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Quail Point battle�s not over yet Citizens League heads to court A Jackson County group that opposes urban sprawl has asked the Oregon Court of Appeals to stop the imminent expansion of Quail Point Golf Course. Last month the state Land Use Board of Appeals sided with the Quail Point developer Rogue Valley Manor and the county on three land-use issues, denying an appeal by the Jackson County Citizens League. Now the league wants the Court of Appeals to step in, arguing the expansion of Quail Point from nine holes to 18 amounts to a de-facto expansion of Medford�s urban growth boundary. LUBA�s ruling violates the principle that land uses outside the urban growth boundary � or UGB � be rural in nature, league President Mary-Kay Michelsen complained. "Urban uses may not be located outside urban growth boundaries," she said. "This appeal is an attempt to uphold ... the rural character of southeast Medford." The land, owned by Naumes Inc., featured a pear orchard the fruit company recently removed on the grounds it had become unprofitable. Since then the league has extended the fight by contesting secondary issues, including the three county land-use issues LUBA ruled on last month. Michelsen said her group acknowledges that under state law in effect when the golf course was approved, golf courses could be expanded onto farmland. "However, allowing this particular golf course to expand outside the UGB into 252 acres of high-value farmland would open the door to an urban level of development," she said. "Urban activities bring with them a high demand for urban services," she added, citing housing and roads as examples. "In turn (such activities) require more urban services such as water, sewage and policing." Manor officials could not be reached for comment. Following the LUBA ruling last month, they said they hoped the league would not continue to contest the expansion. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA