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