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Fish Protections Might Snag Medford, Ore., Creekside Project

Posted on: Saturday, 24 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

Sep. 23--A plan to develop to the edge of Bear Creek in downtown Medford may run up against fish-protection regulations.

A proposal to develop a creekside boardwalk, businesses and condominiums was presented by planners to the Medford City Council and several city boards and commissions Thursday.

The project, designed by Design Studios West of Denver, Colo., is part of the Medford Urban Renewal Agency's Bear Creek Master Plan, intended to revitalize 7 acres along Bear Creek in Medford.

While the plan calls for stabilizing the bank and providing for shading along Bear Creek, there are elements in the proposal's sketches that push the boundaries of the required streamside riparian zone, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Don Brandes and Bob Eck, planners from Design Studios West, specialize in urban waterfronts and have worked on projects in Charlotte, N.C., Grand Rapids, Mich., and Estes Park, Colo. among others.

They presented a plan to renovate two downtown blocks along Bear Creek, between Main and Ninth streets.

They said the project would provide equal or better protection than what exists, even though they want to develop within the 50-foot riparian area.

A creekside riparian area performs many functions, including filtering sediment and nutrients and providing fish and wildlife habitat.

For Bear Creek, a federally protected salmon spawning stream, the riparian zone inside the city limits is defined as 50 feet from the top of the bank, said Mark Gallagher, principal planner with the city of Medford.

City planners support the project because the area is already far from pristine.

"In some places there's already a building that close," said Gallagher. "It's even OK to tear down the building and build a new building (that encroaches)," said Gallagher, "as long as you do some enhancements.

"It's one of the things with starting out with a trashed creek," he said. "About anything you propose is an improvement."

But David Haight, biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said there were some pieces of the project he saw that wouldn't pass state requirements.

"The stuff that they had definitely showed way too much encroachment," said Haight.

He said there are some ways to get around the required 50-foot setback by providing mitigation, so the project could encroach up to 25 feet. But there were portions of the proposal exceeding that.

"There's going to have to be 25 feet of riparian there or we're not going to approve it," said Haight.

Craig Harper, water resources program manager with the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, served on the advisory committee for the project. He said the project would need a variety of permits at the city, state and federal level before encroaching on the riparian zone.

But, he said, the creek is already adversely affected by development.

"It may not be the best ecological thing you can do for Bear Creek but it's a trade-off to provide a greater awareness of the creek and allow people creekside access."

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Copyright (c) 2005, Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.

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Source: Mail Tribune

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