City Council, March 6—With Mayor Becker out of town, Council President David Jesser presided over the meeting which lasted less than 20 minutes.
Staff noted that after interviewing 20 citizen candidates on February 22 at a Special City Council Meeting to sit on the city’s newly-formed Committee for Citizen Involvement, council selected and approved the following citizens for the CCI: Andrea Thompson, Jason Reilly, Jason Williams, Linda Graham, Martin Bishop, Tom Pratum, and Whit Parker.
Later, at its first formal meeting on March 14, Andrea Thompson was elected Chair and Tom Pratum was elected Vice Chair. The agenda included discussion of Public Meeting/Public Records Law, Committee Overview, General Discussion with Staff and a review of the Comprehensive Plan and Vision 2028 statement. The next scheduled meeting of the CCI will take place on April 18 at 5:15pm at New City Hall.
City Administrator Jeff Alvis reported that at an earlier Executive Session, Council had reached agreement with the city employees union and that a new bargaining contract would be ratified shortly.
A new, 5-year lease was agreed-to by Council and members of St. Joseph’s Church, who operate and care for the historic, city-owned building.
Council approved provisions from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) on behalf of Applegate Valley winery Cricket Hill to operate a wine tasting room in the former DejaVu Restaurant located inside the McCully House at the corner of California and 5th Streets.
HARC Denies 3-Story Structure—On March 7, the Historical Architectural Review Commission voted 5-1 to deny a Certificate of Appropriateness for a 3-story townhome building located on a 17-foot-wide parcel abutting the Fire Department at 150 E. C Street. The applicant, Veritas Group, via their representatives, argued that the in-fill project complied with current Jacksonville building codes and that eventually, the C Street corridor would include multi-level structures. During a two-hour portion of the public hearing, HARC not only heard from the applicant, but neighbors and other concerned citizens. Siding with a convincing argument by neighbor Lois Cartier, that included graphic illustrations of the negative impact the project would have on the neighborhood, others backed her assertion. Testimony received included comments that the project did not fit the aesthetic of the area and should be denied based upon height, design and other considerations. During deliberation, the 6-member HARC, under the guidance of Chair Donna Bowen, sided with public sentiment. After the Planning Department files its notice of the decision on March 8, the applicant will have 14 days to appeal the HARC decision to the City Council, which will then have until April 28 to set a formal public hearing on the matter. Should the City Council side with and uphold the HARC decision, the applicant will then have 21 days to file an appeal with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals.