The Planning commission voted to approve the Planning Department’s proposal.
Tonight’s meeting by Lane County’s Planning Commission included a proposal to allow the County to potentially waive the additional 10′ setback on properties along Blue River Dr from Blue River bridge to where Blue River Dr. terminates on McKenzie Highway. We are glad to see that community members participated in this hearing.
McKenzie Community Partnership (MCP), your local, non-profit, Community Development Corporation was there, represented by our Executive Director, Chris LaVoie.
Three Affected property land owners gave testimony at the hearing advocating for the change. One of them, Melanie Brite, explained that without altering the setback, she would have significant issues replacing Meyers General Store that was lost in the Holiday Farm Fire. Chris LaVoie, also on Blue River Dr (not affected by the proposal), gave testimony as Executive Director of McKenzie Community Partnership in favor of the reduced setback, saying it was necessary as most of the commercial lots were too small to effectively develop without the setback reduction. Chris expressed his appreciation for the county spending staff time to solve land use challenges in Blue River and that any efforts they could make to make it easier for Businesses to open up again in Blue River would be greatly appreciated.
Other area residents also gave testimony including Tony Casad and Merrick Firestone who live nearby. They both opposed the proposal, suggested that it was too early to make such a decision and that planning for wastewater and other infrastructure needs should be be figured out before approving removing the setback requirement.
The commissioners asked several questions of staff around the issues brought up. Planning staff did share that infrastructure issues would be considered in final approval, and said that approving this request was a crucial step to a multistep plan to help Blue River recover.
Chris LaVoie agrees with the concerns about making sure Blue River has the space needed for infrastructure. The planing department staff said that approving tonight’s proposal was a preliminary step to being able to develop a master transportation plan for Blue River Dr so they could eliminate the 10′ setback if it made sense to do so. I am glad they are working to make sure all concerns are considered.
Affected property owners looking to rebuild on Blue River Dr. should talk to the county about what this means in relationship to their property and the process of rebuilding. My takeaway is that there is still a master transportation plan that needs to be created for Blue River Dr and the final approved master plan would then need to be approved by the county commissioners (or something to that affect).
In conclusion,
This is a big plus for Blue River as it is as a step closer to improving land use rules that limit building in this area. However, it is not a one and done decision.
Source: MCP Staff
About us:
MCP was originally formed as the Blue River Community Development Corporation in order to help solve community challenges in Blue River. As Blue River is unincorporated, there is no formal town/city structure to advocate, propose projects, raise money for or manage community projects for the town. We have since broadened our efforts to cover the entire McKenzie River. We led the emergency response after the fire, we helped raise money to rebuild the Blue River Water District, the Blue River Community Sewer project and a number of other community projects. We are here to support Blue River and all the communities along the McKenzie River. As always we would love to hear from you.
Some additional Thoughts:
Land use rules have unintentionally made most Blue River commercial lots unbuildable. These setbacks are part of these rules. MCP has been advocating that the county spend staff time to help solve land use issues in Blue River for almost 20 years. Before the fire, the county has said they would be glad to help, but only if we (the residents) would pay for any staff time used to address these issues. This is the first time that they have budgeted money and staff time to work with us as a community.
We need to work together as a community to find solutions that work. There is a lot that we can agree upon about the future of Blue River. We need to find common ground and work together, it may be another 20 years before we get another chance.
Chris LaVoie, Executive Director
Restoring lost businesses, strengthening existing ones, rebuilding homes, adding workforce housing are some of the big reasons we are here. We appreciate your support as we work for you.
Please feel free to email me if there is something that I missed or needs to be corrected on this report. You can reach me through the contact form on this website.