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Medford council approves Southeast Plan development By MELISSA MARTIN The first development in the long-awaited Medford Southeast Plan got a stamp of approval from the Medford City Council Tuesday despite concerns that the apartments are too far from the village center. "The spirit and the dream of the Southeast Plan has not been honored," said Leslie Zock, who operates a riding arena on Coal Mine Road next to Stonegate Estates. "The plan was supposed to have the greatest density closest to the village center and to work out from there." The City Council voted 5-0 to uphold the Medford Planning Commission's earlier approval of Stonegate Estate's plan for 203 homes and 96 apartments near North Phoenix and Barnett roads. Councilmen Sal Esquivel and Skip Knight were absent and Bob Strosser abstained. Six neighbors appealed the planning commission's approval, criticizing Stonegate developers for moving higher-density housing to the outskirts. They also said developers failed to protect Larsen Creek as it flows through the development. Stonegate developers Lou Mahar and DeCarlow Homes moved the apartments closer to North Phoenix Road to protect the greenway - multi-family housing meshed better with the narrow, creek-bordered portion of land than a regular subdivision would, said land-use planner Dennis Hoffbuhr. "The total driving force behind the change is topography and preservation of the riparian areas," Hoffbuhr said. Medford's Southeast Plan encompasses 1,000 acres near Barnett and North Phoenix roads, where 10,000 people are expected to live within 20 years. About 5,000 houses or apartments are planned, plus a shopping center, a school, retirement home, church and government office. Stonegate makes up 8 percent of the Southeast Plan acreage, yet includes 24 percent of the total plan's greenways, or tree-lined creeks, Hoffbuhr said. Four miles of walking or bicycle paths will wind along Larsen Creek throughout Stonegate's 79 acres, he said. Also in Stonegate, Mahar and DeCarlow plan to remove 30-year-old concrete dams, pipe Medford Irrigation District water underground to separate it from Larsen Creek flow and convert the old ditch to a creek channel, Hoffbuhr said. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials praised the plans to remove fish passage barriers. But neighbors expressed concerns about flooding -Stonegate's proposed retention pond wouldn't hold back high water from apartments, said Coal Mine Road resident Pam Solof. "If the flooding of the Medford Irrigation District onto North Phoenix Road happens like it has before, there are safety issues," Solof said. "Who will be held liable?" Zock objected to proposals to build a mile-long Coal Mine Road and a four-lane Stanford Way through agricultural land. "We feel there are better alternatives to Coal Mine Road," said Zock, whose ranch lies in the route of the proposed road. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.