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http://www.omniture.com --> Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 22, 2006 Sweet Cafe Espresso shop owner Teri Gonzales, who backs the Town Center Plan, says she hopes to see a diverse mix of retail, services and offices. (Mail Tribune / Jim Craven) Town Center Plan By JENNIFER STRANGE for the Mail Tribune Inspired by growth, Eagle Point's city leaders have hired Hardey Engineering and Associates, Inc. in Medford to create a blueprint for a revitalized downtown. Called the Town Center Plan, the blueprint will focus on improved traffic flow and increased commercial and living opportunities, all as part of a larger visual theme. "At this juncture it's in the formation stages and won't be ready until October," said Greg Lecuyer, business manager of the Eagle Point School District who is a member of the city's Economic Development Commission. "It's a long-range plan and our hope is to see the town center grow so it's sustainably livable for all members of the community." A recent influx of residents with higher incomes has been the main impetus for change, said Eagle Point City Administrator David Hussell. In the past decade, Eagle Point's population has more than doubled, from 3,415 in July 1995 to 7,585 in July 2005. Similarly, the cost of homes built by new residents has skyrocketed, from 41 new single-family houses built at an average cost of $96,200 in 1996 to 223 new single-family houses built at an average cost of $213,400 in 2004. Along with heftier individual buying power has come a wave of interest in investing in this once-rural community. Several big box and chain stores are looking to open along the highway corridor, including a Wal-Mart Supercenter, expected to open in spring 2007 in a 25-acre business park between Highway 62 and Hannon Road. But individuals are looking for something solid to base their investments on when it comes to the town center, city officials say. "We're getting people walking in the front door of City Hall wanting to invest in downtown Eagle Point and wanting to know our plan," Hussell said. "The problem is we don't have a plan. What we need is a plan to give it its own specific identity and make it a point of destination." First on the agenda is identifying the geographic boundaries of downtown. "Then we'll discuss what its specific uses are, create a vision for it and come up with at least some initial plan implementation strategies," Hussell said. Additional specifics such as street design, streetscapes, sidewalks and lighting will follow. Making sure traffic flow is smooth and safe for all users is a priority, city officials say. Eagle Point High School students — who are bused downtown from all over the Upper Rogue region and use the area during their open-campus lunch break — would benefit from fewer traffic disruptions. "They're a member of the "They're a member of the community while they're here," said Lecuyer. "A better layout could help this be a more positive experience for everyone." Parents who live in Eagle Point also would benefit. "Everyone wants to live in a community with a beautiful greenway along the creek and walkways into the main areas where people live," said Lecuyer, who commutes to Eagle Point from Jacksonville. "If the folks who live near the golf course and other places could walk and bicycle into the parks and the downtown area and not be stuck in traffic, it would be wonderful." Business owners, too, are backing the Town Center Plan. "It's pretty exciting because we've been working on this for years," said Teri Gonzales, owner of the Sweet Cafe Espresso shop downtown and an Economic Development Commission member. When discussing her vision for downtown, Gonzales likes a Craftsman-style theme or something more historic, similar to Jacksonville's Main Street. In any case, she said the plan must be expansive. "We definitely want retail and service businesses, but that's not all," she said. "We also need offices to establish downtown as diverse." Hussell would like to see a higher density of residential options. "Residences you can build above or in back of a commercial building would be good," he said. "And more assisted living residences would be good because it's adding that dynamic mix of different people and income levels, adding to that downtown vibrancy." Reflecting the upwardly mobile vision of the community without marginalizing old-timers is another goal of the Town Center Plan, said Eagle Point City Planner Bunny Lincoln. "The whole idea is for it to be so attractive that it attracts everyone," she said. "For the last 30 years, people have pretty much just been bypassing it." Since the rerouting of Highway 140 to White City in the 1970s, downtown Eagle Point has lost a huge base of its buying and working public. "We used to have over 30 businesses in that area, but they just faded away," said Lincoln. "Now 85 percent of our people go someplace else." But as new blood expresses its desire for a more diverse community, things are starting to change, observers say, as seen by a just-opened Saturday Market, improvements to the Butte Creek Mill and development of the Harnish Wayside Park and Tourist Information Center. "Eagle Point is growing so rapidly and we're becoming the center of economic focus in the u pper Rogue region," said Lincoln. "Right now, we have the ability to create opportunities to reduce traffic on Highway 62, travel time and fuel costs for a lot of area residents." Hussell said meetings and workshops will be held to gather the community's comments once the plan is ready for discussion. When complete, it will be presented at a formal public hearing before going before the City Council for possible adoption. Jennifer Strange is a freelance writer living in Central Point. Reach her at [email protected]. Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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