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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2018)
SINCE 1979 • VOLUME 39, NO. 47 SECTION A AUGUST 24, 2018 $1.00 Signs for the times Burger giant in talks for Keizer Station location brand.” By ERIC A. HOWALD The deal for the new res- Of the Keizertimes Are you ready for a dou- taurant is not fi nal. Seki said city staff and the restaurant ble-double animal style? If those words have any are “still working through meaning to you, you likely some of the terms, but I think already know that In-N- we are getting close.” Accordingly, there is no Out Burger is in talks with the city for a new location at timeframe for when the res- taurant might open. Keizer Station. If fi nalized, The an- the chain – nouncement with a dedi- was made cated fanbase when a devel- – would take opment man- the fi nal res- ager for the taurant spot Califor nia- planned for based burger Keizer Sta- chain asked — Kori Seki tion. In-N- the members serves of the Keizer In-N-Out Out City Coun- Development manager up a variety of fresh burg- cil to approve ers, fries and a sign code amendment – at its meeting shakes with a not-so-secret Aug. 20 – permitting ad- assortment of special orders. In-N-Out currently has ditional decorations on aw- nings without needing to two Oregon locations in reduce the size of its signage. Medford and Grants Pass, “It’s our desire to show- but this is its fi rst foray into case this building in the cen- the Portland metro area. Seki ter of Keizer,” said Kori Seki, alluded to there being plans of In-N-Out. “The design for additional locations in the impresses on new custom- works. ers a recognizable In-N-Out Please see BURGER, Page A3 “The Keizer location will serve as a new benchmark.” KEIZERTIMES/Casey Chaffi n With quirky, sometimes spiritual, readerboard messages, Rev. Gary Zerr and St. Edward Catholic Church seeks to lift the spirits of passersby. Blue Day pictures PAGES B1 & B4 St. Ed lifts spirits, no baptism necessary By CASEY CHAFFIN Keizertimes Intern When Rev. Gary Zerr took his fi rst tour of the St. Edward Catholic Church campus, he honed in on the sign out front. He was less than impressed and told his guide as much. “I said to the guy driving me around, ‘Gosh, that sign’s new? That’s the ugliest sign I’ve ever seen.’” That’s when he found out his driver was the one who paid for it. He half-chuckles, half-sighs at the memory. “Oh brother, I got off on the wrong side with this guy,” he remembers thinking. “Be- cause it was brand new, I couldn’t change it for a couple years. We were stuck with it – it had too-small lettering, and it was metal and ugly-looking.” So he lived with the sign. For a few years. A decade ago, the church replaced the sign with a new one, with bigger, more readable lettering. But that wasn’t the only part of the sign that has changed over the years. Zerr said of the sign in the early days, “We had really boring things…like ‘community dinner this Wednesday.’” The sign didn’t have any interest to it. Then Zerr discovered Keiz- er Christian Church’s sign on Wheatland Road in north Keizer. “I used to go walking out there at Wil- lamette Mission Park and I’d see their pithy sayings. … We were doing ecumenical things with [Keizer Christian] back then and I see this pastor and I say, ‘Where are you getting all this good material?’ She said, ‘That’s for me to know and you to fi nd out.’ Come to fi nd out, she had a book. When she retired, I said I want to buy that book from you. And she said nope, I’m giving it to the next pas- tor.” Nevertheless, Zerr decided St. Edward could do better. He bought his own. There are a surprising number of books on improv- ing one’s church-sign slogans – fi ve of which Zerr keeps in his offi ce. New MHS band director PAGE A2 Please see SIGNS, Page A3 Accused rapist out on forced release All about kids KEIZERTIMES/Casey Chaffi n A guest of the Kroc Center's All About Kids event Saturday, Aug. 18, clutches a baseball signed by members of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. For more photos, see Page A2 juana and a place to stay at his By ERIC A. HOWALD home. Of the Keizertimes Myers was originally A 20-year-old Keizer man accused of 12 counts of rap- charged with multiple counts ing three juvenile victims of rape, sex abuse, sodomy, delivery of mari- was released from juana to a minor and the Marion County contributing to the Correctional Facil- delinquency of a mi- ity fi ve days after his nor. His bail was set arrest. at $530,000. Joseph Myers, of Since his arrest, 4050 Gary Street Myers was arraigned N.E., was arrested on 12 counts of on Aug. 15 on sus- third-degree rape, picions of engaging Joseph Myers one count of third- in intimate relation- degree sodomy and ships with multiple juvenile females between the three counts of unlawful de- ages of 14-15. Some of the livery of marijuana to a minor. Myers has been ordered to ap- girls were runaways. Police offi cials said Myers pear in court at 8:30 a.m. Aug. supplied the girls with mari- Statebound? PAGE B1 Please see RELEASE, Page A3 Council to examine growth prospects Aug. 27 meeting will cover new builds, redevelopment By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The Keizer City Council and Keizer Planning Com- mission will discuss some of the preliminary fi ndings of the Keizer Revitalization Plan at a work session Monday, Aug. 27. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. The revitalization study is looking at potential paths for- ward in the rejuvenation of the city’s business corridors. At issue Monday will be a Gap Analysis looking at some pos- sible scenarios for accommo- dating increased development or redevelopment of existing spaces on River Road North and Cherry Avenue Northeast. The fi rst scenario assumes no changes to current regu- lations (baseline), the second scenario would result in zon- ing modifi cations to encourage density (effi ciency measures), the third scenario involves ma- jor, strategic zoning changes to increase development (upzon- ing). While the city can provide modest incentives for certain types of development – such as reduced system development charges – the reality is that city-defi ned costs are already relatively low. Growth will de- pend most on developers will- ing to take a risk in “a soft but rising market,” according to the report (see related story Market headwinds, Page A3). Here is a rundown of what the various scenarios mean: BASELINE If nothing changes, the city will likely continue to develop along the same paths it already has: low-rise wood structures that do not maximize potential uses. Since costs associated with such development are relative- ly low, the city has plenty of infrastructure capacity to ab- sorb new development when it happens, but some roads – particularly major River Road intersections – would be at or near capacity if properties are developed or redeveloped ac- cording to current expecta- tions for the next decade. Under these conditions, the city could expect an increase in retail jobs of approximately 20 percent and an expansion of about 700 households. EFFICIENCY MEASURES If the city chooses to adjust current zoning to encourage higher density development and maximum usage of vacant and underdeveloped property, an additional 815 housing units are the result. Please see GROWTH, Page A3 Volcanoes in final stretch PAGE B3