The people responsible for the Pendleton Heights housing development have set their sights higher.
The Pendleton Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a plat modification that will accommodate a 100-unit apartment complex, instead of the 40 townhouses that were originally planned.
When Jivanjee Circosta Architecture initially pitched Pendleton Heights, the plan was to build 72 townhouses on land east of Olney Cemetery.
Co-developer Doug Circosta said tenants are already renting the 22 townhouses completed in the first phase and the 10-unit second phase is nearing completion.
Circosta said the company began to veer from the original course when they realized some tenants were living as roommates in units that had been intended for families.
“The need is strong and the rents for the duplexes are still a bit higher than what a lot of the market can handle,” he said.
Circosta said the apartments would rent at a lower rate than the townhouses. But the exact rental rates, configuration and unit sizes have yet to be determined. When the first phase of Pendleton Heights opened in December 2014, the townhouses’ rental rates ranged from $895-$1,045 per month.
There were only two objections to the project, only one of whom lives near the property.
Permit technician Julie Chase said a neighbor to Pendleton Heights complained that the development was causing stormwater to drain onto his property, but Community Development Director Tim Simons said the drainage issue was the result of the man’s driveway and not Pendleton Heights.
Rex Morehouse, a North Hill resident and a city council candidate, was concerned the streets weren’t large enough to fit a fire engine during an emergency.
Interim city planner George Clough said the fire marshal would review the site plan before the project moved forward.
Additionally, the planning commission is requiring the developers to install sight-obscuring foliage along some of the property’s borders, a minimum of three play areas, a minimum of 150 off-street parking spaces and several other conditions.
Pendleton city intern Haley Meisenholder, a non-voting member of the commission, asked staff if a traffic study of the Southwest 18th Street-Tutuilla Road intersection was necessary because it was the only outflow point for Pendleton Heights residents.
Simons said 18th Street drivers may have to wait a few minutes at the intersection while traffic clears, but otherwise, it shouldn’t be an issue.
The commission voted 5-0 to approve the new plan, with commissioners Ryan DeGrofft and Don Butcher absent. If the planning commission’s ruling is appealed, the newly-proposed apartment complex would go before city council.
Originally Published in East Oregonian
211 S.E. Byers Ave.
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