Parking lot upgrade plan approved
City gives OK to Holy Rosary parking lot work
A plan to rebuild and reconfigure the parking lot at Holy Rosary Church got the blessing of members of the city of Medford planning commission Monday night.
Brent Hallgren, who is working with the church committee to redo the parking lot, presented a site plan for the project which called for eliminating the driveway entrance closest to the church on Washington Ave. In turn, the church is looking to expand the parking lot entrance near the intersection of Washington Ave. and South Perkins St. and create an additional exit-only access onto South Perkins Street at the far south end of the parking lot.
Hallgren explained the goal is to level out the space nearest the church in a large turnaround area to make the entrance into the church flat and accessible for the elderly and people with mobility issues. He said currently access is through a series of ramps and stairs.
Hallgren said he wanted the city’s approval of the plan before they went and talked to members of the congregation for potential donations. He said the project was only getting started and would not happen overnight.
City planner Bob Christensen raised some red flags for the proposed project notably with the number of driveways on the parcel and the total width of the driveways. He said the G1 institutional zoning area allows for up to two driveways with combined total width of them equalling 66 feet. He said the church already had three driveways on the complex including the one entering from Cedar Street on the west side of the church. He also noted the driveways as planned would be about 88 total feet. However, Christensen said he supported approval of the plan noting the institutional zoning district codes give the planning commission flexibility in approving things like driveway entrances widths and numbers.
“It makes all the sense in the world and will enhance the ingress and egress,” Christensen said of the proposed site plan, noting he felt it would improve safety in the area.
A question was raised about the ability of a bus to make the turn in the parking lot to pick up and drop off students.
“We have had the school bus folks in on this,” Hallgren said, noting they have included bus company representatives in the planning. He said they feel it will be tight, but that there will be enough room so long as other vehicles are not in the way. “If we get folks who lallygag here with a vehicle we will have issues,” Hallgren said of the area at the north end of the lot.
Commission member Tim Hansen, who is a bus driver, noted there was only one bus in the morning and another in the evening that dropped off and picked up students at the school.
“We have a ways to go here,” Hallgren said of the project and the need to raise the funds to make it happen.
The site plan was approved as presented.
In other business, commission members:
_ Approved an annexation request from Mike and Judy Brandner for their home located on the southern end of South Park Avenue. The annexation includes the home and a strip of land connecting the home to the city, but the surrounding wooded acreage will remain in the town of Medford.
_ Tabled action on reviewing the proposed site plan for the Marshfield Clinic Systems hospital complex planned for Hwy 64 and 9th Street. Christensen said the hospital was revising their site plan and would be submitting a new one for consideration.
_ Took no action on the formal site plan for an apartment complex planned for a city-owned parcel located at the north end of Pep’s Drive near the CTH O intersection. Commission members had approved the rezoning request for the parcel last month and were supposed to approve the site plan this month, but Christensen had missed including it in the commission packets. Mayor Mike Wellner, who chairs the planning commission, said he may need to call a special meeting later this month to get the site plan approved to prevent construction delays this spring.
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Holy Rosary Church is planning to reconfi gure the parking lot.
