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Planners OK development, transportation plan By DAVID PRESZLER ASHLAND -- A controversial hillside development ordinance and a long-range $53-million transportation plan were both approved by the Planning Commission on Tuesday night. The Commission unanimously signed off on both proposals, which will be considered by the City Council on Nov. 3. Ordered to make language in portions of its hillside development ordinance "clear and objective," the city took the most direct route: It deleted those portions. The state Land Use Board of Appeals ruled last month that the city needed to clarify certain standards in the ordinance. Both City Attorney Paul Nolte and Director of Community Development John McLaughlin agreed that the best way to do that was simply to delete portions of those standards that were unclear. "To make it clear and objective, we would have had to expand a couple of those by a couple of pages," Nolte said. McLaughlin called the changes "housekeeping items" that were mainly guidelines for developers rather than regulations. Four sections were modified and two more deleted. Both McLaughlin and Nolte said the modifications don't weaken the ordinance significantly. "The ordinance still provides the protections necessary without the language," he said. "These are fairly minor points to fix.'' The Commission agreed, after a brief debate over the wording in a couple of sentences. Only two residents addressed the Commission on the changes, one in favor and one opposed. Ashland Realtor Rick Harris spoke against the changes, pointing out that they don't address all of the problems LUBA found with the ordinance. In addition to the wording changes made Tuesday night, LUBA ordered the city to offset the loss of five single-family lots created by the stricter hillside development standards. The ordinance, which went into effect in January, makes the maximum buildable slope 35 percent rather than the previous 40 percent. The city's comprehensive plan requires 1,550 single-family residential units within its boundaries. McLaughlin said the city will eventually make up those five units by annexing some of the 160 acres within the city's urban growth boundary but not the city limits. He said that 160 acres has the potential for 500-600 residential units so finding five shouldn't be a problem. LUBA also asked the city to address a 46-acre shortage of single-family residential land currently in the city limits, another point Harris made. McLaughlin said that shortage will also be made up with land from the 160 acres inside the urban growth boundary. But the city has decided not to address those issues just yet. That's because the Rogue Valley Association of Realtors has filed to appeal LUBA's decision to the state Court of Appeals. That appeal, which will be spelled out in a brief due Thursday, is expected to include the residential land issues. The city wants to wait until the court rules on the appeal before addressing those issues. There was far less debate over the transportation system plan, a "nuts-and-bolts" document that spells out specific transportation improvements to made over the next 20 years. Both the Commission and the City Council have worked with the plan in study sessions. The plan calls for $53 million in upgrades ranging from street extensions to sidewalk improvements. While the projects and their estimated costs were approved, the portion that deals with how to fund the projects was not included. "That's too volatile to have for long-range planning," McLaughlin said. If approved by the City Council, the transportation system plan will become part of the city's comprehensive plan. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA