SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2018 | 7A DEVELOPMENT from page 1A housing opportunities. We would be interested in speak- “We’ve recently done a new ing with staff further in how we housing needs analysis,” Titmus might be able to help you meet said, referring to an analysis that Florence’s housing goals.” showed a deficit of 500 afford- Cavaness also stated Cannery able housing units in the area. planners had been approached “Would you be willing to accept by Habitat for Humanity to build all ages?” affordable housing within Can- “I had this conversation nery as well. with one of the homeowners,” By opening up an apartment Cavaness responded. “Practical- complex to all ages, this could ly speaking, you don’t have the potentially fulfill McGlade’s authority to say that this should overall vision for those working be for a particular age group. … at the shops and assisted living The underlying desire here is to facilities within Cannery. try and provide an environment “I’m hopeful that people will similar to what we have in Flo- find meaningful employment rentine Estates.” that would allow them to live in But at the time, Cavaness was an apartment building in Can- unaware of the housing needs nery,” McGlade said. facing Florence, he told the Siu- slaw News. Traffic Flow Since the first public meeting, Another concern facing Flor- Cavaness and McGlade re-eval- ence residents is the effect the uated the population of phase project will have on traffic in one. the area, with perceived heavy “As I recalled, Mr. Titmus traffic coming from Fred Meyer, questioned whether or not the Munsel Lake Road and general owners would be amenable to use from Highway 101. provide other types of housing The project was initially pro- to assist you in meeting some of posed in 2008 but was placed your housing goals,” Cavaness on hold due to the recession. said. “Specifically, you inquired During that proposal, a traffic if a second apartment building impact analysis concluded that could be set up, so it’s not age there would be need for a traf- restricted. fic light at the intersection. But “Last week, Dr. McGlade did now, officials said the level of ex- express interest in that second pected traffic does not forecast a building not being age restrict- need for a light. ed so it would provide increased “With regard to the prior de- termination, that was based on different traffic counts,” Cava- ness said. “And it was also based on several other developments that were approved north of Munsel Lake Road. Those proj- ects were in the background and thought to already exist. Since that time, not only did traffic flows drop considerably during the economic downturn, but all of those projects north of the road no longer exist.” Getting an accurate projec- tion is vital because the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) bases its recommen- dations for a traffic light on that information. “With traffic signals, you have to meet ODOT requirements,” Kelly Sandow of Sandow Engi- neering said. “And the levels of traffic don’t meet those require- ments. ODOT wouldn’t allow it, currently.” Sandow, who worked on a traffic analysis for Cannery, based her predictions on a traffic count taken in February of this year, which is typically a slow pe- riod in the area. “The traffic report is disingen- uous,” one member of the pub- lic said. “A turtle with arthritis could cross Highway 101 in Feb- ruary.” To take into account the up- tick of summer traffic, Sandow increased her February count by 30 percent, which was the ex- Florence Food Share provides food to those who are hungry in our community. If you have four hours a week available, we are in need of vol- unteers to staff our Front Desk and also act as Guides as clients walk through the pantry. Please call our volunteer coordinator, Sarah Lovejoy, @ 541-997-9110 (Monday – Friday, before noon) to learn more about volunteering. info@lorence- foodshare.org 2190 Spruce Street. Volunteer Cashier, Customer Service, Receiving, or help with special projects. For more details stop by and talk with Burney or Joseph at 2016 Hwy 101 or email volunteer@fl orencehabitat.org Store hours 9am – 5pm Monday- Saturday 541-997-5834 www.facebook.com/restorefl orence Annual Ice Cream Social July 21 at Florence Events Center Get involved Donate Do your part and volunteer today Meet 1st Wednesday of every month Luncheon Meeting ($8.50) Shorewood Senior Living 1451 Spruce St 541-991-3209 or sgelmstedt@gmail.com to help support these local Memory Care Respite of Florence Your Memory Care Respite Center needs you! Seeking volunteers for our Coffee Club: Conversation & companionship in a caring setting while providing respite for caregivers. Contact us at memcarerespite@gmail.com non-proft organizations in our community! Peace Harbor Volunteers 400 9th Street, Florence, OR 97439 541-997-8412 ext. 2218 Volunteer Donate Do your part and volunteer today to help support these local our community! Get Results...List With Jan. 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Cafe 60 is available for those who prefer to make new friends in a dining room setting. 1570 Kingwood • PO Box 2313, Florence 541-997-5673 laneseniormeals.org Operating Monday, Wednesday and Friday Saving men one PSA test at a time. 541-997-6626 maribob@oregonfast.net Someone to talk to... who understands! non-proft organizations in Property Setback While some city-wide con- cerns addressed at the meeting, specific concerns regarding pri- vacy, noise and flooding were brought up by Florentine Es- tates, which is located directly east of the proposed Cannery project. The first concern representa- tives from Florentine raised in- volved decks attached to homes in the new complex. “What is required is a 35-foot setback adjacent to the residen- tial district,” City of Florence Planning Director Wendy Farley Campbell said. “The applicant is requesting a six-foot exception to that 35-foot setback for the purpose of this deck.” Florentine residents were con- cerned that a shortened length could create less of a buffer for noise. “I’ve been thinking about this one a long time,” Commissioner John Murphy said. “I’m proba- bly not going to be very popu- lar, but even with that six-foot encroachment, the closest Flo- rentine resident and the closest Cannery Station resident is still 79 feet. And that’s better distance than you’ll get in any subdivision in Florence, as far as having your closest neighbor.” Commissioner Michael Tit- mus agreed, saying, “We’re talking about six feet. The noise is going to be the same. Hope- fully that will be blocked by the vegetation and the fence. I don’t see what six feet matters. The same amount of sound is going to come through.” The six-foot exception was ap- proved by the commission. Some residents objected to Cannery’s use of exceptions to city code. “The