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Magna CRA hears staff presentation on draft economic-development tool to guide land use and taxes
Summary
Staff presented a draft economic-development tool that maps business performance and parcel-level taxable value to inform land-use, housing and fiscal strategies; staff flagged multifamily housing as a key driver of per-acre taxable value and proposed using CRA funds to incentivize downtown development.
The Magna Community Redevelopment Agency on Thursday heard a staff presentation on a draft economic-development tool intended to align long-term land use, employment, housing, infrastructure and fiscal policy.
"This is a Magna City economic development potential draft plan," said Matthew Starley, interim long range planning manager for Magna City, as he introduced an interactive map showing business locations sized by retail-performance and a parcel-level layer of taxable value per acre. Starley said the map is a staff tool — not an adopted plan — and is designed to test scenarios for different areas of the city.
Starley pointed out clear spikes in taxable value that correlate with higher-density residential (multifamily) areas. "What we see is this pattern where our multifamily is significantly outperforming from, you know, basically just a land value perspective," he said. He told the board that commercial areas also perform well and that the historic district maintains comparatively strong value.
The presentation highlighted an upcoming transportation land-use connection study for the 201 Corridor, which staff hope will identify sites appropriate for large-format retail, a lifestyle community center or other commercial uses. Starley also suggested northern industrial areas could be promoted for tech centers to drive job growth.
Starley emphasized the tool’s use for policy and incentive design: staff discussed using CRA funding to create gap-financing programs and other incentives to encourage development in the walkable, character-rich historic downtown to increase residents and retail activity.
Starley said the map reflects taxable property value (collected by service providers today, not the city) and described the tool as work in progress; staff indicated they will return to the CRA with ideas from recent conferences and additional analysis.
The CRA took no formal action on the tool at the meeting; Starley invited board members to follow up with questions or comments.
