AUGUST 24, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
Opinion
An inconvenient truth
The Keizer City Council and
Keizer Planning Commission will be
discussing the most recent fi ndings
of a revitalization study focused on
Keizer’s business corridors at a work
session Monday, Aug. 27.
The goals of the study are two-
fold: determining how
can the city promote
new and redevelopment
and how can it capture
more housing units
in the process. While
both are important, the
council should be pay-
ing close attention to
the ramifi cations of the
housing component.
Three months ago, this paper
ran an article looking at some of
the early results of the study that
showed Keizer moving in the direc-
tion of gentrifi cation—the process
by which low-income families are
pushed out of an area as redevel-
opment occurs. In the preliminary
fi ndings, the number of households
making less than $25,000 dropped 5
percent since 2000, and the number
of even moderate-income house-
holds is decreasing steadily. In the
past 18 years, the number of house-
holds making less than $75,000 de-
clined rapidly while the growth of
households making $100,000 steadi-
ly increased. More worryingly, low
income families fi nd themselves rel-
egated to certain pockets of the city
and even rental rates in those areas
are rising meteorically—more than
50 percent in the past fi ve years.
The more recent results of the
study show continued warning signs.
Two of the three scenarios of growth
the council will discuss Monday call
for redevelopment of many existing
properties into multi-story, multi-
family developments like apartments
and townhouses. New developments
along these lines would most likely
replace existing structures
in the dwindling pockets of
affordability with top-of-
market spaces that current
residents and their families
will no longer be able to
afford.
In the wake of our last
article on the topic, we
heard from several read-
ers who suggested we got it wrong.
They wanted more gentrifi cation, a
more elite status for the neighbor-
hoods of Keizer.
That is understandable, but it
ignores an inconvenient truth: In a
capitalist society, a certain segment
of the population must inhabit the
lower rungs of the economic ladder
for those at the top to fl ourish. Ide-
ally, those at the low income end of
the spectrum can work their way up,
but chances at upward mobility in
America are drying up and not every
“American Dream” looks the same.
Keizer must continue to have
housing available for those with
challenged incomes. It a matter of
decency and compassion at its core,
but city councilors and residents
should remember that even those
with modest incomes contribute to
the success of our local businesses
and the fabric of our community.
— Editorial Board
Supporting
the local team
doing an outstanding
job trying to cope with
decisions handed down
by the San Francisco Gi-
ants, beyond his control.
He also has to deal with
three players now on the
disabled list, due to be-
ing hit by opposing teams.
It is the Keizertimes, not the Salem
newspaper, who I personally feel has
taken more time showing support
“stepping to the plate” to cover the
Salem-Keizer Volcano baseball team.
Congratulations Keizertimes and
your sports section for such support
of our local team.
Sam La Masa
Keizer
editorial
letters
To the Editor:
I feel someone needs
to reach out to say thanks
for your sports section.
Your sports department
has always shown great support of
our team (I feel it should encourage
people in our community to go to
more games).
The Volcano players have tried as
well as they can, even though they
have faltered at times. They may not
win fi rst place in their division but
their win/lost record is in a good
shape to reach the playoffs.
Their manager, Hector Borg, is
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GROWTH,
continued from Page A1
This would mean some offi ce
spaces are replaced with more mixed
use residence/offi ce spaces. Retail
jobs would increase another 7 per-
cent, but offi ce jobs would decrease
by the same amount.
The most costly infrastructure im-
pact of such changes are that some
intersections would need to be up-
graded sooner than planned. Howev-
er, additional public safety and school
staff would be needed to accommo-
date new families.
In the case of police services, Keiz-
er would need to fi nd a way to absorb
such costs. The Keizer Fire District
and Salem-Keizer School District
would need to fi nd the means to ac-
commodate increases within their ju-
risdictions.
UPZONING
Upzoning would mean strategi-
cally changing certain types of devel-
opment to increase density.
In practical terms, such changes
would mean allowing single-family
lots to build additional units or con-
struct townhomes; reclassifying some
medium density zones as mixed use;
consolidating single-family lots along
arterial and redeveloping them as
multi-story, multifamily buildings;
and converting some industrial prop-
erties to mixed use.
Moving in this direction would as-
sume that Keizer’s commercial areas
offer enough diversity of services that
potential residents are willing to pay
more to live closer to those areas. But,
the changes could result in the addi-
tion of almost 2,500 new residential
units – mostly multifamily. About 125
new single-family units could also be
added. About 2,100 new jobs could
be added by adopting this revitaliza-
tion strategy.
The city would likely need to per-
form a new transportation system
analysis to determine how the growth
might affect traffi c fl ow, but most cur-
rent infrastructure is suffi cient.
Police and fi re protection services
would likely need to expand to ac-
commodate the increased population.
Schools would also need to re-evalu-
ate service levels and, possibly, bound-
aries for individual schools.
Market headwinds
may curb growth
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
From the outset of the Keizer
Revitalization Plan, Community
Development Director Nate Brown
has said the city intends “to change
the way it does business” with re-
gard to development along River
Road. However, the city can change
its practices and still fi nd itself in a
market unable or unwilling to meet
it halfway.
According to a Gap Analysis the
Keizer City Council and Keizer
Planning Commission will discuss in
a work session Monday, Aug. 27, the
market to develop or redevelop in
Keizer is “soft but rising.”
That conclusion is based on trends
in the rental market. An average
Keizer rent pencils out to approxi-
mately $1.20 per square foot, or $900
a month for a 750-square-foot apart-
ment.
