Council vacates portions of Third and Apple streets for planned 134-room hotel, reserves pedestrian easement

The Medford City Council approved a quasi-judicial street vacation Tuesday that clears right-of-way for a proposed 134-room hotel project, while reserving utility rights and a 12-foot pedestrian easement.

Planning staff said Third Street (between Bartlett and Jackson) and Apple Street (between Third and Fourth) will revert to abutting owners after vacation; easements for utilities will remain until utilities are relocated and formal easements can be recorded. Planning Director Kelly Aiken told the council a 12-foot pedestrian easement is being reserved on the northerly portion of the vacated Third Street segment to preserve future pedestrian access.

Aiken noted the vacation was a condition of site-plan approval for the Element hotel, a Mirror Board disposition-and-development project that has been in planning since 2019 and regained momentum after COVID. The site-plan advisory commission approved the project in April; affected property owners provided consents, and planning staff indicated no objections were received on the street-vacation application.

Scott Center, the applicant’s representative, said stakeholders negotiated access and utility easements and that the project will support urban-renewal development. The council accepted the finding that the approval criteria in Oregon Revised Statute 271.13 and the city’s land-development code were satisfied.

Councilor Nick Card moved adoption of the amended ordinance that included the reserved pedestrian easement; the motion carried unanimously in roll call. Staff noted that after utilities are relocated, the city planning director can approve removal of the temporary public-utility-easement reservation so the matter will not need to return to council for that ministerial step.

The council’s action completes the public‑hearing record for this street vacation; staff said no significant fiscal impacts were identified in the staff report.