Oregon council approves rezoning

6/27/2007

Several office buildings along with a strip center could be coming to Oregon.

Oregon City Council voted unanimously on Monday to rezone a portion of four properties off Navarre Avenue for the proposed development, which could include a coffee shop, a corporate-owned game store, and a corporate-owned hair salon.

The action came almost a month after councilmen asked at a May 29 public hearing for the design to be tweaked to minimize impact on neighboring residents.

Councilman Mike Sheehy said at the time he wanted buffers "to separate and ensure that the quality of life remains for the people in those communities."

The land was rezoned Monday despite a petition, signed by 45 people, which stated "the quality of life will be adversely affected by heavy traffic and large pavement areas."

John and Carol Thompson of 855 Athens Rd. submitted the petition to the Oregon council.

Mrs. Thompson said there's "no need for development at this time."

"There's plenty of space in Oregon now, and there's plenty of places where they can rent some space," she said.

Council President Mike Seferian said that it was obvious that the property would eventually be developed commercially.

"These properties are going to develop," he said. "It's not reality that it will be farmland forever. ... it will develop someday and it will develop commercially and we're trying to see that it develops in the best manner it can so that it has minimal impact on the residents around it."

The four parcels are on the south side of Navarre just west of Schmidlin Road.

All four stretch south from Navarre to Dustin Road. Together, they comprise about 4 1/2 acres