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McClure pact OK'd by council |
By Gary Allen,
Newberg Graphic managing editor
E-mail Gary at
gallen@eaglenewspapers.com
|
The Newberg City Council
reversed an earlier decision and affirmed a development agreement
Monday evening between the city and Ellen and Charles McClure,
owners of Springbrook Hazelnut Farm.
The agreement will allow the city to extend water service to the
McClure’s property at the corner of Benjamin Road and Highway 99W;
the land is outside the city limits and urban growth boundary.
The agreement will facilitate construction of 36 one-acre home lots
in the near future, as well as a retirement facility on the 50-acre
parcel once the land is annexed into the city.
The council voted 4-3 on June 4 against the agreement, but
Councilor Bart Rierson returned the issue to the council June 18,
asking that it reconsider its vote in light of new information he
received following the June 4 vote. The council agreed and slated a
hearing on the matter for Monday.
Ellen McClure said she wasn’t surprised the issue came before the
council again Monday, saying she had talked to Rierson following the
June 4 vote to straighten out some misconceptions, primarily that
the property’s neighbors were in fact in favor of the development,
not against it as was portrayed during the June 4 hearing.
“There were a number of factors to me that made sense ... at least
enough to reconsider the application,” Rierson said in late June.
The McClures successfully filed a Measure 37 claim to develop the
land. The couple then sat down with city officials in an effort to
extend city water from the farm to the development. The farm has had
access to city water for more than 50 years because the city’s Otis
Springs well is on the land.
City officials were responsive to an agreement with the McClures,
they said, because in exchange the city would have input into the
particulars of the development it wouldn’t normally have as the land
is under Yamhill County jurisdiction.
The McClures will be charged 150 percent of in-town water rates so
the city can recoup the cost of delivering water outside the city
limits. The council and the McClures also agreed to add a sewer
system on the property during construction, even though the houses
will use septic systems until the land is annexed into the city and
sewer service becomes available. The council also set a timeline to
ensure the development hooked onto sewer when available.
Councilor Roger Currier, the council’s lone nay vote in passing the
development agreement Monday, said he doubted the 150 percent rate
would cover the city’s costs and railed against the planned street
design for the development, which calls for 22-foot widths and
sidewalks on one side.
He argued that the city gained nothing from the agreement because
it allows substandard streets, limited handicapped access and would
be a drain on city services.
“It’s unfortunate that everybody’s taking this development agreement and
saying it’s the greatest thing since candy ...,” he said.
Councilor Robert Soppe countered that the city was gaining much
from the agreement, including control over the timetable for
annexing the land into the city, that the development will meet
handicap access requirements, and that the city is being a good
steward of the land by avoiding long-term use of wells and septic
systems.
Rierson said the agreement was positive for the city on many
fronts, including the well and septic issues as well as creating
less impermeable surface with narrower streets, reducing runoff.
“I think it’s better for the applicant, I think it’s better for the
city and I think it’s better for the neighbors,” he said.
Councilor Bob Larson had consistently voted against the agreement
in the past, but voted in favor Monday because his concerns had been
addressed. He admonished the city and the McClures to annex the land
into the city as soon as possible, though.
A preliminary design has been approved by Yamhill County for the
development, Ellen McClure said. She expects a final design will be
adopted in late August, allowing construction of the development to
begin in the fall. |
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From
July 4, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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