain and preserve residential neighborhoods to maintain them as vibrant, enjoyable places. Plan residential development to foster neighborly interactions by regulating noise and traffic and preserving pedestrian and bicycle access. Aside from traffic jams, Larsen said she�s also concerned about the sheer number of noisy vehicles traveling up and down Delta Waters. She said she worries about her husband, Gilbert, who has trouble seeing but likes to get out and walk around the neighborhood. "It scares me because of the traffic," she says, adding she and her husband are thinking about selling their home. "It�s gotten terrible." One Medford group wants to give people like Larsen more say in what happens to their neighborhoods. Citizens for Preservation of Established Neighborhoods has proposed a number of amendments to the Medford Comprehensive Plan, the city�s guiding planning document. The amendments, now working their way through a series of hearings before various city committees, would put into writing a goal given much attention this election season by Medford mayoral and city council candidates � neighborhood preservation. Any final action, of course, would have to be approved by the planning commission and the city council. "What we�re asking the city to do is properly recognize the value of neighborhoods in the comprehensive plan," said Edgar Hee, vice chairman of CPEN, the group advocating the amendments. So-called livability issues, such as the effects of traffic on a neighborhood, are missing in the city�s comprehensive plan, Hee said. Groveland Avenue residents learned that when they fought successfully against a suggested fix for the south Interstate 5 interchange. That proposal would have routed freeway on-ramp and off-ramp traffic through their neighborhood. "There just wasn�t a lot in the plan that addressed neighborhood livability," Hee said. "That�s what put us on the road to leveling the playing field" in the decision-making process. It�s uncertain just how much protection the amendments would provide to neighborhoods, said Mark Gallagher, senior city planner. Traffic, he explained, tends to take its toll on neighborhoods over time. It�s the cumulative effects of development and road-building that many residents � such as Delta Waters Road resident Larsen � now bemoan. While outlining the city�s desire to protect neighborhoods, the comp plan amendments wouldn�t put a stop to development or road-building, Gallagher said. Neighborhood preservation would be just one more competing interest when the city decides where to put new roads or whether to turn quiet streets into busier collectors or arterials. But neighborhoods and home owners, Hee said, should be given just as much consideration in planning actions as traffic flow and road connectivity. Gallagher agreed, and said it�s worth the time and effort to try to clarify the city�s goals in writing. The transportation section of the comp plan may get a similar update. "It was kind of assumed you didn�t want to create an impact on these neighborhoods with oversized streets," he said. "I think everybody agreed with that, but it wasn�t put into words." According to Gallagher, the amendments would give residents legal footing to challenge future roads that could be expected to create traffic in their neighborhoods. "What�s in black and white means everything," Gallagher said. "If the city doesn�t say protecting neighborhoods matters, it might not matter legally." On the road again and again and ... Here�s a look at how average weekday traffic loads have changed on some Medford streets since 1990, according to the city: Barneburg Road between East Main Street and Highland Drive: 1990 � 900 1998 � 2,400 Delta Waters Road at Crater Lake Avenue: 1990 � 8,700 1998 � 12,000 Hillcrest Road at North Phoenix Road: 1990 � 4,400 1998 � 9,500 Springbrook Road at McAndrews Road: 1990 � 7,200 1998 � 12,700 Stewart Avenue at South Pacific Highway: 1990 � 11,700 1998 � 17,500 Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.