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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 2018)
6 A SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2018 City from 1A Associate Planner Glen Southerland gave background on the bill and its main impacts on the City of Florence. According to the staff report, SB 1051 was signed by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Aug. 15 and was made effec- tive that same date. The bill requires that cities with a population greater than 5,000 people: shorten housing development applica- tion approval time to within 100 days; establish “clear and objective stan- dards” and approve applications which reasonably meet those; allow nonresi- dential places of worship to use real property for affordable housing; and allow accessory dwelling units (ADU) in areas zoned for single-family dwellings. Southerland said the city already does some of those things, but that code changes will be necessary for some of them, including ADUs. “ADUs come in a variety of styles. They can be attached to the home, detached or even within that home,” Southerland said. “These are becoming more popular because of lifestyle changes. Younger couples and individu- als are not finding it necessary or desir- able to have a single-family home in the traditional sense. Also, older people who are aging in place or have children who have moved away find these units to be desirable. They are much smaller, easier to keep up and generally pretty trendy. People find them attractive.” Southerland said properties must be zoned for single-family dwellings if they are eligible for an ADU. “In addition, logistically, there is a lack of available housing,” Southerland said. “That is across the board, from single-family to multi-family, afford- able — everything. These will have a smaller footprint. They are affordable for renters and for owner-occupied housing, and they also have been an option for cities, counties and other states that are looking for needed hous- ing.” Under SB 1051, churches will also have the option to have housing that is detached from the place of worship, provided half of the units go to house- holds with incomes equal to or less than 60 percent of the median family income for the county and that the property is zoned for residential use within the urban growth boundary. “Taking all that, and what the SB tells us, we have a number of consider- ations that are possible when we’re looking at these types of housing,” Southerland said. During the discussion, Southerland and the Florence City Council brought up issues of styles, setbacks, size requirements, and utility and service billing. “The code criteria will address all those issues and hopefully prevent these structures from becoming a nuisance, while also allowing these structures to fill a gap for needed housing,” Southerland said. Mayor Joe Henry said, “We’re basi- cally implementing these changes that are required by the state, and sometime in the near future we will sit down col- lectively as a council, with staff and community input, to determine which of the changes we will make in terms of rate structure, permits, fees setbacks and garages.” According to Southerland, these and other changes will be necessary before the July 1 date, and that it would be desirable to address other code changes as staff goes on. Reynolds said, “We are running on a few parallel tracks here to try and address the obvious housing issues across the state, and trying to take advantage of any opportunity that is available to us as a city. … There’s actu- ally needed housing in Florence across every economic scale. … We’re well poised to take advantage of more of these opportunities.” Moving forward, councilors plan to hold a joint work on the code changes with the Florence Planning Commission on the code changes in late February. “This is something we’ve been work- ing on for a number of years, along with our ‘City in Motion,’” Henry said. “This is a very important first step in Board solving some of our housing issues. It goes well beyond us, because we have a number of people interested in doing housing and development in our com- munity, and these are some of the things we need to have changed for us to move forward on that.” Later in the meeting, the council heard the quarterly financial report from Finance Director Andy Parks. “As a council, as a staff and as a community, we accomplished great things in 2017,” Henry said. “I think that’s just the beginning because of all the things going on now.” Reynolds said the mayor will not do a separate State of the City Address this year, but will give a presentation during an upcoming council meeting. The final topic of the evening was a letter of interest from the City of Florence for the development of a Community Innovation Lab in Old Town Florence. This would be a part- nership between the city, RAIN (Regional Acceleration and Innovation Network) and Hatch Innovation to cre- ate a physical working space and resources for micro-enterprises and entrepreneurs. This Community Innovation Lab would be “the crucial next step to support local job creation and innovation,” the letter said. Florence Economic Development Catalyst Jesse Dolin said, “A co-work- ing space is the logical next step. Hatch specializes in creating these co-working spaces, which are not only a space for bringing entrepreneurs and small busi- ness owners together, but also a one- stop shop for co-locating the support that they need.” Dolin said the space has a set busi- ness model that would quickly operate “in the black.” Continued information read, “The community space would also have the potential to incentivize adjacent development, creating a higher possibility of increased housing and retail units.” For more information about Florence City Council and where to reach city staff as City Hall undergoes its remodel, visit ci.florence.or.us. from 1A Grzeskowiak believes the input from Scurto and the