JANUARY 30, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE 3
Area C proponents kept meeting with neighbors
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
Before meeting with Keiz-
er City Councilors last week,
proponents of new develop-
ment in Keizer Station’s Area
C continued to meet with
neighbors.
One example took place
at the Jan. 15 Greater Gub-
ser Neighborhood Associa-
tion meeting, as Brian Moore
from Mountain West Invest-
ment Corporation talked
about his company’s plans for
180 apartment units and Ben
Settecase from Bonaventure
Senior Housing talked about
his company’s plans for a 154-
unit retirement center.
Company
representa-
tives had previously met with
neighbors in a group setting
back in October. They also
met with some neighbors
such as Kevin Hohnbaum in-
dividually, as well as city staff
members such as director of
Community
Development
Nate Brown, who was also at
the GGNA meeting.
Moore, director of Real Es-
tate Development for Moun-
tain West, noted he had been
brought up to speed on the
controversial history of Area
C proposals.
“There have been uses peo-
ple were not excited about in
the past, like Walmart,” he said.
“This is not Walmart. Walmart
is not involved at all. We’re de-
veloping the residential por-
tion of it. The prior approval
was settled by people like
Kevin. We had helpful con-
versations with him. That ap-
proval we’re seeking to change
as little as possible. It was a
product of a lot of discussions
and public process. We seek to
honor as many of those com-
mitments as possible.”
While noting he doesn’t
know who intends to do
commercial development in
Area C, Moore said the new
plan puts the previous idea in
reverse order.
“As far as infrastructure,
there was a lot required,”
Moore said. “What was an-
ticipated was the commercial
would happen fi rst. All of the
facilities required – the street
improvements, all of that –
was going to be required of
that commercial developer.
The traffi c from commercial
would be substantially higher
than something like Bonaven-
ture. What we’re trying to
do is honor all of that. We’re
teaming up to have adequate
capital to do all those im-
provements, even though ours
is substantially fewer trips than
if commercial had gone fi rst.
That puts the lower traffi c im-
pact uses fi rst, meaning fewer
trips, yet it still provides the
infrastructure as if commercial
is going in fi rst. (The infra-
structure) has a large price tag,
which is why we’re trying to
do it together.”
Mark Caillier, the current
GGNA president who was on
the council when the Area C
master plan was approved in
2011, wanted to know what
would happen down the road.
“At some point will you
get compensated by the future
commercial development?”
Caillier asked.
Moore answered affi rma-
tively.
“That is our desire, yes,”
Moore said. “We will record
all the costs. When subsequent
development comes along,
they’ll basically pay us back.”
Meetings with neighbors
yielded changes to plans, in-
cluding a reconfi guring of the
Bonaventure facility and ad-
ditional trees. The companies
will also pay for the construc-
tion of sidewalk along Che-
mawa Road, all the way south
to Verda Lane in places where
there is currently no sidewalk.
Moore said the apartment
buildings will not add to cur-
rent city stormwater systems.
“We will have rain gardens
dispersed throughout,” he said.
“It’s a qualitative way to treat
rainwater run-off before it
goes off to the aquifer. It also
detains the water on site so it
does not have an impact off-
site. Some older developments
shovel water into the city’s sys-
tem of pipes. There are some
challenges in the city pipes
now for capacity. This keeps
the stormwater contained on-
site. We maintain it. This serves
us well and it serves the com-
munity well. A lot of that is
already being reviewed.”
Settecase said soil tests have
already been done.
“There is overfl ow con-
nected to the storm system,”
Settecase said. “The city’s
concern is downstream. We’re
doing a full report under the
direction of the city. We’re
confi dent (our system) can
contain all of our water on-
site.”
Settecase
acknowledged
there is some risk in doing
residential before commercial.
“There is some risk, but we
are willing to take that risk
and bet that it will be a good
catalyst for the future of that
area,” he said. “This will serve
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Brian Moore with Mountain West Investment Corporation talks
about his company’s Area C proposal at the Jan. 15 Greater
Gubser Neighborhood Association meeting.
the seniors in the Keizer Sta-
tion area. The (master plan)
says you have to plant 20 trees
total for Area C; we will put in
23 for our part alone.”
Settecase said the new fa-
cility will have independent
living, assisted living and
memory care. A four-story
part of the building was going
to be along Chemawa origi-
nally, but concerns were raised
about that.
“From the street, (the pre-
viously approved medical of-
fi ce) was a more imposing
presence than our building
will be,” Settecase said. “The
medical offi ce had only a 30-
foot setback from the street.
We are 63 feet back. We will
also have 98 parking spots. It
was 285 spots before.
“We have four stories fac-
ing Kuebler (Boulevard) in
Salem,” he added. “We are
doing it different here due to
the concerns of the neighbor-
hood. The whole idea was to
put the taller parts back on
the new road, with a depth of
trees, to make it a welcoming
presence in that neighbor-
hood.”
KPD offers tips for Super Bowl parties
Super Bowl Sunday is this
weekend.
As such, the Keizer Police
Department wants to remind
Keizerites that not all drunk
drivers leave bars and restau-
rants.
Households
throughout
the country will be hosting
Super Bowl parties where al-
coholic beverages will be con-
sumed. Here are a few tips to
get your guests home safe.
• Ask all of your guests to
designate their sober drivers in
advance, or help them arrange
ride-sharing with sober driv-
ers. If you plan to stay sober,
offer to drive guests home.
• Encourage your drinking
guests to pace themselves.
• Serve plenty of food and
non-alcoholic beverages at the
party.
• Stop serving alcohol at
the end of the third quarter
– this is a good time to serve
coffee and dessert.
• Thank the designated so-
ber drivers at your party. You
could even acknowledge them
on social media using the
hashtag #designateddriver.
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• Keep the phone num-
bers of local cab companies
on hand and take the keys
away from any guests who
are thinking of driving while
drunk.
• Remember, if you serve
a guest alcohol and he or she
gets in a drunk-driving crash
that night, you could be held
liable.
• If an underage person
drinks and drives, the parent
or guardian may be legally li-
able for any damage, injury or
death caused by the underage
driver.
• Likewise, parents or other
adults who provide alcohol to
– or host a party where alco-
hol is available to – those un-
der age 21, could face jail time.
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