Tree removal points to possible development

Trees are coming down on an approximately 40-acre site in Marion County just outside South Salem.

The property, located on the southwest corner of Kuebler Boulevard and Interstate 5, could be poised for development if its owners can get it annexed to the city in 2010. Its owners, an investment group called Cascade View, have recently started clearing the land.

“We’re getting ready to evaluate what we really have there,” said Albert Castaneda, a representative of Cascade View. It’s too early to determine the type of development the property would support, he said, although the site’s large size and topography lends itself to mixed-use development rather than a single-user, he said.

Cascade View took over the 40 acres in a deal cut in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Sunwest Management Inc. founder Jon Harder, Castaneda said. Harder and a group of investors, who had formed limited liability corporations, had acquired the land for investment property.

During Harder’s bankruptcy proceedings, the investors negotiated with lenders and took control of the 40 acres.

“There was no purchase,” Castaneda said.

The property — two parcels split by Boone Road SE — is next to where Portland developer PacTrust has discussed building a shopping center and office project. Cascade View investors likely will seek to have its site annexed to the city in the November 2010 election, Castaneda said.

In 2003, the property now owned by the Cascade View group was part of the proposed Hazel’s Hill annexation that Salem voters rejected.

The failed Hazel’s Hill annexation, as well as PacTrust’s project, drew opposition from neighbors worried about increased traffic on area roads.

Salem City Councilor T.J. Sullivan, whose Ward 4 includes South Salem, said he hasn’t heard any comments from neighbors about the land now being cleared at Kuebler Boulevard and Interstate 5.

Standards for removing trees from county land are less stringent than those for property in the city. Sullivan noted that property owners can clear land and then bring it into the city without having to meet the city’s requirements for preserving trees.

The land, which is within the urban growth boundary, has been used for agriculture for many years. Castaneda said most of the trees removed from the property will be used for wood pulp.

mrose@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6657

Originally posted at the StatesmanJournal.com