City worked to make development fit

The editorial "Move cautiously on Seventh Street Station" (Jan. 15) asks, "Is there no way that the city, the neighbors and the developers can work together to ease concerns about the project?"

Yes, there is. It is called a planned development and it provides public input and Planning Commission/City Council review of a developer's plan.

The property in question used to be zoned general industrial, which was compatible with the surrounding uses.

In 2003, the owner of this property requested a planned development be used in rezoning to medium-high residential. Council would not have allowed the rezone without the planned development because of incompatibility with surrounding uses.

In its decision, council lists many compatibility conflicts to be resolved with the planned development.

A new zoning loophole requires the removal of planned development at the landowner's request.

This developer has, in what Councilor Al Brauner called a "break in promise," demanded to use the loophole.

But without the planned development, public input and council oversight are eliminated so the compatibility conflicts will not be resolved.

The neighbors have worked in good faith with the city and developers to come up with a solution for this property.

The developer's "break in promise" shows they may not be interested in a compatible development.

Council has found a solution by initiating a rezone of the property back to general industrial, a use that is compatible without a planned development.

I sincerely thank the City Council for finding a way to ensure a development that is compatible with our neighborhood.

Matthew Bolduc, Corvallis

Seventh Street site has many problems

In response to the questions posed in the editorial "Move cautiously on Seventh Street Station" (Jan. 15):

Yes, infill is a good goal, but this is an abnormal property. It remains a dangerous, noisy, active switching station with trains running through it. Additionally no solution has been found for the contentious intersection of Seventh and Western. The alternative for this intersection will pour traffic on D and E Streets, thus into our neighborhoods.

It is not a good location for more apartment buildings as there are "for rent" signs year round in the area. More student housing is not needed.

The city, the neighbors and the developers have tried to work together for six years. Now we have been silenced by the removal of the planned development overlay.

No solution has resulted because the developers insist on maximum density, incompatible housing development that will ruin our neighborhoods.

The new land development code will not protect us on issues such as unwanted traffic, parking, setbacks and the intersection of Seventh and Western.

This property has nothing to do with housing sprawl on the outskirts of Corvallis. The developers are aiming their profit on student housing monstrosities close to OSU. We already have many of these.

Look around. Corvallis hardly looks like a city opposed to new development. To suggest Corvallis is unfriendly to business is a false, silly allegation.

The current developers have exhibited nothing to us other than their greed. We applaud City Council for trying to rezone this property.

Leslie Bishop, Corvallis

Activists alienating many future voters

Megan Blass deserves a big round of applause for her letter ("Protesters out of line at Wyden town hall," Jan. 16).

Ms. Blass' first-hand description of rudeness and interruptions at the recent Sen. Ron Wyden meeting paints a clear and not-so-pretty picture of political activism today.

Ms. Blass' experience is one that has become standard practice for political activists: silence or otherwise shout down the opposition.

Today's activists have little desire for listening, debating and seeking consensus. If this situation occurred with Sen. Wyden, can you imagine what would have happened with Sen. Gordon Smith or President Bush?

On the positive side, with young people like Ms. Blass, who is willing to express her dissatisfaction with political disrespect and rudeness, there certainly is hope for the future.

Political activists should heed her comments, for Ms. Blass and others like her will be voting in a few years.

Ray Siuta, Corvallis

Don't doubt validity of global warming

Jeff Limon ("What happened to hottest year ever?" Letters, Jan. 15) uses the tired tactic of the global warming naysayers who try to raise doubt about global warming by introducing confusion through counterexamples.

Does he really think that the readers of the Gazette-Times will be duped by his misleading suggestion that global warming requires every year to be hotter than the previous year, and that every city on the planet must experience warming before global warming can be declared real?

This would make as much sense as requiring that rain fall every day and in every city in Oregon for a full calendar year before the year could be declared rainy.

For those who are interested in the facts, 2007 was the fifth warmest year on record globally. The 11 warmest years have all occurred in the past 13 years.

How can any critical thinker doubt the validity of global warming?

Dudley Chelton, Corvallis

Kucinich is paying for recount of vote

I'd like to respond to John Booker's letter ("New Hampshire vote likely compromised," Jan. 16) about discrepancies in the New Hampshire primary.

In fact, a recount has been called for and is being financed by Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich.

Kucinich has been blocked from recent debates by ABC and NBC, and it seems that none of the other candidates for the leadership of our "democracy" are concerned by this. If you're wondering what the media and candidates are afraid of, check out www.dennis4president.com.

Russ Born. Corvallis