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Annexations fail at the ballot box |
By David Sale,
Newberg Graphic reporter
E-mail David at
dsale@eaglenewspapers.com
|
To the surprise of some
observers, two proposed annexations were voted down Tuesday by
Newberg residents.
“This is the first time that an annexation hasn’t been approved
since the law requiring referendums was passed in 1996,” said Barton
Brierley, Newberg’s city planner.
Preliminary results for ballot measures 36-112 and 36-113 from the
Yamhill County Clerk’s office showed that the annexations were voted
down by margins of 54 percent and 59 percent, respectively.
“I hope it’s a wake-up call to people at the city and county levels
to come up with better solutions,” said John Lowry, an
anti-annexation organizer. “My hope is that the city will work with
the developers and come up with a better plan — something that’s
profitable, but that won’t increase the traffic.”
Preliminary numbers showed Measure 36-112 received 1,513 votes in
favor and 1,822 against, for a total of 3,335 votes cast. Measure
36-113 received 1,365 votes in favor and 1,977 votes against, for a
total of 3,342 votes cast.
Together, the two measures covered a wedge-shaped 44.66-acre area
inside Newberg’s urban growth boundary, located between Benjamin
Road and Vittoria Way, across Highway 99W from Providence Newberg
Medical Center.
Measure 36-112 applied to a 14.74-acre site to the west of
Providence Drive owned by the Ella and Herb Gueldner Trust. Measure
36-113 applied to a 29.92-acre site to the east of Providence Drive
owned by the Forrest Gish Living Trust, Richard Kimball and Valerie
Thomas.
The two lots were slated for mixed-use development by J.T. Smith
Co. and Meadowbrook Development. The developers have not ruled out
continuing to pursue developing the land.
“The naysayers had a reason to come out, but I believe we had an
extremely low turnout overall and we will bring this back in
November,” Smith said. “We’re OK with that.”
With 8,950 registered voters in Newberg, according to figures from
the Yamhill County Clerk’s Office, the turnout for the annexation
vote would appear to confirm Smith’s assessment.
“There wasn’t a race for senator or congressman on this ballot, so
those who would otherwise cast a ballot had no reason to,” agreed
Tim Speakman of Meadowbrook Development. “This has been deemed by
many to be a good project for the right reasons.”
Final plans have yet to be approved by the city of Newberg, but the
developers intend to construct 15 commercial buildings on 23 acres
and 73 homes or condos on 19 acres, according to information
provided to this newspaper. The remaining acreage would be in
parking and landscaping.
The property would include a planned extension of Crestview Drive
to intersect with Highway 99W opposite the hospital entrance —
funded by the developers.
“We need the roads,” Lowry admitted, “but to allow that level of
density in the development defeats the purpose. I’m hoping the city
will go back and look at the traffic impact and do a revised study.”
County clerk: ballot misprint not a factor in the election
In the May 15 special election, some Newberg voters were surprised
to find part of their ballot missing.
Due to a misprint, some ballots did not include Measures 36-112 and
36-113, the referendum on annexing two lots across Highway 99W from
Providence Newberg Medical Center (see related story).
However, the number of misprinted ballots was negligible, according
to Yamhill County Clerk Jan Coleman.
“We had two people come in to pick up new ballots, and one phone
call — that’s all we know of,” she said.
Only one misprinted ballot turned up during the final count,
assistant Gail Jensen added.
Coleman added that, while exchanging misprinted ballots was
preferred, voters are free to write in their vote on a missing
ballot measure.
“Oregon is a ‘voter intent’ state — if someone wrote on the back of the
form how they intended to vote on a measure, we will honor that,”
she said. |
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From
May 19, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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