Oregon State University has won a victory in its effort to win approval for a residence hall at the east end of campus in Corvallis.
The Corvallis Gazette-Times reports that the state's Land Use Board of Appeals has rejected an appeal from neighbors who challenged a Corvallis City Council decision to approve a development deal the project requires.
Opponents of the residence hall had contended that the approved development plan had numerous errors: a lack of public notice; using land development code language based on an expired campus master plan; incompatibility of the project with the neighborhood; failure to comply with the university’s parking standards; failure to consider another site; reliance on a questionable study on student housing; not considering the existing supply of campus land; and wetland disclosure issues.
The university, which is divided for planning purposes into nine sectors, applied to the city to move 95,000 square feet of development space from Sector B in the center of campus to Sector D at the east end of campus at the intersection of Monroe Avenue and Ninth Street.
The university would then build a 290-resident residence hall for upper division and graduate students that would consist of a three-story building and a four-story, L-shaped structure.
Backers of the proposal cited the need for on-campus student housing. Opponents want to preserve the open space at that end of the campus while also citing parking and traffic issues.
