Fourteen months in the making, a draft of the Town Center Plan for Eagle Point will be presented to the city's planning commission on Tuesday.
If the commission likes what it sees, the strategic document would head to the City Council for review before going through another round at the planning commission and returning to the council for what could be the start of an adoption process.
"People take a draft as being cut in granite, but this isn't certain yet — there is no action expected from the Planning Commission, just a report," Eagle Point City Administrator David Hussell said. "They'll receive a copy of the draft, a presentation from the consultant and a heads up for the process that will start from that point."
The draft combines ideas from several town center plans created over the past 15 years, the Economic Development Commission, input from local businesspeople and residents and professional advice from Don Burt, redevelopment consultant with Hardey Engineering & Associates in Medford. To define an objective in developing the downtown area, the EDC along with Burt identified five separate but connected districts that will form the basis of the Town Center Plan.
"Each district has a different mix," explained Councilman Alan Curriston, who sits on the EDC. "Old Town will have the greatest density of commercial and retail. Southwest Village will be all residential. Napa will have significant office space and retail but a more residential feel than Old Town. Creekside will emphasize the natural beauty along Little Butte Creek as well as our more historic buildings. Hillside will have a less traditional commercial/retail feel with more open space and residential impact than the Old Town area."
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Emphasizing safe and comfortable pedestrian traffic is a main focus, as is maintaining the area's green space.
"We already have several small parks in place and will continue to develop the Little Butte Creek pedestrian walkways as well as connectivity with all parts of the community," Curriston said.
Because Eagle Point has a strong foundation of traditional buildings within a generously-sized area, there was no need for the Town Center Plan to change any boundaries. "The existing zoning provided ample opportunity," Burt said. "A lot of people get really concerned that commercial zoning will be changed to residential and residential will change to commercial, but we saw no need to mess with those things." Parking and design ordinances will likely need to be tweaked if the plan is put into place, but the committee decided to hold off on those issues until after the document is complete.
"If you do that before you have a plan, you end up with the wrong painting or too much variety," said Burt. "When you're finished you're not going to have a very pretty picture and you'll spend a lot of resources and energy painting. Here, everyone knows what the expectations are and are planning for it." How much will the proposed Town Center Plan cost? Because it's not something material, no dollar sign can be placed on it, said Curriston.
"This vision will take us decades into the future," he said. "We're not going in to rebuild our downtown, but rather to agree upon the precepts that will shape that new vision. There will be costs but the burden of those costs will be spread across many sources."
Necessary funding will come partly from the city, which has already put budgeting and planning projects in place as a starting point, and from developers.
"We'll be looking for grants to help and as with any new growth, developers will play a part," said Curriston. "Eagle Point has experienced tremendous growth in the last 15 years and we've continually found ways to fund that growth, this will be much the same."
After review by the planning commission, the draft will go to the council, which will likely set up a workshop to hear details from city staff and the consultant.
"Then they will make a judgment call," said Eagle Point City Administrator David Hussell. "If they feel comfortable with the proposed plan, it will start the adoption process. What we're intending to do is make this a part of our comprehensive plan; to do that there has to be a 45-day notice put out then you start the adoption process by taking it back to the planning commission."
During the 45-day period, the planning commission will review the document, make it an action item on their agenda and hold a public hearing. The commission's recommendation will accompany the document back to council, which will hold as many public hearings as needed.
"The Town Center Plan will also be reviewed by the state, which will issue comments back to us with suggestions based on their standards and state code requirements," Hussell said. "The policy people take into account these suggestions; you have to get state approval to amend a comprehensive plan."
When the planning commission and council are comfortable with the document, they will adopt the Town Center plan in the City of Eagle Point's comprehensive plan, Hussell said.
The EDC hopes the council will adopt the plan by June.
"We're already moving forward with implementation plans," Curriston said. "We're committed to making a number of visible and important changes this year but this plan will be a long-term document that will take many years to realize we feel it's important to also get out on the streets and show the community that things are changing and changing for the better."
Jennifer Strange is a freelance writer living in Central Point. Reach her at jlstrange@hotmail.com.
