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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 28, 2005 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 Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? 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 January 5, 2005 Lithia swap could enhance Greenway The county will consider a proposal for development near the airport in exchange for mitigation south of town By GREG STILES Mail Tribune Eighty acres of wetlands along the Bear Creek Greenway south of Medford may go through a unique rebirth under a proposal that would allow Lithia Motors Inc. to develop property near the airport in exchange. Jackson County commissioners will decide today whether to give Lithia Motors the go-ahead to spend $45,000 on a study to determine whether the wetlands mitigation plan is possible. The commissioners meet at 9:30 a.m. at the County Offices, 10 S. Oakdale Ave., Medford. Lithia Motors could put nearly half a million dollars toward enhancing the Greenway property as part of the wetlands mitigation deal. The county-owned property that sometimes straddles Bear Creek lies between the eastern extremity of South Stage Road and East Glenwood Road. A portion of the Greenway path was built through the land last summer. Advertisement The question to be studied is whether the land qualifies for wetland mitigation. "We don’t know if it will fly or not," says Karen Smith, Jackson County Greenway coordinator. "There are a lot of complex issues such as moisture content and soil types. If you build a pond, it might trap fish." Part of the tract’s riparian zones are probable qualifiers. But other parts are flat and wide and were mined for gravel in the past. The mitigation plan would help Lithia Motors by making 30 acres encompassing the old Medco Haul Road log pond near the airport — now considered wetlands — available for future commercial use. Companies developing wetlands must create wetlands elsewhere to replace those developed. Lithia, the nation’s eighth-largest auto retailing group, owns 110 acres northeast of the airport off Coker Butte Road and Lear Way. Lithia Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sid DeBoer said he is willing to spend as much as the market value of the 30 acres to enhance the Greenway property. "What we don’t spend on mitigation we’ll donate to the county for the Greenway," DeBoer says. "But I think we can mitigate for a lot less than the value of the land." Olson says it’s common for developers to offer to mitigate just an acre or two of wetland. "What happens then? Who watches and takes care of it?" Olson says. "When you go back a couple of years later, there’s nothing there. Mitigation is a very expensive ordeal. We needed to find someone who had reason to mitigate a large piece of property — and who could afford it." Lithia’s willingness to spend money now so it can use its Medco property later fits the bill. Olson imagines that an interpretive center with trails away from the primary Greenway paths could be part of the enhancement project. "That’s why Sid structured the deal this way, so the Greenway will have money to make maintenance of the area possible," she says. Lithia’s real estate manager Bill Greenstein and Olson formulated the plan, culminating several months of discussion. The manmade Medco pond, acquired by Lithia five years ago, was a log-storage site for decades before Medco successor Medite closed its plant along Highway 99 in 1997. "It was filled in years ago and there is only water there in winter," DeBoer says. "Now it’s wetlands." Olson approached Lithia two years ago about the wetland mitigation process. "Naturally, it’s nice to develop more wetlands next to the creek," DeBoer says. "You don’t want wetlands next to an airport with ducks and geese, which are a major hazard for airplanes." Lithia has about 680 employees in Medford, including 276 at its corporate headquarters. When its downtown leases expire in another six or seven years, the company plans to move several of its dealerships to the airport site. By then, the mitigation issue should long be settled. "If the mitigation doesn’t work," DeBoer says, "we’d probably develop the pond area into a park." Before anything on anybody’s wish list happens, however, a multitude of agencies will have to sign off. "What we’re talking about is an agreement to hire a scientist to see if it’s feasible," Smith says. "Once the study is done, Sid will decide if it’s worth his while to come back." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail [email protected] . 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