Include neighbors in planning

The Oakhill neighborhood, situated just south of downtown, is a safe, friendly neighborhood which grew up over the last 100 years as a working class area that provided housing in proximity to area industries.

Oakhill has always had neighbors that know each other and care about each other and their community. Many families have three generations living in proximity, and many homes have been passed down by parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, or purchased homes from friends or family in the neighborhood. Our society would be much stronger, safer and healthier if the kind of strong social fabric that exists in Oakhill were more widespread.

At present, 272 single-family homes make up the primary physical and social structure of Oakhill, which includes all property south of Mount Vernon Road/Eighth Avenue to the Cedar River and from the Cedar River on the West to 18th St. S.E. on the East. No one has deeper roots and a more direct stake in this neighborhood than the homeowners who have invested an average $100,000 each in home purchase, maintenance costs, property taxes, etc. - a composite financial investment of nearly $30 million.

In contrast, many recent developers have invested a minimum of personal cash, and rely on tax incentives and public funds to complete their projects. Large developers get massive tax breaks while taxes are raised for long-term Oakhill homeowners. This important group of stakeholders are systematically locked out of neighborhood planning. City government gives lip service to the importance of neighborhood input, but does not deliver on this commitment.

Former City Council member Dale Todd formed the Southside Investment Board, a planning group that purports to represent the Oakhill Neighborhood. Most SIB board members live outside of Oakhill. The Oakhill Association informed city government that we fully support the development of multistory rental and condo units in the New Bo District - which also is part of Oakhill - but not any further east than the rail line buffer at Fifth Street. As homeowners, we know that our quality of life is seriously diminished by the 60 percent increase in population density and the dramatic shift from homeownership to tenant status that has already been brought about by 160 new rental units (three projects built by Jack Hatch and one by Sky's Edge Development.)

Single-family homeowners and residents of Oakhill are deeply concerned the density will reach a 100 percent increase if Linn County and the City work with developers to build more out of scale/multi-story buildings in the 'Sixth Street Options Lot” in the single family home zone of Oakhill. At present the Options Lot serves as an important green space/blue zone for our single-family dwellers. It is not right to lock out the very homeowners and residents most affected by change in the neighborhood where we live. We deserve a fair seat and a strong voice at the city planning table. That is how things work best in an effective and open civil society.

' Michael L. Richards has been active with the Oakhill Neighborhood Association for 16 years and was elected to three terms as Oakhill Association President. He also served 12 years as a founding Board Member of New Bohemia Group, Inc. Comments: (319) 213-2051; phytotech@aol.com