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SUBDIVISION TO AUGMENT BEAR CREEK (July 11, 2003)
Ashland Daily Tidings -- Developers, city teamed up to preserve environment.
By Troy Heie

"We're doing it to help raise the bar and standards for other developers." - Russ Dale, Riverwalk Developer

New homes will rise near North Mountain Park at a development that also includes a public-private partnership to protect Bear Creek.

Riverwalk, a 62-lot subdivision, is the brainchild of developers Evan Archerd, Hal Dresner, Russ Dale and Steve Morgan.

The partners say the new patch of homes in Ashland goes far beyond a typical development, particularly because a planned extension of the Bear Creek Greenway will help preserve sensitive ecology near the fragile waterway.

"We're developers, but we're also long-time local residents," Dale said. "We have a pride and a stake in this community. We want to see it grow and flourish but not at the cost of becoming another crowded metropolis."

The new homes will be sited amid 16 acres near Hersey Street and North Mountain Avenue, across from the city's popular North Mountain Park. Homes will range from single-family starters to estate-quality custom homes, the developers say.

During the planning approval process, Riverwalk partners worked with City of Ashland staff to find the best way to preserve the environmental integrity of nearby Bear Creek. A final piece of the approval puzzle included six acres donated to the city to help complete a portion of the greenway running along Bear Creek toward Oak Street.

"This is the missing link," Dale said today.

The Riverwalk greenway project will eventually link up with another portion of the bike and pedestrian path that is being improved using grant money secured by the Ashland Parks and Recreation Department and the Ashland Woodlands & Trails Association.

"From the soccer/baseball park you will now be able to enter the trail system that parallels Bear Creek and will ultimately hook up with the association's work" near Oak Street, Dale said.

"This is going to complete a huge chunk of that linkage," he said. "This is one of the biggest incomplete chunks."

The developers will cover the tab for greenway extension work near Riverwalk, Dale said.

Riverwalk also will include a new wetlands park in one of the city's seven drainages. Water flowing into 420 acres in the North Mountain Avenue area will be rerouted through a new 48-inch pipe coming down Hersey Street to North Mountain Avenue and will be cleaned by grease and sediment traps before pooling in settling ponds near the new development. Eventually, the clean water will make its way into Bear Creek.

Dale said taking the extra environmental steps was "a high priority" for the developers.

"We're doing it to help raise the bar and standards for other developers," he said.

Construction at Riverwalk calls for phase one of 26 homes to be completed by early fall. Maintenance of the creek and construction of the wetlands park has already begun. The trail connection and bike paths should be available to residents by spring 2004.

"We chose the name Riverwalk because of its connotation of easy access to nature and also downtown," Dresner said in a statement. "The location provides the combination of casual country living and cultural city life that defines Ashland."

A grand opening celebration is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday near North Mountain Avenue and Hersey Street. Maps of the new park will be available and refreshments will be served. The public is invited.

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