Small subdivision proposed on Scenic Drive, pair of commercial buildings on Ashland Street would be torn down to make way for two new structures
By Craig Breon for Ashland.news
Public hearings on a pair of projects, one in a quiet residential neighborhood along Scenic Drive and the other in a busy commercial area near Shop’n Kart grocery market are set before the Ashland Planning Commission Tuesday, Dec. 9.
The first is a four-lot residential subdivision along Scenic Drive above Lithia Park. The second would demolish an office building and the Yuan Yuan restaurant along busy Ashland Street, replacing the pair of structures with two two-story commercial/office buildings.
Scenic Drive
Adjacent to 44 Scenic Drive lies a .91-acre open lot of grasses and trees, sloping, at times steeply, away from the road and winding behind two adjacent homes to the south along Scenic. This lot and a portion of the lot at 44 Scenic are proposed for Granite Pines, a four-lot subdivision and accompanying driveways and utilities.
The project is technically called a Performance Standards Option (PSO) subdivision, which differs from a traditional subdivision in that it allows for flexibility on standards such as lot sizes and setbacks to accommodate unusual subdivision sites caused by shape, topography and vegetation. This subdivision option is designed to reduce impacts on the land and neighbors.
Likely issues to be raised to city staff and the commission include tree removal, steep slopes and visual and light access impacts on neighboring homes.
The deets
The agenda packet for the Tuesday, Dec. 9, Planning Commission public meeting is posted at ashlandor.portal.civicclerk.com/event/1168/files/agenda/1889. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center Council Chamber, 1175 E. Main St. Public comment is encouraged.
Ten trees are proposed for removal, including seven trees considered significant by city standards, meaning greater than 18 inches diameter at chest height for conifers and 12 inches for deciduous trees. Slopes averaging 14% and increasing to more than 35% impinge upon driveway and sidewalk options. Some structures are proposed at no more than 10-foot high to allow for natural light access for neighbors.
Ashland Street
If approved, this development at 2262 Ashland St. would demolish an existing office building which formerly housed the now-shuttered Ashland office of the Allergy & Asthma Center of Southern Oregon and an adjacent building currently home to Yuan Yuan restaurant, totaling roughly 5,500 square feet, and replace them with two near-identical, two-story, totaling greater than 10,000-square-foot office buildings. The site is zoned C-1 for commercial development; no rezoning or exceptions to city standards are required.
Fronting the Shop‘n Kart/Bi Mart Shopping Center, the office buildings would use existing driveways on Ashland Street, not requiring changes to sidewalks or crosswalks, with a modest estimated traffic increase of 13 trips during morning peak hours and 36 trips during afternoon/evening peak hours.
Both existing buildings are considered in poor repair, and the new offices will require site design considerations to vary height and shape. Considerably more landscaping is planned for the new offices as compared to existing conditions. Overall, the site is said to likely be more pleasing to the eye following redevelopment.
The site is to be occupied by a chiropractic office and Shop‘n Kart offices and as-yet-to-be determined office or retail uses.
Email Jackson County resident, consultant and former environmental law instructor Craig Breon at [email protected].