“While it may sound like a lot of
money, such rent levels will not jus-
tify new construction. Simply put,
the rate of return will not be high
enough for a bank to loan on a proj-
ect at that rate,” states the analysis
prepared by Otak, Inc., Angelo Plan-
ning Group, Johnson Economics, and
Kittelson & Associates.
The $1.20 per square foot amount
would mean about a 5.8 percent
return on investment and builders
would likely seek a 10 to 12 percent
return before pulling the trigger on a
new Keizer project.
Driving up the going rate per
square foot would likely also require
Keizer’s “downtown” to become a
destination space that residents would
pay more to be closer to. However,
currently the city lacks entertain-
ment options for anyone under the
age of 21 and the diversity of services
remains somewhat limited overall.
Another hurdle is the city’s low
jobs-to-housing ratio. A balanced ra-
tio is considered slightly more than
one job per household. Keizer has
.48 jobs per household and more
than a third of them are in the retail
sector. According to the study, econ-
omists suggests ideal communities
have about 10 percent of their jobs
in retail.
Additionally, new and redevelop-
ment could potentially price some
Keizer families out of Keizer com-
pletely. In the most rosy projections,
the city could add as many as 2,500
new residences, but those will most
likely come at the expense of those
already in the lower income brackets.
“New buildings are generally built
at the high end of the price range
within the city. Rental residential
buildings that redevelop are often
also the ones with the lowest month-
ly rents,” the study suggests.
RELEASE: Man accused of
raping three minors
(Continued from page A1)
27. as a condition of his release and
he is not to have contact with his
victims.
Suspects are released from the
Marion County jail most often due
to overcrowding. A risk-assessment
tool, essentially a computer algo-
rithm, weighs several factors and
projects the risk of a future convic-
tion. Myers rated fairly high (58 per-
cent) on the possibility of a future
arrest, but other suspects arrested in
recent days scored even higher.
Keizer Police Department detec-
tives believe Myers has been engag-
ing in similar activity for the past
several years and there may be more
victims. Anyone with information on
unidentifi ed victims is encouraged to
come forward and contact Det. Arsen
Avetisyan at 503-856-3514.
SIGNS,
continued from Page A1
He found new material, but it didn’t
always occur to Zerr how meaningful
the sign was to people.
“When we had groundbreaking for
this church, which was six years ago,
former mayor Lore [Christopher] was
there, very happily, at the groundbreak-
ing. … She said to me kind of in an
offhand comment, ‘I want to thank you
for the sayings on the signs. Some of
them made my day,’” Zerr said. “And
that’s when I began to realize that we
had an obligation in a way, it’s the only
sign like that in Keizer, and it’s just a
moment to help people with life a little
bit.”
Zerr sees the sign as a way to make a
small impact in people’s lives, even if it’s
just a momentary chuckle as they drive
down River Road.
“The world’s in such bad shape
these days – I don’t want to read the
news anymore – you get these things
and it sticks in your head, and if some-
body’s having a bad day, and the sign
cheers them up or gets them thinking
a little bit, gosh, I think that’s great.”
And while the
messages bend to-
ward Jesus-centric,
they are also meant
for the community
at large.
“I think that
that’s a way that we
can make a differ-
ence, by not being
Catholic so much as
assisting people with
life a little bit,” Zerr
said. “What we put
up there is very de-
nomination-neutral,
it’s faith-neutral in
some ways, because
it is meant for the whole community.”
The sign has its evangelical purpose,
however. Some current parishioners
were lured into the church by the pithy
sayings on the sign.
“We had a guy who came in named
Ed. We called him Drive-By Ed be-
cause he drove by, came in and joined
the church,” Zerr said. “Many people
spur-of-the-moment will come in
from seeing those things. They think,
well, there’s a Catholic church with a
sense of humor and they’ll come in and
check it out. Some stay,” Zerr said.
Announcements for twice-annual
Catholics Come Home classes have
also found receptive audiences in the
drive-by crowd.
The slogans that end up on the
sign go through a vetting process. Sug-
gestions for the sign are brought for-
ward at St. Edward’s 15-person staff
meetings, to make sure they really are
funny, and defi nitely not offensive or
political. Suggestions come from Zerr
himself, the church staff, his collection
of church-slogan books and the com-
munity.
“I’m a strong believer in collabora-
tion. These things need to be discussed
in a group, so we can decide what
works,” he said.
One of the most popular slogans
the church has used was a pun-fi lled
suggestion during the Fourth of July
barbecue season: “Ketchup with Jesus,
lettuce praise and relish him.”
“That was the saying that got the
most attention of
anything,” Zerr said.
But more than
Zerr’s love of puns,
the sign helps him
live out a mission
rooted in faith, one
that he didn’t come
upon until after a
10-year career with
American Airlines.
During that time, he
was involved with
his church, but didn’t
make the commit-
ment to become a
priest until he was
35 years old.
“I had a career before I came here.
... Having been somebody that drove
by many times before I ever got into
the clergy, I know what it’s like to
need something. I know how much I
would’ve appreciated seeing something
like that, before I was a priest, on my
local church or on somebody else’s
church, anybody’s church,” Zerr said.
“I would’ve been so grateful that they
put those darn things up, because life is
just not always very happy for people.”
BURGER,
continued from Page A1
“The Keizer location will serve
as a new benchmark and entry into
Portland and other metropolitan ar-
eas,” Seki said.
After some discussion and wran-
gling of the details, members of the
city council approved the awning
amendment unanimously. In-N-Out
wanted the change so that its hall-
mark palm tree awnings would be
allowed under city sign codes.
“I’ve seen the new Grants Pass one
and it’s immaculate. I think it will be
a great addition to Keizer Station,”
said Councilor Marlene Parsons.