By James Day
Look around. What do you see? Quite a bit of building. New townhouses on Silverton’s Main Street. A Dollar General store on the highway between Mount Angel and Silverton. A massive apartment complex at the western entrance to the Silverton.
What is going on? Silverton and Mount Angel are growing and Our Town plans to try to keep tabs on it for you in our new section “On Development”. Below are updates on three projects. Please use the contact information below to get in touch regarding projects you would like to see discussed in this space.
North James
The plan by developer Gene Oster to subdivide the 9.51 acres on North James Street between Jefferson and Hobart into 56 lots is back before city staff. Community Development Director Jason Gottgetreu told Our Town that the application currently is being reviewed for completeness. Once the application is deemed complete it will receive a public hearing before the Planning Commission.
The Planning Commission approved an earlier plan for the development last October, but that decision was unanimously overturned Dec. 4 by the City Council in a hearing that lasted more than four hours.
Residents and councilors expressed concerns about stormwater runoff, traffic and pedestrian safety, the street grid and access to the development, school capacity and “connectedness” to the rest of Silverton.
Silver Spur
The RV park just beyond the city limits on the west end of town is four months into construction on expansion of the facility. Silver Spur is adding 60 full hookup RV sites as well as a new restroom building, meeting areas, pool and hot tub. The project is scheduled to open in June.
West Side Gateway
Neighbors who live off of Railway Street near the Storage Depot facility have contacted Our Town about a possible development on the open space behind their homes that could contain more than 125 housing units. Gottgetreu said that the city has not received an application for this project, which would require at least one public hearing before the Planning Commission.
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