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Staff says employment acreage is optional; forecast ties to 6,700 jobs
Summary
Planning staff told commissioners employment acreage is optional under state rules; the economic opportunity analysis forecasted demand equivalent to about 6,700 additional jobs, but staff said geography limits how much employment land can be added this round.
Commissioners asked whether the city needed to include the full forecasted employment acreage in the UGB expansion.
Don Hardy explained the economic opportunity analysis converts acreage forecasts into a jobs projection and said that historical development patterns and the limited geography constrain how much employment land the city can reasonably add. Hardy summarized the forecast and rationale: "And that's where the 6,700, employees came from." He also compared the proposed employment expansion to the existing Pioneer Industrial Park footprint, saying the new employment acreage is similar in scale to that earlier development.
Staff emphasized residential land is mandatory under state requirements while employment acreage is discretionary; the city is proposing as much employment land as is practical given parcel availability and constraints, but it will not be able to meet the full economic-opportunity forecast if appropriate parcels do not exist.
Commissioners asked for more detail on the employment analysis and how jobs-to-acre conversions were calculated; staff said those methods are documented in the economic-opportunity analysis included with the UGB package.