commission and this staff has worked hard to come up with codes and regulations to what the city requires,” one Florentine resident said. “We’re asking for a whole lot of [ex- ceptions] here, and since this is a sensitive issue regarding the Florentine boundary, we should follow the established rules. Ev- erybody else in the town has to do it.” But as FarleyCampbell point- ed out, exceptions for large proj- ects like Cannery are permis- sible. Throughout the evening, other city code exceptions were granted, including driveway lengths on the property. “The applicant is proposing a PUD, which offers the opportu- nity for an application to come up with some coordinated develop- ment of a big chunk of land,” she said. “It’s not a small, individual site we’re looking at. That’s the purpose of the PUD. Through that opportunity, the intent is to encourage some innovative uses of the land and also create some efficiencies with public facilities. Jan Jagoe Broker 541 999-0879 Join the Peace Harbor Hospital Volunteers. <RXZLOOÀQGDQDUHDRILQWHUHVW in a caring organization. Get involved pected increase of traffic during the summer months. “The ODOT number they were referencing was from a traffic recorder they had north of Heceta Beach,” Sandow said. “That’s a much more rural lo- cation than our location. The traffic on Highway 101 is heavily influenced by the traffic at Fred Meyer, which is still used all year round. And further north, when you’re away from the traf- fic flowing on Munsel Lake, the traffic going into Heceta Beach Road and traffic at Fred Meyer, the traffic spike is going to be bigger. But in our area, you’re still going to have a spike, but it’s going to be a little bit lower.” In a letter by ODOT regard- ing Sandow’s traffic count, it was suggested that the analysis was too low. “One of ODOT’s comments was that we needed to go a lit- tle bit higher than that,” Sandow said. “So, we’re still working on that.” However, some Planning Commission members were still not convinced with the analysis. “I’m still not comfortable with the traffic information the ap- plicant has submitted,” Young said. “I’m concerned that if we approve this preliminary PUD, and then it shows that the traf- fic doesn’t work, then what does that do? Are we putting our- selves in a box?” But despite the concerns, there was no hard evidence presented to the commission that would negate Sandow’s study. “The standard of review is substantial evidence,” Cavaness said. “Any rebuttal, or opposition to that, would necessarily have to come from another Oregon registered professional engineer with transportation expertise. In the absence of any additional information on the record, the Planning Commission should look to the evidence the ap- plicant has submitted. I would suggest that there is no substan- tial evidence to the contrary in regard to any statements in Ms. Sandow’s statements.” While there are still questions regarding traffic now, the pre- liminary PUD is not the final say on the matter. There is still time before the final plans are brought to the commission to review traffic effects, and whenever an- other phase is introduced, more traffic analyses will be done. To include your organization in this directory, please call us @ 541-997-3441 PUDs have the opportunity for flexible applications of zoning regulations. So, the applicant, by asking for the exceptions, is not doing anything you wouldn’t see in any PUD application.” Sound Barrier While Florentine Estates rep- resentatives had hoped that the six feet would reduce sound, they also put their hopes in a brick or concrete wall between the two properties to create an additional sound barrier. “They are requesting an eight- foot fence when a six-foot fence is required, so the buffering cri- teria exceeds the requirement,” FarleyCampell said. “It should be a solid wood or brick wall. The applicant is requesting an eight-foot solid fence. The staff believe this fulfills the criteria.” Florentine was aware that code only required a fence; however, in a previous proposal years ago, a brick-like structure was presented. Estate represen- tatives wanted a continuation of that proposal. But since Cannery’s wood fence fell within city code, there was no recourse for Florentine to follow. It should be noted that cedar fences can have some consider- able bulk to them for blocking noise, depending on how they are constructed. Florentine res- idents were concerned that in- dividuals could easily break the fences and come through, but that scenario would be contin- gent upon a rather weak fence. As the plans for the fence be- come more finalized, details on how it will be constructed can be reviewed. For blocking sound, there were also still be vegetation along the border, either by leav- ing what is already there or re- planting native vegetation. Cavaness stated Cannery Sta- tion would attempt to keep a vegetative buffer to the best of its organizers’ abilities. Flooding Another hope for a brick wall was that it would reduce the chance of flooding from Can- nery Station. Currently, Florentine residents contend a significant amount of water flows from the present va- cant lot, creating flooding in the estate. “I understand and appreciate all of the comments,” Cavaness said. “Every drop of rain water that lands on impervious sur- face, which would include roofs, driveways, sidewalks, parking lots and public streets is required to be directed into a storm wa- ter facility on the property. The storm water facilities on the south side of the property will drain towards the west and they will go into the city system that is on Highway 101. The storm wa- ter to the north will go proceed west until it hits the city system again. At the end of the day, 90 percent of the rain will go out to Munsel Lake Road or out to the west.” FarleyCampbell pointed out that finalized plans for storm water are still in development. Final plans will take place in a separate process, where Cannery will submit drawings to show that storm water is properly channeled to city drains. “These aren’t private facil- ities, they’re public facilities,” she said. “Obviously, the city doesn’t want to take a system that doesn’t work for the city and cause taxpayers extra mon- ey. We encourage people who are still concerned with that to tune in, come down, take a look at those materials and make sure we do it right.” These questions also led to concerns by residents regarding stress put on city utilities, in- cluding city, water and sewage. “We have plenty of capaci- ty for whatever Cannery can throw at it,” FarleyCampbell said. While the public may have remaining questions about the upcoming Cannery Station and its 10-year timeline, the Plan- ning Commission ultimately approved the project. Future stages, including the projected eight-phase roll out, will re- quire additional permits.