Rubicon & TimberMill Shores Respond to Sky Lakes Appeal

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Conceptual Rendering of the proposed DHS facility located inside TimberMill Shores, Klamath Falls. (klamathfallsholdings.com)

Conceptual Rendering of the proposed DHS facility located inside TimberMill Shores, Klamath Falls. (klamathfallsholdings.com)

In response to an earlier press release from Paul Stewart, CEO of Sky Lakes Medical Center on the intentions of Sky Lakes appealing the proposed DHS building in Klamath Falls - Rubicon Investments, Klamath Holdings, LLC and TimberMill Shores provide a statement.

“We are confident that the Land Use Board of Appeals will recognize that we have been approved for permitting at this location by both the City Planning Commission and the Klamath Falls City Council, states Justin Hurley Braswell, COO for Rubicon Investments / Klamath Holdings. “We continue to remind Sky Lakes that this building will be an architecturally crafted asset to the Downtown corridor occupied by a governmental office use not social service. This building that we will lease out to the State of Oregon for Department of Human Services and others will allow over 200 jobs to remain in Downtown Klamath Falls.”

“It is unfortunate to see Sky Lakes is continuing to waste not-for-profit hospital funds to delay this project, the TimberMill Shores development, and growth for Klamath Falls,” says Rob Shaw, Managing Partner for TimberMill Shores. “This small group of people, including Paul Stewart, are attempting to segregate DHS employees and the people who need their valuable services from the Downtown area.”

Shaw continues, “I believe it is time Mr. Stewart concentrate his efforts and public money on a the hospital itself. This development has had more momentum since the signed lease of this DHS governmental facility than ever before. This building has sparked the interest of two restaurants, a Marriott chain hotel, and a bank. All of this, only after, the announcement of the DHS governmental office building being located at TimberMill Shores. Interestingly, even if successful at his appeal, this DHS project will never land back at the Klamath Works site. At the very least, Mr. Stewarts appeal will delay this impressive governmental office building by many months.  If Mr. Stewart is successful with his appeal, his efforts will halt the commitments of many of these great developments and halt the very momentum many people in Klamath have been waiting for.”

“The City Council finds no evidence the adoption of the social services category was intended to supplant all social service use being performed in government offices throughout the City, says Braswell.

“Rather, the social services subcategory was added to the Code in response to the siting of the Gospel Mission homeless shelter to capture social services that were not already categorized in the COO, such as homeless shelters, warming centers, sobriety centers, and soup kitchens. That being the case, the appropriate categorization of the proposed state office facility is that of a government office, just like the appropriate classification of a new public high school would be a school rather than a social service. (page 6).”

Braswell continues, “The City Council agrees with City Staffs conclusion that the proposed use of the building to be occupied by DHS fits squarely within the definition of "Government Office" and is not bound by any other classification system, interpretation or definition not referenced in the City's Code. (page 7)

The City Council finds the proposed building will be an office where State government employees work and by definition is a government office and therefore, is an allowed use in the MU zone subject to Conditional Use approval. (page 7).”

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