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Riverside dispute roils neighbors Shady Cove neighbors want to scuttle manufactured home site SHADY COVE -- At a bend in the river near the Highway 62 bridge, a dispute is churning in Shady Cove Subdivision, a 1920s development. Property owners disagree about how to develop vacant land in this old neighborhood known around town as "The Cove" and nestled in a nook that gave Shady Cove its name. Property owner Jacque Krembas applied for and was granted permission to convert her lots into three parcels so she could put manufactured homes on them. Her project was approved with costly conditions, she said, including laying sewer pipe, deeding eight feet of land to the city for a right-of-way and aligning Laurel and Riverside, two private roads in the subdivision. "My plans were to retire in Shady Cove forever," said Krembas, a Torrance, Calif., resident who has owned the property with her mother since 1960. While Krembas objected to the Planning Commission's requirements, Cove neighbors objected to Krembas' plans to bring in manufactured homes as rentals. The reason? Lack of water in the development, where all but four residential wells have gone dry, experiences with rowdy tenants previously living on Krembas' property and increased traffic on their gravel roads, which are narrow and sometimes twist inches away from tall Ponderosas, said Jean Lund, a neighbor and retired real estate agent. "(She's proposing) a small mobile home park strictly for commercial use, without the thought of the neighbors here," says 17-year Cove resident Gary Antoine. "The Cove is not zoned for mobile home parks or apartments." A dozen or so neighbors submitted a letter from their attorney and spoke against the project at a recent Shady Cove City Council meeting, said Jerry L'Estrange, city administrator. The council has sent the project back to the Planning Commission for clarification about its findings, which included strict conditions as a way to begin bringing the old subdivision up to code. The project meets the city's requirements for lot size, and Shady Cove allows for double-wide manufactured homes with pitched roofs, at least 1,000 square feet and built no earlier than 1976, he said. "If they meet the conditions, it's difficult to turn them down," L'Estrange said. Planning Commission Roger Hays agreed. "What we're trying to do is improve those streets in The Cove, not just for residents, but for the fire department and police who might need to respond to a call back in there," Hays said. Cove residents said they prefer owner-occupied homes, citing a history of complaints with previous tenants. Shady Cove Police Chief Jim Johnson said he has responded to reports of drug use, wild parties and a parole violation at rentals on Krembas' Cove property in the past year. "We don't doubt there were drugs being used in the trailer, but eventually they (the tenants) moved out," Johnson said. The two rentals -- an old house that was later condemned and demolished and a trailer that didn't meet city housing standards -- have been removed. Krembas said the tenant problem existed before she took over the property. She said if she puts rentals back on the lots, she will hire a property manager. "I inherited the tenants when someone sold their mobile home, which was on my land," Krembas said. "They were very difficult to evict as the process required court proceedings." Such a land dispute is common, said L'Estrange. "It's a classic case of what people feel are their land rights," he said. Homeowner Sharon Antoine said the Cove's uniqueness is the reason it should be held to a different standard than most subdivisions. "The Cove can't possibly meet the same standards as the rest of the city," Antoine said. Her husband, Gary, agreed. "If we all had to deed property to the city for a right-of-way, some of us would have to move the side of our house," he said. Subdivision's history SHADY COVE -- Shady Cove Subdivision has a history that dates back to the beginning of the town, said Jean Lund, president of the Shady Cove Homeowners Association. The association is made up of more than a dozen property owners who contribute $100 a year to keep up the development's private roads and pay taxes on 1,000 feet of jointly owned river frontage. The development is near Shady Cove's original post office, established in 1939, according to author Lewis McArthur. The subdivision's entrance is Riverside Drive, a narrow road that drops off to the river on one side and has a steep hillside on the other. Once part of the John McDaniel homestead, the land was purchased by a businessman who sold 60-by-60 lots where city folks could pitch a tent and fish during the summer. It was platted in the early 1920s, according to Medford attorney Thaddeus Pauck, hired by the homeowners' group. The development is "a different animal," said Shady Cove Police Chief Jim Johnson. "It's in the city limits, but it has private streets. Some people don't even like the police driving through there. But we still patrol it and make sure it's protected." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA