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by Danielle Gillespie
BUSINESS, CITY GROWTH
The style of the local community will eventually change as more people from out of the area choose to settle here, Owen Buechley said.
The retirees are excited about their new community, and they crave more fine dining and the arts, he said. Owen Buechley thinks Roseburg will experience the changes first, but Winston will be next.
“I am sure the shops are coming,” he said. “The facelift of (Winston) is coming.”
City officials and community leaders expect that as the residential population increases, more businesses will open in downtown Winston. There are currently about 5 empty storefronts in the city, said Joanne Hayes, president of the Winston-Dillard Chamber of Commerce. She believes businesses will open in those buildings and thrive because there will be more customers.
At some point, the new residents are going to want Winston to be the place where they do business, Siebum said. They’re not going to want to drive to Roseburg for all their shopping.
City officials are working to improve the downtown area, said Dick Hayes, a city councilor. The city received a $38,000 grant from the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department in 2005 to conduct a downtown development study. The city hired the Oregon Downtown Development Association to do the study, resulting in several suggestions.
For instance, the association suggested the city encourage businesses to build closer to the road so the parking lot is not the first thing they see, Van Dermark said. The study proposed they put in trees and plants along the sidewalks and add medians in the middle of the streets.
“It’s to be more friendly looking and attractive,” Van Dermark said.
The Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians recently gave the city a $10,000 grant for economic development. The city has used the grant to hire a consultant to help them start an urban renewal district, which is a program authorized by the state to help communities improve blighted areas. The consultant will visit sometime in the next couple months.
The city would also like to draw traffic from Wildlife Safari through town because many people visit the Safari and don’t even know Winston exists. That will create more volume for the businesses in town.
Community leaders are already in the process of building a new medical facility and community center. Construction is expected to begin on the community center in May and the building should be complete by spring 2007. A medical facility is planned for Winston in the next couple years. The Winston-Dillard Fire Department is spearheading the effort.
“We’d like to become a better bedroom community,” Hayes said.
As the subdivisions are put in, more roads will be created so it’s easier to get around town, McClellan said. The new residents pay for the development of roads indirectly. The city is also prepared to handle the extra service demands for public works and the police department, Van Dermark said.
The city’s sewer and the Winston-Dillard Water District treatment plants will be able to handle the growth. The sewer treatment plant, which is shared with Green, is at 62 percent capacity now and when it reaches 85 percent, the city will begin to plan for expansion, Van Dermark said. The water treatment plant shouldn’t need upgraded for another five years, said Bob Young, the manager.
Community leaders and city councils believe it’s important Winston doesn’t grow too rapidly, Van Dermark said. He personally likes how employees at the local businesses know his children’s names. He believes other residents feel the same way.
“We don’t want to lose our small town charm,” Van Dermark said.
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