Applicant Marc Wendt, who is overseeing construction at the project site, asked commissioners to consider changing the 19.8-acre site from industrial to commercial use so it can house tenants for multiple uses such as a church, a park, retail and office space. Wendt also asked that the planning unit development be subdivided into 14 lots, ranging from one-third of an acre to 4.1 acres.

Several spoke in favor of the site changes and the project overall.

‘Transformative campus’

“What this campus and this zone change allows us to do is to create a transformative campus for these people to re-create their lives,” said Heidi Biggs, a Klamath Works board member. “It provides us with the opportunity to transform and recreate the way in which we deliver services here in this community. We’re allowing service providers the opportunity to communicate and collaborate in a way that is not possible at this time.”

Jessie DuBose, local manager of the Blue Zones Project, has been working with the site developer and engineering staff on ways to develop a site that is “not just a place, but a place of wellbeing.”

“We now officially consider it a Blue Zones Project Built Environment model,” DuBose said.

Lauren Jespersen, an employee of Sky Lakes Medical Center and a member of the Klamath County Economic Development Association, also spoke in favor of the site changes.

“It’s hard for me not to look at this from an economic development standpoint,” Jespersen said.

“This being taken out of (industrial) inventory will actually help us in the future if we ever want to have more industrial land that is actually attractive to prospective companies.”

Neighborhood impact

Klamath Falls resident Rick Lukens spoke neutrally about the site changes, but with concerns about the impact to his rental tenants nearby from foot traffic from homeless individuals when the mission relocates to the site.

Planning Commission chairman Brian Fitz Gerald acknowledged the comment, and advised Lukens to speak with personnel at the Klamath Falls Gospel Mission.

“I think it’s appropriate to communicate with and be a part of the planning process,” Fitz Gerald said to staff. “Let’s not lose his concern.”

Klamath Falls Planning Manager Erik Nobel said the concern would be kept for the record.

When asked to declare any conflicts of interest before votes were cast, Commissioner Stan Gilbert acknowledged he will oversee the sobering station as executive director, which will be part of the human services campus. But he did not see the distinction as a conflict of interest.

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‘A Place for Wellness’ (H&N)