ESD is important for Siuslaw staff and instructors. “Superintendent Scurto was here for two purposes; first, to talk about the shared service plan, and second, our progress on the Promise program,” he said. According to the presentation, there are several service areas that local school dis- tricts cannot administer on their own, based upon student population. “We use the ESD as a cooperative to provide services jointly with other dis- tricts in our region,’’ Grzeskowiak said. “This may be a specialist that travels from district to district to meet the needs of stu- dents for special programs, trainings or a program at one location regionally where students from around the county partici- pate.” The district is also looking to ensure that there is parity among common col- lege-level courses that are taught around the county. According to Scurto, the high mobility rate of students in Lane County makes it important to make sure that students who are enrolled in college-level writing or mathematics get the same content, no mat- ter where they move within the county. A report from Special Programs Coordinator Lisa Utz, followed, updating the board on the Youth Transition Program (YTP). Utz said the YTP has fulfilled its mandate for the term and is expanding its outreach to include students beyond those whom it was originally intended to serve. “YTP is important simply because it is a great way to help many of our life skills students transition into meaningful work after high school,” Grzeskowiak said. “Once the coordinator meets the place- ment quota, they can expand out into help- ing with general education students.” He said the program functions as an extension of co-op work credit classes and helps to place students in jobs that may become careers after high school. Another presentation came from Stephanie Rogers, coordinator for the Siuslaw High School Alternate Education Program, Siuslaw West. Rogers is committed to offering alter- natives for students that have unusual cir- cumstances to contend with, in addition to attending traditional classes. Rogers is an enthusiastic supporter of the program and believes it can be essen- tial to some students that have other responsibilities in addition to attending school. “We as a team think the ability to give struggling students choices allows them to take accountability for their academic suc- cess,” Rogers said. “This is why we keep the programs so fluid. If a student realizes they did not choose a correct placement, or we realize that they are struggling, we can move them back and forth without much interruption since each class is truly tailored to the individual.” Grzeskowiak said, “Over the years, the idea of alternative education has really developed into something beyond the sim- plistic ‘behavior’ program. There is wide variety of needs; there are students that need something that cannot be done dur- ing the regular day in the traditional set- ting. Some of what occurs is credit recov- ery, with students getting back on track after a rough start at high school. Other students have medical conditions that make attendance during a regular day dif- ficult. Many students are working full- time and supporting their family, so alter- native school is the only way to complete their education.” Following the presentations from Scurto, Rogers and Utz, the Siuslaw Board of Directors once again delved into the latest financial information presented by Pivot Architecture spokesperson, Curt Wilson. The board is still in the process of sift- ing through the various options for upgrade and improvements to the districts school buildings. Many questions remain as to the need for and cost of many of the proposed improvements. Some members of the board expressed concern that the public will be willing to approve a large bond request and believe the project’s scale and cost need to be closely examined before they are present- ed to the community for approval. Enjoy great food and good times. MEATLESS MONDAY Healthy vegan and Vegetarian expertly prepared meals! Homestyle Comfort Food WINE WEDNESDAY Enjoy a palate-pleasing variety of half price wines by the bottle! ALL YOU CAN EAT COD THURSDAYS 5-8PM Enjoy all the hand-battered, golden fried cod and chips you can eat! CULINARY CELEBRATION WEEKENDS Ask about our featured specials! New Fall Menu Including: Shephard’s Pie & Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes Wine | Beer | Martinis | Small Plates | Seafood | Dessert 1297 Bay Street Florence • 541-997-1133 www.bridgewaterfi shhouse.com ALL NEW DINNER SPECIAL! 2 Entrees FOR $20.00 Sunday - Thursday 4pm-6pm AND Don’t forget our 2 FOR $16.00 Breakfast and Lunch Menus Monday - Friday The Grill Restaurant & Lounge Open Daily for Breakfast 10am-1pm Lunch 10am-5pm Daily Happy hour 2-5pm, Beer, Wine, Cocktails Hi, Welcome Restaurant to Mo’s Mo’s ® Call: 541-997-8263 at Sandpines 1201 35th Street at Kingwood, Florence Highway 101 & 35 St. 541-997-4623 ext. 5 Where good friends & great food come together! ~ FEATURED LOW-CARB SELECTIONS ~ GRILLED OR BLACKENED COD FISH TACOS $12.95 SALMON: Grilled, Poached, or Blackened CHICKEN BREAST: Boneless, Skinless Breast of Chicken SHRIMP SKEWERS: 2 Grilled Shrimp Skewers All of the above are served with Green Beans or Mixed Steamed Veggies and a Shrimp Dinner Salad NEW ITEMS and for dessert... BBQ PORK RIBS: Baby Back Pork Ribs with the S NICKER OR P EANUT B UTTER $5.95 James Gang PIE BBQ FOR Sauce Surfside Restaurant Fall/Winter Hours: 10am-5pm Daily BLACKENED SALMON CEASAR SALAD Mo’s Old Town, Florence • Daily 11 am - 8 pm ® Mo’s Town, Florence • Daily 11 am - 8 pm Serving Old Bowls of comfort for Over 50 Years Serving Bowls of comfort for Over 50 Years • 541-997-2185 Wednesday dinner special: 10 oz. Prime Rib and Salad, with your choice of Pasta or Potatoes! Great Food Happy Hour • Monday-Friday 3:00pm to 5:00pm Enjoy discount food and drink specials at the bar! 1285 Bay Street in Old Town Florence • (541) 902-8338
