Then a mega-commercial complex, which is contrary to existing city plans, is allowed to be developed which totally clogs your half-mile artery to the world. Of financial necessity, the development must pull thousands of cars daily down your driveway – both in and back out. Then the trucks come to supply the mega-complex – 18- and 24-wheeled rigs, step-vans and other delivery vehicles – all adding to the new traffic problem.

Worse yet, the complex officials reply that deliveries will be coming at any time of the day, including rush hour. Your world shatters just thinking about every one of these vehicles clogging and blocking your only lifeline to the outside world.

Would this scene make you happy in YOUR driveway? In your single entry into Wilsonville Meadows or Fox Chase? Oh, but as the commercials say, “Don’t buy yet! There’s more, much more.”

The city complicates the scene because for 13 years it has negotiated with the mega-complex to make sure it “fits code,” that it has nice architecture and is painted agreeable colors. The city hosted many meetings over those years, facilitating “city code,” as it snuggled, nice and tight, into bed with the mega-complex folks so when the plans never once made any effort to reach out to your and those who were going to be hideously affected by the mega-complex, but they, who do not live here, had THEIR meetings.

As a free bonus, a city councilman has a personal stake in seeing the mega-complex put in the middle of your driveway. When the councilman is asked, he responds that the city couldn’t ask for any input during ANY of the 13 long years because it had no plans from the developer on which to ask for input. Ah, but the twist is that the same city councilman, and the same city council, worked extensively throughout those 13 years planning the infrastructure to handle the mega-complex, even though they didn’t have any plans for you to put input on. Hmmmm?

The downward spiral gets stickier. Even though there was nothing for citizens to discuss, the very same city council committed, or “obligated” the city to spend quite literally, millions of city tax dollars to pay for the infrastructure that there were no plans for on which to get any feedback. Double hmmmm.

When the city found out there might be some objections to the mega-complex, they offered what they thought was a good alternative, a new street which heads exactly in the opposite direction from which the majority of us need to go – which is toward I-5, not away from it. Their road would add considerable time to our commute and, at best would add more congestion on Wilsonville Road itself. Our only alternative is to just go through the traffic of the mega-complex parking lot and its side streets. All to replace a once nice, half-mile jump to the freedom of the freeway.

The city next put out a smoke screen getting us to think about ourselves and not about our driveway. For nearly a year, it held meetings to help us determine “the character of the neighborhood we want to preserve.” Interestingly, the single most influencing factor, the forthcoming mega-complex, was never allowed any discussions because, as city officials stated, they “knew if that can of worms was opened,” they’d never get back to their original plan.

So all discussion was strictly limited to our area and not our driveway.

Confusion at these meetings was further promoted by the fact that the city would display pictures and maps which sometimes included the mega-complex site and sometimes wouldn’t. You could never tell whether the meetings included it or not.

When the mega-complex folks finally put on a meeting for the neighborhood, it becomes obvious that the plans were drawn up in “their office” without thought for the site. They point out that traffic will flow better than it does now. Interestingly, there’s currently a single right-hand turn lane to escape to the freeway. When all their construction is finally done, we’ll still have only one right-turn lane – one lane for thousands of additional daily car and trucks that we don’t deal with now. Don’t forget, it all meets city code, and there are such nice colors on the buildings and such great architecture. Who cares?

A reality then sets in as a final bonus to this terrific deal on which you’ve been given no opportunity for input. If there is an emergency in my neighborhood – I’m dying of a heart attack, or my house is on fire, or my child was just hit by all the additional traffic – will the emergency vehicles really not be slowed down by several thousand extra cars, SUVs, delivery trucks, and all the planned pedestrian traffic?

Indeed, if the city of Wilsonville threw all this at you, what would you do?

Please note: I want a Fred Meyer in Wilsonville. Freddy’s is a great store and can bring jobs and products to Wilsonville that are not currently available. The issues is the choking of Old Town, and the city promoting and encouraging the same for 13 years while disallowing neighborhood input.

Remember as a building, the area couldn’t pass fire code. It was blocked to the east by the freeway, to the south by the river, and to the west by the railroad and private property. Through the Fred Meyer parking lot and side streets is the only way we will have of getting to our out of our homes.

Furthermore, it appears that the widening of Boones Ferry, the overhaul of the Boones Ferry/Wilsonville interchange, the I-5 underpass changes, the rebuilding of all the ramps to I-5, and construction of the mega-complex, will be going on at the same time. Talk about construction delays!

One positive way to help the situation was unfortunately taken off the city’s plans some years back. It would be expensive, but it would give Old Town an ability to breathe and to have a second “driveway.” It also could lessen some of the congestion of the I-5/Wilsonville Road underpass. Maybe it’s time to bring back the idea of an underpass under the freeway to allow an outlet to Parkway. A lot of benefits could be created even with the mega-complex.

As a taxpaying, voting citizen of Wilsonville, I would ask everyone with an opinion on the Old Town dilemma to bypass the city’s blockade of input on the subject and use the Spokesman as a forum. As the first plans could be submitted to the city soon, there isn’t much time. I’m sure there will be “public meetings” later, once the plans are completed, submitted and therein they might get some minor tweaking (maybe a darker shade of green on those buildings would be nice). Also, (any conspiracy theorists out there?) the meetings will most likely be held during the end of the school year when every night is booked, or during the summer when everybody and their dogs are gone. So, chances of a lot of input at those meetings will at best be hugely minimized.