Oak Harbor consultants outline zoning, incentives and placemaking to make waterfront redevelopment feasible

David Cool, development services director for the City of Oak Harbor, hosted a virtual workshop to present findings and next steps on downtown waterfront redevelopment and the market feasibility analysis produced with Cascadia Partners and the Center for Creative Land Recycling.

Consultants told participants that mixed‑use, waterfront redevelopment faces significant near‑term market headwinds — high construction costs, elevated interest rates, limited local labor, brownfield and fill‑land issues and a sparse local track record for stacked mixed‑use projects — and recommended a package of district‑scale actions rather than a single fix. "There's no silver bullets," said Alex Joyce, managing partner at Cascadia Partners.

The consultants emphasized that residential demand is the primary driver for mixed‑use projects in Oak Harbor. "The residential market ... is what's really going to drive mixed use development," said Allison Platt, senior associate at Cascadia Partners. They also said commercial leasing remains constrained post‑pandemic and that smaller ground‑floor retail is likelier to pencil than large retail or new office space.

Why it matters: downtown redevelopment could add housing, foot traffic and business opportunities but will likely require public participation. Consultants recommended four broad toolsets — policy/zoning adjustments, placemaking investments, targeted incentives, and a development‑offering process for city‑controlled sites — to raise district feasibility and attract private or nonprofit partners.

Key findings and recommended tools

- Zoning and regulations: Consultants recommended aligning downtown zoning to the vision for an "urban village," including permitting cost‑efficient building forms (for example, four‑ or five‑story mixed‑use buildings), reducing parking requirements where feasible, and crafting clear, objective design standards so quality goals do not unduly raise costs. The consultants noted that community commercial (C‑3) zoning currently caps heights at about 35 feet (roughly three stories) in some areas, while the Central Business District allows vertical mixed use and certain conditions that can permit taller buildings.

- Placemaking: Small, incremental public‑realm investments — a designated central heart for the waterfront, temporary pop‑ups, weekend markets, improved pedestrian crossings and selective street conversions — were recommended to increase desirability and foot traffic before large private projects arrive. Consultants pointed to Pioneer Way, Bayshore Drive and Midway Boulevard as candidate focus areas and showed examples, including the Astoria Riverwalk, as design references.

- Incentives: The presentation highlighted tools commonly used in Washington to make projects feasible, including a multifamily tax exemption program, tax increment financing/urban renewal for infrastructure and place‑making, fee waivers or deferrals for system development charges, and brownfield remediation grants. The consultants said Oak Harbor is considering adopting a multifamily tax exemption and noted the city's federal opportunity‑zone designation as a potential tax incentive for developers.

- Development offerings: For city‑controlled or prioritized sites, the consultants urged a formal development‑offering process to market sites, perform due diligence, solicit proposals from private and nonprofit developers, and package local and state/federal incentives. That process includes defining must‑have outcomes, aggressive marketing, evaluation criteria, and a negotiated agreement that spells out obligations and timelines.

Costs and constraints discussed

- The consultants gave an illustrative figure for parking: structured parking can exceed $30,000 per space and is often a major cost driver that can undermine feasibility if required at scale. They also noted that fill land and potential brownfield conditions on some parcels can substantially raise foundation and remediation costs and that clear environmental assessments are needed to reduce financing risk.

Questions and public Q&A

Attendees asked about height limits, parking, traffic and timeline. In response to whether waterfront buildings could be limited to three stories, Alex Joyce said a 3‑story cap is a local decision but cautioned that "limiting height to 3 stories comes with trade‑offs" because mid‑rise buildings (four to five stories) are often more cost‑efficient for mixed‑use development. On parking and traffic, staff noted structured parking is expensive and said parking management, promotion of transit and multimodal options and staggered approaches to development will be part of project planning. David Cool observed, "it takes 20 years to be an overnight success in redevelopment," underscoring the long, incremental nature of such work.

Items flagged but not decided

The workshop was a presentation and public Q&A; no formal motions or approvals were made. Staff and consultants recommended that the city consider specific programs (multifamily tax exemption, urban renewal/TIF, design‑standard calibration, placemaking pilots and a development offering for city sites) but did not adopt policies or commit funding during the meeting.

Next steps

Consultants said they will deliver a market feasibility analysis and then a summary report with actionable implementation items; the presentation listed a May 15 delivery for the market feasibility work. Organizers encouraged continued public feedback and offered a project website for comments. Luje Naltawara of the Center for Creative Land Recycling closed the session by urging continued community participation: "this really isn't the end. It's honestly just the beginning of this redevelopment project."