PAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, MAY 6, 2016
Dwellings per acre rules will now
be consistent throughout Keizer
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Today in History
At the Iffl ey Road Track in Oxford, England, medical
student Roger Bannister becomes the fi rst person in
recorded history to run the mile in under four minutes.
— May 6, 1954
Food 4 Thought
“It may be possible to gild pure gold, but who can make his
mother more beautiful?”
– Mahatma Gandhi
The Month Ahead
Saturday, May 7
Sheep to Shawl at Willamette Heritage Center, 10
a.m.-4 p.m. Free admission. willametteheritage.org/
sheeptoshawl.
Silverton Health Fun Run, 7:30 a.m., hospital parking
lot (342 Fairview St.). 5K and one mile kid’s race.
silvertonhealth.org/funrun.
Sunday, May 8
Mother’s Day Breakfast at Keizer Fire District, 661
Chemawa Road N.E., 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. The menu
includes all of the pancakes, eggs, and sausage you can
eat. $6 for adults, $3 for children 12 and under.
Tuesday, May 10
Keizer Budget Committee budget meeting (if needed),
6 p.m. in council chambers at Keizer Civic Center, 930
Chemawa Road NE.
Keizer Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting, 6
p.m. at Keizer Civic Center.
Wednesday, May 11
Keizer Planning Commission meeting, 6 p.m. in council
chambers at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road
NE.
Thursday, May 12
Keizer Traffi c Safety/Bikeways/Pedestrians Committee
meeting, 6 p.m. at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa
Road NE.
West Keizer Neighborhood Association meeting, 7 p.m.
at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road NE.
Thursday, May 12 – Sunday, May 15
McMenamins UFO Festival at Hotel Oregon. Many
activities including popular UFO Costume parade at 2
p.m. on Saturday. ufofest.com.
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
If Keizer allows eight
dwellings per acre, why should
one area have a limitation of
six dwellings per acre?
That question came up
during Monday’s Keizer City
Council meeting.
The proposed revision
to the Keizer Development
Code, previously approved by
the Keizer Planning Commis-
sion, deals with a limit on par-
cels located north of Barnick
Road. While other Residen-
tial Single zones in the city
have a limit of eight dwell-
ings per acre, the area north
of Barnick has a limit of six
dwellings.
Nate Brown, Community
Development director for
the city, said there is a simple
reason the restriction was put
into place.
“When this restriction was
created, the northern part of
the city lacked both sanitary
sewer and public water to ad-
equately accommodate a level
of density found in other areas
of the city,” Brown said. “With
the public improvements that
now serve this area, combined
with the number of parcels
that been have re-divided, this
density restriction is no longer
appropriate.”
Mayor Cathy Clark noted a
key reason for the change.
“We are looking for areas
to allow for more housing,”
Clark said.
Brown acknowledged that
is an “important part” of the
reason for the change, since
the city is facing a projected
housing shortfall for future
growth.
“To have an artifi cial cap
in this one area is inconsistent
with the long-term goals of
both the city and the state,”
Brown said.
In response to a ques-
tion from councilor Roland
Herrera, Brown noted things
looked different when the cap
was put into place many years
ago.
“It was a more rural, lesser
developed part of town origi-
nally,” Brown said. “There
was less water and sewer in-
frastructure in this part of the
city, so there was a concern
this could overwhelm the fab-
ric of the infrastructure. Again,
this goes back decades.”
City Attorney Shannon
Johnson also referenced how
different things were at the
time.
“My recollection, and this
is probably 20 years ago, this
area of Clear Lake was totally
undeveloped,” Johnson said.
“A lot of people out there
were on acreage farms and
were concerned about devel-
opment to their rural areas.
The reality is that most of
the development in the city
is closer to six units per acre.
I don’t think the change to
eight units per acre will make
a difference out there, this just
KEIZERTIMES/Craig Murphy
Top: Mayor Cathy Clark poses with Keizer Elks Lodge 2472
members Ron Freeman and Esteemed Loyal Knight Dave
Salisbury upon proclaiming this as Elks National Youth Week.
Above: Keizer City Councilors discuss an item during their
meeting on Monday, May 2.
makes it more consistent with
the rest of the city.”
Brown said the minimum
lot size by city code is 5,000
square feet.
“The reality is, with the
current development prac-
tice, once you add in the road
you’re only seeing six units
per acre currently,” he said.
“Cottage clusters could be
more dense. This doesn’t get
us much difference than what
we currently have.”
Councilors unanimously
approved the change on a 6-0
vote, with Dennis Koho ab-
sent.
Chief defends Keizer’s safety
By CRAIG MURPHY
Of the Keizertimes
There has been an abnor-
mal amount of high-profi le
crime thus far this year in
Keizer.
As such, it was only natu-
ral for the topic to come up
when Keizer police chief John
Teague spoke at the April 21
Greater Gubser Neighbor-
hood Association meeting.
