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Central Point's getting 245 new apartments An artist rendering shows one of the buildings planned at the Twin Creeks development. [Courtesy PMCI Inc.] Thursday Jul 20, 2017 at 6:23 PM Jul 20, 2017 at 6:25 PM Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Residents who left angry Tuesday after the Planning Commission unanimously approved a 245-unit apartment complex inside the Twin Creeks development say they will appeal the decision to the City Council. Commission members deliberated before a mostly frustrated crowd of more than 80 residents. Toward the meeting's end, sneers and loud sighs could be heard from those attending the second of two meetings on the development this month. The project, dubbed Smith Crossing, was first reviewed June 6 but a final decision was delayed until Tuesday after residents cried foul over the city’s notification process and concerns about traffic impacts. Planning Commission members unanimously approved the project Tuesday, allowing no further public input after city staff said all requirements had been met. Commission member Elizabeth Powell, who was absent from the June 6 meeting, recused herself from deliberations or casting a vote. Smith Crossing will be built by PMCI, owned by local developer Charles Smith and his two sons Milo and Philip. The family built and provides onsite management for the 600-unit Charles Point Apartments on 30 acres off Highway 99 near U.S. Cellular Community Park, and is building the final phase of Orchard Glen Estates off West Main Street. Plans for Smith Crossing call for 17 three-story buildings on two tracts totaling just under 10 acres along Haskell Street near the intersections of Griffin Oaks and Richardson Drive. Following the Planning Commission's Tuesday vote, Twin Creeks resident Vickie Vessey stood and yelled at commission members. “You keep dragging up Charles Point. There is no comparison between this and Charles Point and what you’re doing is criminal,” she said. Twin Creeks property owner Susan Gressett said she took issue with the city’s notification process, which included a handful of neighbors and a small classified ad. Gressett said she anticipated some apartment units being built, but on a lesser scale. Both Gressett and Vessey voiced concerns over traffic impacts and that development of the Twin Creeks community had not followed the original philosophy of a focus on reduced vehicle dependence. “This project is more like Orchard Glen off West Main, but ours will be even more dense. When I moved in, it was going to be commercial on bottom and condos on top. We’d be able to walk to a little wine shop or a deli. We figure, between the two phases, there will be six (hundred) to 700 people moving in,” Gressett said. “The definition of a transit-oriented community says that it includes a mix of housing, retail, other amenities integrated into a walkable neighborhood and blah blah blah . . . this is not what we are. We’re just a subdivision.” Community development director Tom Humphrey applauded the commission’s careful consideration of city codes and documents outlining plans for Twin Creeks adopted some 16 years ago. Humphrey voiced frustration with the behavior of audience members but said the city could consider changes to its notification process, though it already meets state law. “The people who were properly noticed and participated in the public hearing all have standing. It’s those folks who can actually appeal if they have specific criteria on which to appeal. The process is not arbitrary and capricious,” Humphrey said, noting that an appeal would be due within 10 days of the ruling, by close of business July 31. “People were upset they weren’t noticed, but we were following state law with regard to noticing. We put it in the paper and on the internet. We will consider changing our noticing requirements based on the flap this has created, but some people just don’t want the apartments and yet they’ve been clearly identified for 16 years.” Humphrey said the project applicant had gone “over and above” city requirements and suggestions and that the project would be a nice addition to the transit-oriented development and provide needed housing. “We’ve already set the zoning and comprehensive plan so the commission’s job was to look at whether the project followed the rules and would create a quality product. For somebody just not wanting the apartments to go in, unfortunately that’s not an argument,” Humphrey said. Milo Smith said his company was pleased with the commission's decision. Smith said the family’s focus was to create high-end development, managed at a local level. “We are really happy Smith Crossing was unanimously approved by the Central Point Planning Commission and are excited to be part of Twin Creeks,” he said. “Smith Crossing is a locally owned and family managed project. We look forward to offering badly needed high-end rental units to the Central Point community." On the web — www.centralpointoregon.gov/cd/project/smith-crossing-twin-creeks. — Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. Email her at [email protected].