Depoe Bay accepts R3-funded planning help to study 2-acre 10th Street site; council schedules Dec. 3 kickoff

The Depoe Bay council voted to accept a no-cost Stage 1 planning assessment from the Oregon R3 program and its partners to study a two-acre site on 10th Street for potential housing.

Nate, of Acxiom Project Development Services, told the council the team’s role is “to put people in homes” and that the proposal is limited to a development-planning phase. “The intention is to do only the planning stage,” he said, adding that later stages — funding and construction — would be separate decisions and not an obligation on the city.

The offer comes through R3 (rural revitalization and recovery), a state-funded program that provides technical assistance in smaller communities. A representative for iSector/R3 (referred to in the transcript as Keith) said R3 and iSector helped narrow a submitted list of 10 candidate projects statewide and selected four for assistance, including Depoe Bay’s 10th Street site. Keith emphasized that R3-funded assistance is intended to be low-risk for the city: “R3 brings this at no cost to Depoe Bay through the public funding that they have for this type of service.”

Councilors used the planning discussion to press for specifics. A councilor citing Lincoln County figures said middle-income rental rates in the county run about $1,700–$2,500 monthly and purchase prices range roughly $300,000–$395,000; presenters said identifying the correct target market and unit sizes is a key output of the Stage 1 work. Presenters also described strategies used elsewhere — land trusts, employer pre-leases and local developer partnerships (including a mention of Simplicity by Hayden Homes) — to meet similar price points.

The meeting also recorded an unresolved legal question. The iSector representative said the team had requested guidance from OACS (the program manager referenced in the packet) and received a second opinion that raised a potential conflict: OACS indicated the jurisdiction could appear as the recipient of a loan and show liability for repayment even if a lien were placed on developer-owned property. The R3/iSector speaker said a clarifying meeting with OACS was postponed and that the team would seek further clarification before Stage 2 work proceeds.

Councilors and staff discussed whether the Urban Renewal Agency (URA) could carry the project or incur debt on behalf of the work; presenters said the planning scope can be adapted to take account of charter or URA constraints and to identify approaches that avoid creating prohibited obligations.

After discussion and a short motion, an unidentified member moved “to adopt the project number 8 as proposed by Acxiom and go forward with confirming their scope of work and then to set up a kickoff meeting,” and another member seconded. The chair called for a voice vote; the motion was recorded as approved. The council set a kickoff meeting for Dec. 3 at 2:00 p.m. and the R3/Acxiom team said it would aim to do an on-the-ground visit the week of Dec. 8 to review the site with additional team members (planner, civil engineer, architect).

The meeting closed with new-business items: councilors asked for clarification on whether downtown-beautification funds in the URA budget apply only to properties within the URA footprint and whether previously discussed public restroom work should be pursued by the URA or individual applicants; staff were asked to follow up.

What’s next: Acxiom/R3 will return with an agenda for the Dec. 3 kickoff and a list of information that would be helpful for discovery. The legal question about any loan liability under OACS guidance remains open and will be clarified in follow-up with OACS and city counsel.