There was a fatal shooting
in Keizer Station on Valen-
tine’s Day, a March 21 shoot-
ing in the Bi-Mart parking lot
and a fatal stabbing at a Brooks
Avenue home on April 15.
“Generally speaking, Keiz-
er is a safe place to live, never
mind that we’ve had these
high-profi le incidents,” Teague
said. “Every one involved peo-
ple living a high-risk lifestyle,
whether it be alcohol, drugs
or narcotics. This kid in the
(stabbing) was not involved
in any of those. Generally, if
you’re not living in a high-risk
lifestyle, Keizer is a safe place
to live.
“If any of these three had
involved a random act with a
stranger, it would be an en-
tirely different conversation,”
he added. “My impression is
that people get it. If it’s a little
different conversation, then it
becomes a state level conver-
sation.”
Mark Caillier, president of
the GGNA and a retired Sa-
lem police offi cer, said there
were also questions about
gangs in Keizer.
“The response was we have
some gang members that live
in Keizer, but their activity
tends to be outside of Keizer,”
Caillier said.
Caillier and Teague are two
of the 27 members making up
the Marion County Public
Safety Coordinating Council,
part of the reason Teague was
at the meeting. The council
was formed in 1997 in re-
sponse to a 1995 state law re-
quiring all counties in Oregon
to form such a group.
Among other things, such
looking back
in the KT
councils are responsible for
developing plans for the use
of state resources to serve local
adult offenders, plans for the
use of state and local resources
to serve 15- to 18-year-old
offenders and plans to pre-
vent criminal involvement by
youth.
The Marion County coun-
cil meets monthly and is com-
prised of members from the
public safety, education, so-
cial service, civic and business
leadership, judiciary and pub-
lic health fi elds.
One program is Justice Re-
investment, which gives non-
violent property and drug of-
fenders the tools they need to
succeed. Corrections offi cers
in the county manage 3,600
people on post-prison su-
pervision and probation. An-
other priority of the program
is helping crime victims fi nd
safety and rebuild their lives.
Some of the lessons learned
with Justice Reinvestment
have served as models for the
Mid-Willamette
Homeless
Initiative, which started in Jan-
uary. The task force met most
recently on Monday, May 2
and will next meet on June 6
in council chambers at Keizer
Civic Center.
sudoku
Saturday, May 14
Keizer Distinguished Young Women program, 7 p.m.,
Ken Collins Theatre at McNary High School. Nine 11th
grade women vie for the title and scholarships.
Claggett Creek Watershed Council event, removing
invasive plants at Keizer Rapids Park, 9 a.m.
Monday, May 16
Keizer City Council meeting, 7 p.m. in council chambers
at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road NE.
Tuesday, May 17
Keizer Points of Interest Committee meeting, 5:30 p.m.
at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road NE.
Keizer Budget Committee budget meeting (if needed),
6 p.m. in council chambers at Keizer Civic Center, 930
Chemawa Road NE.
Thursday, May 19
Volunteer Coordinating Committee meeting, 6 p.m. at
Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road NE.
Greater Gubser Neighborhood Association meeting, 7
p.m. at Gubser Elementary School.
Thursday, May 19 – Sunday, May 22
Keizer Iris Festival. Various events throughout the four
days, highlighted by the parade down River Road starting
at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21. For complete information
about the festival, see the upcoming Keizer Iris Festival
guide published by the Keizertimes.
Sunday, May 22
Bark for Life presented by the American Cancer Society,
11:30 a.m., Keizer Rapids Park. Activities will include
dog costume contest, Keizer Police K-9 demo and more.
Tuesday, May 24
Keizer Public Arts Commission meeting, 6 p.m. at Keizer
Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road NE.
Add your event by e-mailing news@keizertimes.com.
5 YEARS AGO
Ready for your
close up?
Ulta aims to be one-stop
beauty shop. If the enthusiasm
we saw at Ulta Cosmetics’ new
Keizer Station location keeps
up, it will do just fi ne. Even
before their grand opening a
steady stream of women were
touring the new digs.
local
weather
Enter digits
from 1-9 into
the blank
spaces. Every
row must
contain one
of each digit.
So must every
column, as
must every
3x3 square.
10 YEARS AGO
Detour ahead
Be prepared for detours in
the Keizer Station area. The
Chemawa railroad crossing
just west of interstate 5 will
be closed. The closure will
allow crews to launch a major
overhaul of the rail crossing.
15 YEARS AGO
City proposes budget
plan for ‘critical year’
Keizer City Manager Chris
Eppley is recommending what
he calls a status quo budget for
next year that will keep city
services at current levels even
as the cost of doing business
increases.
20 YEARS AGO
Crime strikes home as
Keizer burglaries rise
Home burglaries jumped 51
percent from the same three
months a year ago. In 1995
Keizer residents reported 39
burglaries. In early 1996, 59
burglaries were reported.
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