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57 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 19, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 19, 2004 Maddi Heatherstone of Medford installs a subfloor on a house overlooking part of the massive southeast plan area east of North Phoenix Road in Medford. The first of several hundred homes are complete. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Developers must share the wealth Medford’s parks commission rejects a bid to earmark system development charges for southeast parks only By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Medford’s sprawling southeast development won’t get to earmark parks funding if the parks commission gets its way. The Parks and Recreation Commission voted Wednesday to oppose a request from the Southeast Plan Implementation Advisory Committee to earmark some of the parks’ system development charges (SDCs) for the southeast plan. The City Council will decide the ultimate fate of the request. City policy states that parks SDCs go into a big pot for the entire city, and all the city’s parks projects are prioritized. But the advisory committee proposes that 50 percent of the SDCs paid by southeast plan developers be earmarked for southeast plan parks. The southeast plan is designed to be a pedestrian-friendly community of about 10,000 residents on 1,000 acres east of North Phoenix Road, from the ridge above Cherry Lane south to Coal Mine Road. It will include houses, apartments, parks and a commercial development. Advertisement Making this exception on SDCs would set a precedent for the city of Medford. "The parks commission was not supportive of that concept," said Parks and Recreation Director Scott Archer, explaining that commission members were concerned the rest of the city’s parks would suffer. But Carl Bartlett, chairman of the southeast plan committee, said there would still be a great benefit to the city because that other 50 percent would fund the city’s other parks needs. "I hope this isn’t their last decision that they’ll make on it," said Bartlett. "I don’t think that they have shown favorability on it since it started out." The advisory committee is made up of five southeast plan developers and planners: Mike Mahar, Lou Mahar, Randy Jones, Craig Stone and Jim Bennett; two planning commission members: Carl Bartlett and Body Gibson; and two City Council members: Jim Key and Bill Moore. The southeast plan includes community parks, neighborhood parks, greenways and park strips that would be available to everyone, not just residents of the southeast plan. According to Suzanne Myers, associate planner with the city of Medford, other changes to the southeast plan, and ultimately the city as a whole, are on the table. Other changes being considered would require landscaping and irrigation plans by the developer for the planter strips between sidewalks and streets. Another would allow higher densities in mixed- use areas. Currently mixed-use development (retail space on the ground floor and residential apartments above) allows a maximum of 30 units per acre, and the committee is considering increasing that to 60 units per acre, said Myers. "Really the changes are not earth-shattering," she said. "They mostly have to do with how something looks." Meanwhile, the Southeast Plan Implementation and Advisory Committee on Wednesday finalized plans to extend Barnett Road east of North Phoenix Road. Bartlett said the plan is to make the rural road into a minor arterial out to the urban growth boundary with two lanes, a center turn lane and commercial developments. "It’ll be a minor arterial street but it’ll have parking on it," said Bartlett. "And it’ll have buildings on both sides of it." In November 2002 the council voted in favor of a $4.50 monthly fee for homeowners who benefit from the "pedestrian-friendly" street lamps in the area. The lampposts are a departure from a city code that requires standardized, cost-efficient lamps. The option is now available to developments city-wide because of the exception made for the southeast plan. All policy changes must be approved by the Medford City Council. The parks commission is an advisory committee to the council, and their recommendation on the SDC fees will be considered at a future council meeting. Bartlett said the advisory committee next will tackle a master plan for the southeast plan’s commercial center. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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