Contrary to persistent chatter on social media, it’s not the prospect of more tax money that is causing Albany officials to approve big subdivisions like the controversial Pheasant Run in North Albany.
Posted in: Commentary
Contrary to persistent chatter on social media, it’s not the prospect of more tax money that is causing Albany officials to approve big subdivisions like the controversial Pheasant Run in North Albany.
Seeing wild turkeys is no longer all that unusual in Oregon cities, but it’s still a reason to come out of the house and watch, or to stop the car and take a picture.
Crossing the Calapooia River on that Albany bridge above takes a couple of seconds and is nothing remarkable. But if you’re on a bike, you may notice something new.
Today’s report by the Albany Fire Department of an unusual night-time rescue made me go take a look at the place where it happened, under the Third Avenue bridge across the Calapooia River and the waterfall on the Albany-Santiam Canal.
The Albany Landmarks Advisory Commission spent only about half an hour Wednesday night to conduct two “quasi-judicial” public hearings and then approve minor alterations on the alley side of buildings facing First Avenue.
No, the speed limit in the curves of Scenic Drive in North Albany is not 15 miles an hour, no matter what it says on top of the feedback sign that was there on Monday.
In a matter of days, construction crews will start tearing up the ground in North Albany where Hayden Homes plans to develop a 147-lot subdivision it calls, apparently without irony, “Pheasant Run.”
The Albany city budget is so tight over the next two years that a few positions in police and other departments are going unfilled. But this does not apply to the city’s reserve fund that’s available to goose the local economy.
You wouldn’t think that replacing four wooden steps at your back door would require a public hearing, but in Albany’s downtown historic district it does. So does replacing a rear door on another building not far from those steps.
Why this has been taking so long
So what’s the deal with the unfinished construction at the former San Blas Mexican Restaurant at Bain Street and Santiam Highway? That was the gist of an email that arrived last week.
Tags: Albany building permits, Albany community development, San Blas restaurant, site plan review