85-Unit Development Moves Forward In Umatilla

    The framework of an 85-unit home development took shape Tuesday night in Umatilla, when the Umatilla City Council gave initial approval to an annexation request that also includes a commercial element. The property, lying south of Maxwell Road on SR 19, was previously an orange grove and lies just outside of the city limits.
   The development is in its early stages, and to date doesn’t include many of the details that will need to be approved in the future before the project becomes a reality.
   On Tuesday, the council was favorable to a request that calls for a maximum of 85 units on the 38-acre property, with houses on roughly 1/3 acre lots. Overall density would be 2.21 units per acre with a minimum living area of 1,500 square feet, with 35 acres to be developed in homes and 3.41 acres fronting SR 19 in commercial usage.
   “These are big residential lots,” said Umatilla City Manager Scott Blankenship of the request, noting that within the concept of multi-home developments, the current request provides the largest lots of its kind in the city. The request calls for lot sizes of a 14,500 square foot minimum.
   Several area residents voiced concern about the development, but the council members present, Kent Adcock, Chris Creech, and John Nichols, strongly supported staff presentations that showed the property coming into the city as proposed would be at a significantly lower density than is currently available in Lake County and would actually reduce potential impact in the area.
   Described by staff as an ‘estate type’ development, it is believed the proposal represents a larger lot, larger home development the city hopes to encourage in the future.
   The request will be up for a final vote at the council’s next regular meeting.