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Boardman EOA finds need for roughly 750 acres of employment land, driven by data-center demand
Summary
Consultants told the advisory committee the Economic Opportunities Analysis projects an adjusted forecast of about 2,300 new jobs over 20 years and roughly 750 gross acres of employment land need—most of it for large data-center sites—potentially prompting a UGB expansion.
Consultants from Johnson Economics and MIG presented a 20-year Economic Opportunities Analysis (EOA) to the City of Boardman PAC and said the town's recent growth trajectory and targeted-industry activity produce a substantial land need.
Bridal Buckley of Johnson Economics said the adjusted employment forecast calls for about "2,300 new jobs in the community," which she described as roughly a 65% increase over the current job base and equivalent to about 2.6% annual growth. Buckley emphasized that the forecast reflects local history and likely demand rather than the lower state-method baseline.
Consultants translated the job forecast into land demand and highlighted the role of data centers. "This rec represents a forecast of roughly 5 new data center developments in the Boardman area, for a total of 625 needed acres," Buckley said. In addition, consultants estimated about 40 gross acres of commercial land and about 90 gross acres of other industrial land for a combined ~125 gross acres outside the data-center calculation, producing an overall gross need near 750 acres over 20 years.
City staff and consultants flagged that meeting the scale of the need could require an urban growth boundary (UGB) expansion or alternative measures (swaps or rezones) to ensure sufficient employment land. Consultants said the EOA's findings will feed into comprehensive-plan amendments and development-code updates before the materials proceed to planning commission and city council for public hearings.
Next steps: staff and consultants asked PAC members for comments and noted the EOA and recommended comp-plan policies will be included in the public-adoption process.
