Downtown
upgrade session yields lots of ideas

By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Friday, October 10, 2008 11:25 AM PDT

Ontario—Ontario residents, local merchants and representatives from four planning firms convened at Four Rivers Cultural Center Thursday night to discuss and offer insight about potential plans to revitalize the city’s downtown.

One new idea presented to the group was a revised downtown square concept, which could potentially be situated on Southeast Third Avenue, across from the historical train depot.

A previous depot-area plan, presented by Portland-based Crandall Arambula, consumed much of the downtown’s parking lot space near the train depot.

Thursday night, Matt Hastie, from Portland-based Angelo Planning Group, presented what he called a more “modest” idea regarding parking space near the depot.

His idea would involve the construction of several townhouses on either side of the avenue, which could function as either homes or businesses with homes attached to them, which Hastie called “live/work” architecture. These buildings could also have garages built into them, which could eliminate some business owners concern about those homeowners parking in spaces reserved for customers. Hastie said the idea would reduce the current parking area in front of the depot by about 40 parking spaces, but said those spaces could be made up through angled parking in other areas of downtown.

ADVERTISEMENT

Most of the audience members preferred the revamped depot idea over the Crandall Arambula concept. Many still had questions, however. 

Ontario resident Sue Hathaway said she was unsure if anyone would want to live so close to the nearby train tracks.

“You’ll hear them go through every night,” she said of the trains.

Hastie said a sound buffer could be created using trees but said he did not believe the foliage would completely block the noise.

Vicki Heinz, who co-owns Jolts and Juice, situated at 17 S.E. Third Ave., expressed concern about residents living in those buildings.

“Who will it appeal to?” she asked.

Hastie said he would bring that question and the question of the buildings’ price ranges back to a marketing analyst in the firm. Hastie expressed support for the idea, asserting the townhouses would help to bring a clearer line of sight to the depot, instead of leaving it surrounded by asphalt. However, some audience members believed the landscaping on the right and left sides of the depot should be extended further.

However, the “modest” depot plan was not the only potential way the downtown area might be seeing more green.

Hastie also discussed the proposed park concept, which would involve revamping and possibly expanding the current greenspace situated at the intersection of Southwest First Avenue and South Oregon Street. Hastie said the area could potentially be utilized as a veteran’s memorial and asked the group what they would like to see.

“It’s got to be multi-use,” said Penny Blaylock, who co-owns I B Scrap’N, situated at 1052 S.W. Fourth Ave.

Most of the business owners and residents in attendance also expressed support for street trees, which they said would provide much needed shade for shoppers and visitors to the downtown area.

The Portland-based planning groups also presented ideas about bike paths to the audience. However, Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick spoke out against the paths and boulevards, asserting few Ontario residents bike.

SERA Planning Group representative Matthew Arnold said some members of the audience adopted more of a “if you build it, they will come” attitude, meaning residents might bike more if they had access to bicycle-centric areas.

Ontario resident and Ontario Public Works Committee Chair Riley Hill expressed concern about the amount of focus being placed on the bike paths, asking if the paths were a necessary part of receiving the ODOT grant funds.

“If we’re going to have to put in some bike paths,” he said. “Just tell us right now.”

Oregon Department of Transportation Growth Management (TGM) manager Cheryl Jarvis-Smith said it was not always necessary to construct a bicycle boulevard in order to receive money for improvements. She cited the Yturri Beltline as an example of construction that did not involve also creating pedestrian access.

When asked what she felt was one of the primary issues, Cindy Lynch, co-owner of Brewsky’s Broiler, situated at 23 S.E. Third St., said she believed the downtown revitalization should focus on smaller issues first.

“We should focus on the things we can do, like sidewalks and parking,” she said.

Audience members also expressed support for adding more concrete to the either side of the railroad tracks, decreasing the bumps for pedestrians and bicyclists but did not feel the addition should be a top priority.  Hastie thanked the business owners and residents for their input and said he planned to hold a similar meeting in January or early February. In the meantime, he said, he planned to keep the city updated on the planning groups’ progress compiling and refining the suggestions brought forth at the meeting.