Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Green Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Veneta pursues $480,000 DLCD grant to restore Jack Kelley Road frontage and create developable lots
Summary
City staff described a $480,000 DLCD Green Infrastructure award (with an additional $250,000 request pending) to remove invasive species, restore wetlands and oak savannah, and open visibility along Highway 126 to create several development-ready pads at Jack Kelley Road lots.
Veneta Community Development Director Kevin Urban detailed a grant-funded restoration and redevelopment project for the Jack Kelley Road corridor aimed at improving ecological function and increasing the visibility and marketability of city-owned lots.
Urban said the city received $480,000 from the Department of Land Conservation and Development's Green Infrastructure Program and is pursuing an additional $250,000 to remove ash trees threatened by emerald ash borer, restore degraded wetlands, remove Himalayan blackberry and invasive canary grass, and open sight lines along Highway 126. The project area includes lots 400, 601 and 602 and abuts the BPA easement. Urban noted that Lot 602 is development-ready, outside the floodplain and not constrained by wetlands.
"I recognized a longstanding problem: the city is largely invisible from Highway 126," Urban said, describing the proposal to create low‑growing wetland vegetation along the right‑of‑way and reconfigure parts of the wetland buffer to allow four to five building pads on lots 601 and 602 while managing stormwater through restored wetlands. He called the plan a "win-win-win-win" for ODOT, the city, property owners and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.
The proposal also highlights protection of a rare oak savannah stand (less than 1% of original Willamette Valley habitat) and a partnership with the Oregon Department of Forestry. Urban told the committee that while some grant restrictions limit using funds for certain tree removal along the highway, the city will seek alternative funding sources for that work. Committee members encouraged staff advocacy with partner agencies.
