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Springbrook residents bring fight to council |
A Public Safety Building meeting room hosts more
than 60 members of the community waiting to be heard |
By
Schellene Clendenin, Newberg Graphic
reporter
E-mail Schellene at
sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
|
For a Newberg City Council meeting
that held only one agenda item Monday evening – a request by the
Newberg Fire Department to donate outdated fire equipment to area
fire agencies – the waiting room of the Public Safety Building was
packed with people.
More than 60 community members, many residents of the Oaks at
Springbrook subdivision behind Fred Meyer, showed up en masse, some
to ask questions of the council during the public comment section of
the meeting. The group was so large that council member Roger
Currier commented it was the largest gathering at a council meeting
since discussions surrounding possible construction of a Sumitomo
Sitix plant began in 1995.
Although public comment began with other matters, the majority of
the time was taken up by residents of the Oaks at Springbrook. Ten
Oaks residents spoke at the meeting. Many were worried about the
investment they made in their homes and the possibility that
property values will drop if a Stanton International furniture
manufacturing plant is erected across Brutscher Street from their
neighborhood.
Dennis Scheuermann, a resident whose property abuts Fernwood Road,
said a zone change allowing construction of the plant was
incompatible with the neighborhood. He added that he and his
neighbors were not notified of the zone change and that many members
of the neighborhood were told by real estate agents that the vacant
lot would be used for residential professional (R-P) development,
not light industrial (M-1).
Future notification of the change should be made, Scheuermann
argued, with better signage that includes clearer language so nearby
residents could understand proposals and take steps against them if
necessary.
Brenda Brady, another Oaks resident said she was excited when Oaks
at Springbrook property became available for sale. But that was
before the zoning was changed to M-1 and rumors of the sofa
manufacturer began to surface.
“We never dreamed we would face 20 to 30 trucks driving by a day,”
she said. “We don’t feel it was fair that the zone was changed
without notice and it should be changed back to where it was.”
The overriding message from members of the audience was simple —
they should have been notified before changes were made that could
affect their homes, investments and the safety of their children,
and they are willing to do battle for their neighborhood.
Nearly all of the residents who spoke asked why notification wasn’t
made by the city and, if it was, why it wasn’t made more clear?
Within of the Springbrook Oaks Specific Plan is language that gives
flexibility to the boundaries set aside for R-P and M-1 zones,
according to the city. As long as each zoning type remain relatively
fixed in size, boundaries can be changed by the city at the request
of a developer. No notification of neighboring residents is
required.
When Jim Bennett, city manager, was asked by the council about who
makes decisions on property changes, he replied that the city’s
planning department has a hand in reviewing the decision.
Council member Roger Currier said the council was dumbfounded when
they heard of the zone change. Currier said the changes were
administrative, meaning they weren’t sent to the city planning
commission for discussion, and made by the five or six members of
the city planning staff — not by the city council.
Currier said when changes were made in the Springbrook Oaks
Specific Plan he pushed for providing notification of property
changes to nearby residents, but his efforts were thwarted.
“I was in heavy discussions and debates with city council at that
time,” he said. “I went back in and spoke and said I disagreed with
development code changes, but I didn’t ask the right questions.”
Currier concluded that what is happening to Oaks at Springbrook
residents was what he was trying to prevent.
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From
Nov. 3, 2004,
Newberg Graphic
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