Sean C. Morgan
When Dan McGarry and Dennis Gibson of Philomath pulled out a preliminary drawing of their proposed housing development, RV park and marina at Mollie’s Bakery, owner Mollie Andrews could hardly contain her excitement, saying this was exactly the kind of thing Sweet Home needed.
McGarry, Gibson and partner Steve Leith, in a partnership called Foster Lake Investments, propose the construction of about 14 new townhouse units overlooking Foster Lake just to the west of Foster Dam Road. Foster Dam Road will be moved to the west of the townhouses and will enter Highway 20 across from Foster Plywood.
They hope to complete the first units by July before beginning work on a 61-space RV park, with eight to 10 tent sites. Following that, they want to build an 80-slip dock, usable year round, with fuel and boat rentals available, probably through other businesses. In the center of the development would be retail space where visitors can purchase bait, soda and snacks.
“It’s just three guys that had an idea that are limited in funds,” McGarry said. “So we’ve got to do this in phases.”
Picnic tables and restrooms are planned along Foster Dam Road and the lake. A pathway would run from the parking lot near Foster Dam along the lakeshore to the gravel parking lot east of Foster Dam Road without crossing a road. The project would open more area east of the new Foster Dam Road to public use.
An Oregon State University student did drawings of the proposal as a class project.
Foster Lake Investments wants to create a project that is nice for local users, McGarry said. That includes people from Albany and Corvallis, who use the lake regularly.
“We’re up here all the time,” McGarry said. “I was born and raised in Corvallis. My cousin was involved in moving houses when Foster Dam was built.”
McGarry and his partners regularly visit Foster Lake. In McGarry’s case, he gets off work about 3 p.m. during the summer, loads up his boat and heads for Foster. His wife camps out for two weeks during the summer, and McGarry joins her camp each night after work.
“We might rent a house ourselves for our private use,” McGarry said. “It’s going to be great. Not only for us but Sweet Home as well…. The docks would solve a lot of problems for Sweet Home.”
The docks would lighten the loads on Foster Lake’s two boat ramps, McGarry said.
Pulling boats back and forth from home to the lake, “it’s a parking lot just trying to get your boat down the ramp,” Gibson said.
“We’re hoping to have units for sale by June or July,” McGarry said. The group hopes to complete construction of the whole project by 2005 and estimates the project value at $4 million to $5 million. The development, when completed, should employ 12 to 24 persons.
Timelines depend on how fast approvals go through and then how fast the homes sell, Gibson said.
“I think this is a good move right now because of Sept. 11,” McGarry said about economic conditions. “Most people pulled out of the stock market and put money into real estate.”
This project will create, “in a sense,” lakefront property that should be attractive to persons looking for investments. McGarry anticipates that multiple families will purchase most of the units and share them as vacation homes, at 1,400 to 1,800 square feet. Three smaller units will have a single bedroom and a larger room with a kitchenette. All of the units will include a downstairs garage.
McGarry first became interested in doing such a project around 1992. At the time, he didn’t have the funding to commit to the project, and by 1996, two others started a marina project that was never completed. A real estate agent after contacted him about the property, a little more than 5 acres zoned as planned recreation commercial.
“This is something we all actually wanted to do,” McGarry said. Bringing on two partners, they went to work developing the idea and purchasing the property.
“We’re talking to the Marine board and of course Linn County as far as the docks go,” McGarry said. At this point, the partners are concentrating on the townhouses. The public processes for building the docks will take longer than the other parts of the project.
If they can get permission to build it, McGarry said, it would be a bonus.
At the same time, McGarry said, he and his partners would like to work with Dan Desler and Development by Design, which is planning a resort, with two golf courses, a hotel, restaurant and a number of other attractions. At this point, the two developers have yet to talk, but McGarry sees opportunities that would benefit both developments and the Sweet Home community.
“The whole idea is to work with the community and to work with each other,” McGarry said, including Desler, the community and other campgrounds in the area.
“We would really like to push ground in February, but we don’t know if we’ll get that okay from the city or not,” McGarry said.
The property is already platted as a subdivision along with public right-of-way for roads within it. The city council will hold a hearing on Jan. 28 on whether to vacate the platted roads. An ordinance proposal vacating the roads could be passed on Feb. 25 and take effect a month later. With an expediency clause, it could take effect immediately, and if the council held two of its three required ordinance readings on Jan. 28, the process could be completed on Feb. 11.
The planning commission will hold a public hearing on a variance for 13 items in the project on Feb. 6. Among them, the attached townhouses require a variance. Those units would be sold with the land they occupy. An association would own and maintain the open spaces in the project. The association would also maintain the housing units.
“The biggest problem with this is if we can’t get this thing started, it’s going to be next spring before we can get started,” McGarry said.
McGarry is a general contractor. He owns LND Construction. Gibson owns Gibson Construction, an excavation company. Leith is an engineer.