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County, city hear conceptual master plan for 1,270-acre Redmond East site
Summary
Designers presented an informational vision for roughly 1,270 acres north of Redmond’s airport that could yield about 8,400 homes, major commercial space and new street networks; officials asked for feasibility analysis, flagged relocation of a recent transfer-station investment and debated sequencing with West Redmond.
Designers from DTJ Design gave county and city leaders an informational briefing on a conceptual master plan for a roughly 1,270-acre site east of Redmond, emphasizing that the presentation was intended to orient local officials rather than to request any formal action.
Chris Moore, a principal at DTJ Design, said the team blended private master-plan practice with public comprehensive-plan goals to test feasibility and identify constraints. “So this is an informational meeting. We're not asking for a formal action,” Moore said, adding the study aimed to align the concept with state growth-management strategies and city and county plans.
The conceptual analysis shows the site — which includes a 318-acre surface-mining area and the county transfer station — could accommodate about 8,400 housing units on a gross basis (around six units per acre) and higher net densities (10–12 units per net acre) if mining and transfer-station acreage are excluded. Moore also estimated the potential for “maybe over 1,000,000 square feet” of commercial, office, medical and civic space and said nine of 14 statewide planning goals were addressed in the team’s review.
County and city officials pressed for detail on trade-offs. Commissioner DeBone warned about relocating the county’s recently completed transfer station, saying the county had invested heavily in that facility: “We just opened it up. Brand new facility. I think it was, like, 28 or $30,000,000 or something like that,” he said, and urged caution in any plan that would require moving that asset.
Other participants asked whether the site’s EFU (exclusive farm use) zoning and portions of the urban reserve would complicate a UGB amendment. Moore said much of the reserve acreage is marginal agricultural land with limited water and vegetation and that the plan would need further environmental and utility analysis to confirm assumptions.
On process, the presenter recommended a 9–12 month feasibility phase before any formal policy steps. Moore listed likely deliverables: public engagement, a high-level environmental assessment, a transportation study with traffic modeling, an economic-impact analysis, a utility/infrastructure-capacity review and a refined concept plan.
Officials debated sequencing the East-side concept against West Redmond buildout. Some councilors saw value in planning the larger area now to avoid piecemeal problems the city has faced; others urged resolving West-side infrastructure and existing UGB capacity before pursuing a major legislative amendment to add more growth area.
Moore and other presenters repeatedly framed the work as early-stage: an opportunity to test whether the site could be pulled into the urban growth boundary and, if so, how to phase infrastructure and public engagement. No decisions were made; staff were asked to consider including feasibility work in the 2027 budget and to return with more detailed materials in a work session.
