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Naumes center clears first hurdle By SUSAN JAY CENTRAL POINT -- Earnest Mingus breathed a little easier Tuesday after the Planning Commission responded to concerns he and his neighbors raised over the proposed 21-acre Naumes Pear Blossom Center. The commission unanimously approved a tentative plan for the 16-lot commercial subdivision, which will allow Naumes Inc. to develope the center's layout, and install all utility improvements. The nation's leading producer of apples and pears and juice concentrate plans to market the 16 lots individually to tenants, including restaurants, fast food, offices and a motel. The planning commission did require conditions upon its approval -- including a ground water study, a 6-foot wall with a 2-foot berm on top along the northern boundary, and a signal installed in the center of the property off of East Pine Street after 50 percent of the project has been developed or a major anchor tenant is found. "I was happy that they listened to us," said Mingus, whose 1-acre home and orchard abuts the northern boundary of the commercial retail center, at the corner of Hamrick Road and East Pine Street. Mingus and his neighbors live outside the city limits but inside the city's urban growth boundary, the area designated for future growth and annexation. Mingus and his neighbors are afraid their wells will dry up and the water level will drop when the Naumes development starts paving, adding storm drains, and building. That's what happened last summer when storm drains were installed on Beebe Road for the Central Point East residential subdivision north on Hamrick. Well production and water levels dropped as Mingus and his neighbors ran out of water. Mingus told the commission he has spent $20,000 digging deeper wells, and he has had to haul water to his property. "I'm just asking that you protect my rights," he said during Tuesday's public hearing. Mingus's other concerns revolved around traffic, and security from people walking through his orchard to get to the Naumes center, which is why the commission and Naumes agreed to the wall. The city and Jackson County didn't see eye-to-eye, however, when it came to traffic improvements. Jackson County traffic engineer Eric Niemeyer said he was concerned that there wasn't enough distance between the signals at Hamrick Road and East Pine Street, and at the Central Point I-5 interchange for a third one at the Naumes center off of East Pine. He recommended more traffic analysis, in addition to the study Naumes already did before deciding on the third signal. But Lee Brennan, public works director, cited different traffic requirements and said the city was comfortable with the distance between the two other intersections. The city, Mingus and neighbors will work with Naumes on defining the scope of the groundwater study. The developers will pay for some or all of the study depending on the size. Naumes will appear before the commission again for site plan approval for each of the 16 lots. The planning commission also approved the site plan for Valley of the Rogue Bank's two commercial buildings for a total of 18,215-square-feet, near the intersection of Hamrick Road and East Pine Street, across the street from the Naumes property. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA