Despite parking concerns that referenced one of Medford’s most infamous parking lots for drivers, plans are moving ahead on a new 197-room Medford hotel complex north of Crater Lake Highway near Interstate 5.

With one abstention, Medford’s Site Plan and Architectural Commission Friday approved plans for a two-building, four-story hotel complex known as the Bullock Hotels, developed by SKB Hotel, LLC, and slated to be built on 4.67 acres visible to the north of Highway 62 between Bullock and Hilton roads. The site is in close proximity to other hotels such as the Rogue Regency Inn, Comfort Inn and Motel 6.

The larger of the two proposed hotel buildings will be built on the north end of the property, with 54,800 square feet and 107 keys, Medford planner Dustin Severs told commissioners. The smaller of the two will be 39,740 square feet and have 90 keys.

Severs said that the larger of the two hotel buildings will have a modern “gabled” design, while the south hotel building will be more traditional in appearance.

The sole abstention Friday came from Planning Commissioner Elle Powell, who pressed Severs and CSA Planning staff before the vote that there was only one planned vehicle entrance for a project that would contain 197 hotel rooms.

Severs told commissioners that the Oregon Department of Transportation — which owns sections of abutting land along Highway 62 — is the party asking for the project to have a single entrance on Bullock Road. The entrance would be a 70-foot curb cut driveway at the northeast corner of the site.

“We would be doing essentially the same thing as where the Trader Joe’s and the old Chipotle was,” Powell said, describing the Northgate Center parking lot in north Medford. “It’s a nightmare getting into that parking lot.”

Powell said that giving 212 parking spaces one way in and one way out in the event of an emergency “would be just an absolute atrocity.” 

Powell said that she wouldn’t vote in favor without a second entrance.

“I’m happy to adopt a final order, but to me that would be a requirement,” Powell said. “Get it together, ODOT.”

Planner Jay Harland with CSA Planning said that planners worked closely with ODOT before telling the commissioners “about the upside-down world of ODOT access permitting.”

The proposed Bullock Hotels property is near properties involved when the north Medford interchange was constructed in the 2000s, meaning that they “have no abutters rights,” Harland told commissioners.

Harland said that planners reviewed the fire code, and the single entrance “has access in all directions.”

In the event of an emergency, Harland said that “there’s a lot of close proximate access” off Crater Lake Highway, even if there’s not a direct driveway from the road. 

“There’s a lot of physical ways to get near these buildings and fight fire,” Harland said.

He said that if they were required to have a second access point, they would “have to go to ODOT hat-in-hand” to get a permit for emergency access as a planning requirement. The request would then go to an ODOT district manager, where the decision could make or break the project.

“That’s going to be extremely difficult,” Harland said.

SPAC commissioner Rick Whitlock moved to approve the plans and directed staff to prepare a final order related to the project, and commissioner David Culbertson seconded. Whitlock’s motion specifically instructed city staff to verify that the parking plan complies with fire code recommendations.