If there’s an irony to the downtown Marriott seeking to replace an old bike shop with a few new parking spaces, it was lost on our fair burgh’s city councilors as they tentatively nixed the hotel’s ask at their meeting on Monday.
Originally, City staff had recommended an approval contingent on a long list of conditions, but last month the Corvallis Planning Commission voted unanimously to reject the proposal – so the hotel appealed to the City Council.
The Marriott is located on 1st Street, and they want to replace two buildings across the alley behind their hotel with 12 new parking places. They bought the buildings – one of which had housed Cyclotopia – in 2022 for $1.25 million.
The company has argued they have 176 guestrooms and meeting space for 120 with only a total of 133 parking spaces – which means they don’t have enough parking for high and full occupancy. And, they have said their guests regularly complain about the lack of parking, and that their customers don’t feel safe at the suggested backup parking location, which is at the skate park and bridge area. They also said their senior citizen guests need more parking at the hotel.
Four councilors voted against a motion to reject: Napack, Cadena, Chaplen and Lytle.
Five councilors voted in favor of a rejection: Ellis, Lewis, Shepherd, Schaffer and Yee.
Among councilors, some of the arguments for allowing the project focused on supporting downtown business activity and showing support for the Marriott’s investment in the downtown area. Arguments against centered on supporting bike and pedestrian safety – and that practically speaking, cars and trucks would wind up backing out of the spaces onto the sidewalk, or even the street.
Next up, City staff will prepare formal findings for the Council’s final decision. After that, the Marriott could appeal to the state’s Land Use Board of Appeals.
Republic Services Omits Key Info in Benton County Report
Republic Services lit a dumpster fire at Tuesday’s Benton County Board of Commissioners meeting – where they submitted their 2023 Annual Hauling Report and the 2023 Annual Coffin Butte Pacific Region Compost Operational Report.
The basics: Republic’s Coffin Butte landfill is being investigated by the EPA for overly high methane emissions, which they left out of their report. Also, their spokesperson said it was left out of the report because they were unaware they were being investigated when they submitted the report.
However, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said they were being investigated as early as during a May 2 hearing in Washington DC. Also, a field representative directly told Republic on June 28 they were being looked at for an enforcement action.
Anyhoo… Corvallis being an engineering town, there was plenty of public comment that was worth a listen, most all of it critical of Republic, and their landfill operation. But props to the Republic spokesfolks for keeping a straight face while talking themselves up after the big reveal that all those methane worries just happened to not make into their report to the Board, which we should note, is our community’s publicly elected body.
Really, even if you don’t usually view Board of Commissioners meetings, which is perfectly understandable, you really-really should view this one – click here to do that, you’ll want to start at 16 minutes, 50 seconds. Even though it’s two hours, we suggest listening to the public comments and the report, so think popcorn.
The Disposal Site Advisory Committee hasn’t yet made any recommendations about accepting Republic’s report – so the Commissioners will wait on their guidance before deciding for themselves.
But then, On Wednesday, Oregon’s Congressional Delegation Chimed in: U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and our U.S. Representative Val Hoyle urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to thoroughly and expeditiously complete its investigation into concerns about Republic Services Coffin Butte Landfill.
In a joint letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, they wrote:
“We know the Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of an ongoing enforcement investigation of the Republic Services Coffin Butte Landfill in Benton County, Oregon, and we urge your thorough and expeditious completion of that process.”
“This 178-acre landfill accepts over 1 million tons of waste annually from nearly two dozen Oregon counties and southwest Washington. Surrounding communities have long been concerned about methane leakage that contributes to fire risk and climate change, strong odors, and ultimately jeopardizes worker safety and public health.”
“We are aware that EPA’s investigation in 2022 revealed dozens of methane leaks, a number of which reached highly flammable concentrations. We appreciate EPA Region 10’s reinspection in June 2024 and its continued attention to concerns raised by our constituents. As Republic Services and Benton County consider the potential for expansion of the landfill, it is more important than ever to have all the facts.”
And, a Big Credible Rumor: The scuttlebutt is that Republic’s application for a landfill expansion may not be complete. An outside land use planning consultant, Winterbrook Planning, is reviewing the application.
Legally, the County has until Friday, August 16 to determine if the application is complete and notify Republic in writing. If it’s incomplete, the company will have the option to fulfill whatever is required, and then resubmit its application.
We’re getting this from a high-ranking County official – but even they are saying it’s a rumor, even if they’re viewing it as a credible rumor.
City of Corvallis Web Services – Planned Outage
First, this has nothing to do with consumer internet services. Just making sure we’re clear.
Okay, most City of Corvallis web services (vendor and employee portals, utility billing and court payments, Accela – permits and GIS/map services) will be down for maintenance from 8 pm August 13 through 4 am August 14. The City says these resources and services will not be available as the City internet access will be down for the duration. They also apologize for the inconvenience – no, really – the apology is in their press release.
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