<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3DiGC1_19ElRRCx00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3DiGC1_19ElRRCx00" width="864" height="480" ><figcaption>1/5 A screenshot from an AI video of an aerial "flyover" shows where 11 three-story apartment buildings will be built near the base of Roxy Ann in East Medford. (Courtesy photo)</figcaption></figure>Planned unit development approved in 2003, and revised in 2017, will site 11 three-story apartment buildings near the base of Roxy Ann inside 160-acre Vista Pointe; decision anticipated to be appealedThe Medford Planning Commission on Thursday night approved an application to revise a 25-acre portion of East Medford’s Vista Pointe planned unit development. The application for revision, submitted by Pacific Rental Properties, will revise a 2017 site plan swapping 132 housing units — comprised of two-story townhomes — with 199 apartment units within 11 three-story structures.The nine-member commission passed the controversial revision by a vote of 4-3, with one member abstaining and another absent. Commission members Jared Pulver, Jeff Thomas and Mark McKechnie voted against the revision, while Larry Beskow, E. J. McManus, Rachel Bennett and David Culbertson voted yes. Commission member Marcy Pierce abstained from voting, and commission member Jim Wallan was absent.The 160-acre Vista Pointe PUD was first approved in 2003 and spans 160 acres. The project is largely developed or being developed, except for the 25-acre portion dubbed Mountain Top Village.A Jan. 22 Medford Planning Commission meeting brought hours of testimony almost entirely in opposition to the three-story buildings, with dozens of neighbors raising concerns ranging from fire safety and traffic gridlock to the project being incompatible with surrounding neighborhoods, and not being adjacent to services that would be needed for apartment dwellers.The development’s original 2003 design plan for Mountain Top Village already called for nearly a dozen three-story buildings, but a 2017 revision garnered approval to swap the 11 structures for the series of townhouses and an area of single-family homes. The revision approved Thursday allowed return of the apartment buildings, instead of the townhomes, and removed the single-family homes from a steeper portion of the peak, one of Medford’s most recognized.Kelly Akin, Medford assistant planning director, said the original design for the project was “very similar” to the latest revision but would increase open space surrounding the project from 7 acres to 16 acres, which Akin said was significant, and the revision removed some structures from the steeper portions of the base of Roxy Ann. The project, which Akin said meets city code and development criteria, is located north of Vista Pointe Drive and west of Bordeaux Avenue near Whitney Terrace, Evening Ridge Terrace and Deer Ridge Drive.During the Thursday meeting, Medford Fire Marshal Tanner Farrington acknowledged traffic and fire safety concerns but said specific requirements for evacuation, in the event of an emergency, did not exist at the local or state level, and that efficiency of evacuation cannot be guaranteed or quantified in any scenario. Medford City Attorney Eric Mitton explained the legal obligation of the commission to weigh specific guidelines in determining whether to allow the revision. Mitton noted at Thursday’s meeting that average traffic trips would decrease with the revision.Commission members were divided on whether the project was compatible with surrounding neighborhoods and that the project depicted structures suitable for flat grade but on steeper hillsides. Commission member McKechnie said he agreed with developers that site development would be “challenging,” noting, “unfortunately that’s about all we agree on.”McKechnie took issue with community amenities — including a community room and pool — that were omitted between the 2017 and recent revision and pointed to a “fire break masquerading as a (walking) path,” which he dubbed a “neighborhood compensation” for the pending development.“Clearly the buildings are not compatible with existing development,” he said at Thursday’s meeting.“They are large, close to 30,000 square feet per building, and bulky in relationship to other units in the development, (which are) typically 2,500 to 4,000 square feet,” McKechnie said prior to the vote. “The buildings will be close to 42 feet at the peak on a flat side. Add 14 feet to account for the slope, and we have what passes in this town as a high-rise.”Commission member Bennett called the revision “a daunting process” and said on a personal level that issues she might have with the development were not factors to be weighed in the commission’s determination of whether the revisions should be approved. She said she was voting to approve the revisions because of the “explanations and arguments put forth” and because there were “many factors that were raised that just were not within our lane to weigh, such as the cosmetic appearance of buildings.”“They may not be my cup of tea, but that’s not really my purview. The impact on property values, the impact to your view, private access to parking on public streets … (it’s) not something we can really take into account for this particular purpose,” she said.“Would I prefer it were affordable rental housing, rather than market price units, yeah,” Bennett said, adding that after 23 years from the original PUD approval, it was “jarring to now be confronted with decisions made by a totally different body at a totally different time.”Akin previously told the Rogue Valley Times that she anticipated — regardless of the decision to approve or deny the revisions — the project would likely be appealed to Medford City Council.For project information, download the meeting agenda. To watch the Thursday commission meeting, visit the city website.Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or buffy.pollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.</div></body>

Block Source: rv-times.com

Misinformation

Clickbait

Old or repetitive news

Explicit content

Location not relevant

Planned unit development approved in 2003, and revised in 2017, will site 11 three-story apartment buildings near the base of Roxy Ann inside 160-acre Vista Pointe; decision anticipated to be appealed. The Medford Planning Commission on Thursday night approved an application to revise a 25-acre portion of East Medford’s Vista...

Divided Medford Planning Commission OKs multi-building development below Roxy Ann

NewsBreak

Planned unit development approved in 2003, and revised in 2017, will site 11 three-story apartment buildings near the base of Roxy Ann inside 160-acre Vist

Divided Medford Planning Commission OKs multi-building development below Roxy Ann

Comments / 2