APRIL 19, 2019, KEIZERTIMEH, PAGE A3
KPD drug takeback
planned April 27
The Keizer Police De-
partment will be hosting an
event for the Drug Enforce-
ment Agency’s Nation-
al Prescription Drug Take
Back Day on Saturday, April
27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The event will take place at
Schoolhouse Square, 5013
River Road N.
Citizens are encour-
aged to bring unwanted
or expired medications to
designated collection sites.
This can include unknown
tablets and capsules, un-
needed prescriptions, over-
the-counter
medication,
and veterinary medication.
Needles, vitamins, or med-
ical waste of any sort will
not be accepted. Neither
will medication from as-
sisted living facilities and
clinics.
The purpose of the event
is to educate the public on
the adverse effects improper
disposal of medications have
on the environment and the
community. The Environ-
mental Protection Agency
warns that even medications
that are fl ushed can fi nd
their way into the soil, sur-
face water and groundwater,
risking contamination of
drinking water. Studies have
also shown that drugs found
in waterways also have a
serious impact on fi sh and
other aquatic life.
If you are unable to make
it to the take back this week-
end, a permanent receptacle
for unwanted prescription
drugs is available inside the
KPD lobby during regular
business hours.
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UT zone hearing continued again
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
The possibility of unin-
tended outcomes kept the
Keizer Planning Commission
from issuing a recommenda-
tion on the future of Keizer’s
Urban Transition (UT) zones.
Commissioners are weigh-
ing the options for future de-
velopment with UT zones
with an eye toward easing
the number of permits own-
ers need to apply for while
maintaining some control
over how the properties get
developed.
The Commission held
over a public hearing on the
matter to May while request-
ing clearer lists of pros and
cons for each option from
city staff.
“Properties within the
UGB are not multiplying
and there is going to be more
market pressure to develop
properties within the bound-
ary at an urban density,” said
Nate Brown, Keizer commu-
nity development director.
Currently, owners of UT-
zoned properties – roughly
110 in the city – must apply
for a conditional-use permit
to make changes or addi-
tions to the property. The city
would like to nix those ad-
ditional fees for owners, but
ensure that any changes don’t
preclude future development.
The question before the
commission is whether to
rewrite sections of the devel-
opment code to promote the
type of development the city
wants to see, or go with a leg-
islative change that might not
be as fi nely-tuned.
“The property owner
would be the one to decide
what changes they make and
this is a question of how in-
trusive our regulation should
be,” Brown said.
A handful of residents
turned out at the meeting to
offer testimony, the bulk of
which centered around the
more rural uses of some of
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The city’s urban transition zone allows for a diversity of uses that make possible scenes like the
one above, a horse corral across the street from a subdivision in north Keizer.
the parcels.
“I have a little hobby farm
and I have a suspicious mind,
I don’t want to lose any ex-
isting rights to converting the
UT zones to residential,” said
Robert Orn.
Resident Barbara Mc-
Cullough-Jones voiced simi-
lar concerns.
City Attorney Shannon
Johnson said that such ac-
tivity would become “le-
gal non-conforming uses,”
which means owners would
not be forced to retire such
activity in the immediate
future, but if such uses lapse
for a year or more then they
would be in violation of the
development code.
McCollough-Jones
also
inquired about how such
changes fi t into the broader
discussion of how Keizer will
grow.
“When do we say that we
want to leave larger plots and
green spaces. I don’t think
we’ve had that conversa-
tion. When did we come to
the point of making so six
houses on an acre where you
can reach out and fl ush your
neighbor’s toilet?” she said.
Commissioner
Garry
Whalen said those questions
are in the process of being
answered and encouraged her
to come to meetings of the
committee looking at those
issues.
While some commission-
ers leaned toward certain
options, almost all expressed
some reservation about clos-
ing a public hearing on the
matter and, instead, contin-
ued it until the May 8 meet-
ing.
Commissioners asked for
city staff to prepare a list of
the four options with poten-
tial outcomes for each.