January 16, 2006

Croman awaits new life

By Robert Plain
Ashland Daily Tidings

The Croman property, an old timber mill site, is considered the biggest chunk of land left in Ashland to be developed. Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings

In 1996, the Croman Mill, on the corner of Siskiyou Boulevard and Mistletoe Road, ceased processing timber products and shut down.

Sitting on 65 acres of land, this economic downturn of one time may have created an economic upturn of another as this underdeveloped site is now widely regarded as the biggest parcel of available land left in Ashland.

In 2003, joint owners Bud Kaufman and Chris Galpin proposed to the city that it rezone this area with more residential uses in addition to the industrial and commercial uses in a project that was called Kaufman Crossing.

At that time the city was not interested in adding residential uses to this area because it was viewed as the only area of town suited for commercial and industrial uses.

“Our concern was that it is one of the largest areas earmarked to meet our employment needs for the next 20 years,” Bill Molnar, the interim director of Ashland’s Community Development Department said. “We didn’t think they provided enough compelling evidence to rezone (this area).”

However, in 2002, the Ashland City Council identified this site as a potential location for an affordable housing project.

“While this site is zoned and historically has been used for industrial use, the city has examined previous proposals for a mixed-use development on this site that could incorporate some affordable housing or multi-family development, along with continued industrial or commercial use,” reads the May 2002 Affordable Housing Action Plan.

Ashland Housing Specialist Brandon Goldman said that, more recently, the Ashland Housing Commission has considered this site for an affordable housing project.

“As one of the largest pieces of property left in Ashland, it probably would have some advantages for housing,” he said, noting that it is in close proximity to some services and transportation lines.

But in some ways, it might be too close to transportation lines, being adjacent to the highway. Goldman said if housing was located on this site, it would likely be done with commercial and industrial buildings between the housing and the highway, using the new buildings to mitigate some of the noise from the highway.

“When it came before the planning commission last time it had a development plan weighted heavily toward residential,” Goldman said. “But if it were rezoned as employment, it would allow for” residential, commercial and light industrial uses.

Local developer Russ Dale said this site would not be ideal for residential use because it is far away from Ashland’s urban core and would thus create more traffic congestion throughout the city. Rather, he said, its best use would be to locate light industrial and commercial uses here because of its proximity to the railroad tracks and the highway, amenities often suited to these uses.

Bud Kaufman said he and Galpin are in the process of creating new plans for the site, but he was not comfortable sharing them at this time.

The city is also in the process of making a plan for this site. It has commissioned Dick Congress, of the Rogue Valley Council of Governments, to draft a white paper — a document describing the past, present and potential future of this parcel — on the Croman site.

Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 226 or bplain@dailytidings.com.