Pendleton property owner steamed over planners’ delay

Published 1:25 pm Tuesday, March 20, 2012

A Pendleton property owner is unhappy with the city planning commission, which delayed recommending what he and city staff believed was a routine zoning change.

Ken Lebsock said sale of his property at Southwest Court Avenue to a Boise developer hinges on changing the zoning designation of six lots from light industrial to general commercial. The developer, Hawkins Cos., is planning to build a Walgreens drug store on the site, Lebsock said Monday. He owns one of the lots.

It shouldve been a slam dunk,?he said.

Instead, the commission adjourned Thursday after two hours without addressing the question, said city senior planner Evan MacKenzie. We thought wed be done with the whole thing in 20 minutes, but that doesnt seem to be the case,?he said. The commission is scheduled to hear the request again April 5.

MacKenzie recommended the commission approve the zoning change to remedy what he called a spot zone, a pocket of property zoned for industrial use surrounded by a commercial zone. City council has final say over zoning changes.

That area is no longer used for manufacturing; a wood mill was there at one time,?MacKenzie said.?The adjacent commercial area includes Melanie Square, site of a Rite Aid pharmacy, RadioShack, Rodeo Lanes and other businesses. Two other corners of the Southwest 20th Street and Southwest Court Avenue intersection are occupied by Safeway and Walmart, both of which have pharmacies.

The area is generally commercial rather than industrial, MacKenzie said.

The commission never reached the point on its agenda where it considered the staff recommendation, MacKenzie said Monday. Instead, Commissioner Bob Ehmann, one of five present of seven members, peppered the staff with questions. Ehmann said he found the staff report riddled with discrepancies. Of the six lots in the original request, one lot was dropped and an application for a second was not submitted.

I had lots of concerns,?Ehmann said Monday. First and foremost, locating all the drug stores around the same corner is an interesting planning theory.

Ehmann said the city planning department claims the requested zoning change eliminates an isolated industrial zone. Thats not true, he said, because other properties bordering the site would remain an industrial zone, including a cat shelter and a veterinary clinic. Both are allowed only in industrial zones, Ehmann said.

City staff didnt know, frankly, what was zoned what during our meeting … so at one point I moved to postpone until we found out what were talking about,?he said.

Lebsocks tenant, Thews Sheet Metal, 1907 S.W. Court Place, occupies his lot. The firm in January leased property at the Eastern Oregon Municipal Airport, where it plans to relocate. After April, Lebsock is left with a mortgage to pay and no tenant paying rent, he said. I?never would have let them out of the lease if I?thought thered be any controversy about the zoning, Lebsock said.

Ehmanns objections to drug stores dominating the four corners are irrelevant; the planning commission considers only whether the zoning change is appropriate, not the eventual use of that property, he said.

Lebsock, the facilities superintendent for Pendleton School District, said dithering by the planning commission dissuades developers from bringing projects to Pendleton. He did not attend the Thursday meeting.

Ehmann said he would recuse himself if any of the affected property owners felt he had a bias in the case.

The Hawkins Cos. project representative, Brandon Whallon, did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Planning Commissioner Chuck Wood, who presided over the commission session Thursday, declined comment when reached Tuesday in Birmingham, Ala., where he is working on a Habitat for Humanity project.