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Depoe Bay council directs staff to survey donated Kent Street lots and explore urban renewal uses including workforce housing
Summary
Councilors discussed adding three donated commercial lots at the corner of U.S. 101 and Kent Street to the city's urban renewal area, agreed to have staff mark property pins and locate utilities, and asked staff to return with funding and feasibility information for workforce housing, mixed use or other options.
The Depoe Bay City Council on Feb. 18 agreed to have city staff locate utilities and property pins and gather cost and funding information for three vacant commercial lots on Kent Street at U.S. 101 that were offered to the city, and to explore adding the parcel to the city's urban renewal area.
Council members said placing the property inside the urban renewal boundary would let the city use incremental tax and urban renewal funds to help pay for water, sewer and other infrastructure improvements that could make development for workforce housing or mixed commercial/residential projects feasible. Council members also discussed other potential uses, including relocation of a Samaritan Health clinic, a community recreation facility or a small parking/park swap, and asked for community input before deciding a final use.
The three lots, described in the meeting as commercial parcels immediately south of town at the corner of U.S. 101 and Kent Street, were said to have been donated to the city by a person identified in the meeting as Staley. Council members noted the sites are low-lying, tree-covered in part and lie under or near existing overhead electric lines; they also said some of the property lies in a flood zone. Members emphasized that adding the parcel to the urban renewal area would not itself determine final land use.
Council discussion focused on tradeoffs: urban renewal investment in infrastructure can lower development costs and help secure workforce housing or mixed-use development in exchange for conditions on resale or rental, but incremental property tax revenue generated by new development would be captured by the urban renewal fund rather than flowing immediately to other taxing districts. Several councilors urged caution and requested a competitive analysis to compare using urban renewal money for this parcel with existing priorities such as programs to support downtown businesses.
Council direction to staff was procedural and preparatory rather than a final land-use decision. Specifically, council members asked city staff to: - call utility locates and mark property pins; - check county assessor and existing surveys and, if needed, arrange a boundary survey; - assemble a summary of potential funding sources (urban renewal, state housing grants, revolving loan funds, small-cities allocations) and identify any restrictions attached to those funds; and - return to the council at the next meeting with site photos, a utilities/locates report and options for community engagement.
Councilors said community input would be sought before any sale, conditional conveyance or formal redevelopment plan is approved. No formal motion allocating funds or altering the urban renewal boundary was adopted at the meeting; council members characterized the outcome as direction to staff and general agreement to proceed with the investigative steps listed above.
The council also asked staff to bring copies of the city's previous revolving loan/grant program materials to the next meeting to help shape possible business incentive or loan programs that might accompany any redevelopment.
Looking ahead, councilors outlined next steps: staff will perform locates and mark pins, search the assessor's records for prior surveys, compile funding option summaries and return with findings so the council can decide whether to formally propose an amendment to the urban renewal boundary or pursue an alternative disposition of the lots.
