Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The Sweet Home Planning Commission approved extensions for three subdivisions at its regular meeting on Dec. 3.
The first phase of the 236-lot Canyon Creek subdivision, approved in 2006 and located at the south end of 10th Avenue, is complete, Community Development Director Carol Lewis said. The property owners, Eric and Vonda Sheets of Salem, applied for extensions for the second and third phases of the subdivision, with deadlines in 2009 and 2011.
Western States Land Reliance Trust Managing Trustee Dan Desler requested an extension of a 434-lot subdivision west of Clark Mill Road and north of Highway 20.
The deadline for the first of four phases will be 2009, Lewis said. As part of the request, the final three phases will have a deadline of 2011.
The subdivision was approved in 2005 and then rephrased in 2006 through a new subdivision application, Lewis said. This is the first extension of that 2006 subdivision approval.
The deadline for a second extension for Mike Melcher on Scenic View Estates, 830 First Ave., was set for September, Lewis said. The subdivision is complete except for paving a private loop road.
Both Desler and Eric Sheets cited market conditions as reasons for extending subdivision deadlines, Lewis said. Sheets told the commission he would like to fill up some of the new lots prior to creating a bunch more lots.
The actual excavation work during phase one of the Canyon Creek project uncovered more rock in the substrata than Sheets had anticipated, he said. As a result, it pushed back the timetable for starting construction on the remainder of the site.
“We remain optimistic about beginning construction of Phase I in early spring 2008,” Desler said of the WSLRT subdivision. “The current market has been impacted by the sub-prime mortgage market. Lenders are very cautious but continue to have confidence in our master plan and our conservative approach to business development.”
WSLRT has accepted a letter of interest from a qualified Oregon lender that Desler believes will result in the trust securing the necessary funds to begin construction next year, he said. In the meantime, the trust is moving forward with site cleanup and demolition of unusable buildings.
The WSLRT property is part of a master plan including more than 1,500 acres along the north side of Sweet Home between 18th Avenue and Wiley Creek, including WSLRT land and Santiam River Development Company, which is planning a development called the Santiam River Club, a project that received an extension earlier this year.
The extension affects two properties in the Scenic View Estates subdivision, Lewis said.
Melcher identified several reasons for the delay. First, with construction on one of the lots, it wasn’t sensible to put in new paving just to have heavy trucks working construction destroy the pavement.
He also didn’t realize he was past a deadline for paving, Melcher said, and he wants to improve the southern access to the project. To do that he needs to repair the entire approach, but with winter weather, it is not a good time for it.
He also had a health issue this year and lost valuable time he would have normally spent on this project, he said.
In other business, the commission approved a variance at 340 Fourth Ave. for John and Lavela Mahler from the 20-foot front yard setback and the 15-foot rear yard setback to allow a front setback of 11 feet 10 inches and a rear setback of 6 feet for a garage.