The developer of a large residential and commercial project in northeast Medford has agreed to build an access road to the site, ending a dispute over dozens of construction trucks that had made their way daily through nearby neighborhood streets.
The Jantzer family, owners of the Cedar Links Golf Club, has begun work on a new access road, off Cedar Links Drive west of Foothill Road, after neighbors submitted a petition to the city and created an obstacle course on their streets to get attention.
The family is developing Cedar Landing, a 118-acre mixed use development, that will replace the golf course with more than 540 home sites and senior-living units.
A city ordinance prohibiting trucks in the neighborhood of nearby Colonial and Farmington avenues was passed two years ago at the neighbors' request. The city put up signs showing a truck surrounded by a circle with a slash through it. But in December, dump trucks began carrying loads of dirt and rock on those streets to reach the project.
To deter the truck traffic and to get the city's attention, neighbors last week parked cars and trailers along the street. The city's police, public works and legal staff initially said the truck traffic was allowed because there was no other street access to the site.
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"We hope it will be done sometime this week," said Jason Jantzer, adding the work was held up a day by work the Medford Water Commission was doing along Cedar Links Drive.
"It's not like we're ignoring the issue," he said.
Ken Marek, a Colonial Avenue resident, said he looks forward to the completion of the new access road and to the end of the large trucks on his street.
"I think that would be great," he said.
But he added that he will take a petition signed by 80 neighbors to a meeting with Mayor Gary Wheeler Wednesday to request that the city enforce the no-truck rule in the neighborhood. There are other construction trucks, including those working on the adjacent Cedar Vale development, which neighbors hope to ban.
"We would rather not have them go that way," he said.
Dennis Hoffbuhr, project manager for both Cedar Landing and Cedar Vale, said the Jantzers took the high road in agreeing to build an alternate access. Hoffbuhr, who has served on the city's traffic coordinating committee for 26 years, said the family could have successfully argued that Farmington Avenue was the only access road and that the city should waive the truck ban.
"It's a public road and they have some rights there," he said.
Medford police Lt. Bob Hansen said the Cedar Vale project has no other access and the truck ban would probably be waived.
"At this point I don't believe that construction trucks (on the streets) can be prohibited," he said. He said "if push comes to shove" police officers could issue citations and let the courts interpret the ordinance.
Meanwhile, the city's Public Works Department has been inspecting the Cedar Landing project's sewer and storm drain work, even though the land-use application has not been cleared by the state Land Use Board of Appeals.
"That work is all being done at their own risk," said Cory Crebbin, public works director. Neighbors opposed to the project appealed the city's approval in June to LUBA. The appeal was made on numerous grounds, ranging from problems with an agricultural zone designated on part of the property to traffic impacts and deviations from minimum lot dimensions. LUBA reviewed the city's decision in December, and is scheduled to issue a final opinion by Jan. 22.
Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail mlanders@mailtribune.com.
