The Hermiston City Council amended its Comprehensive Plan Map prior to approving the annexation of nearly 26 acres into the city limits at its Monday meeting.
The land is located on the northeast corner of E. Theater Lane and N.E. 10th Street. The application for the amendment was filed by Dennis Gisi, Larry Bankston and the Victory Lighthouse Church.
The applicants requested to have the property’s zoning designation change from Future Residential to Low Density Residential (R-1).
The properties are under separate ownership, but the owners agreed to file a single application for comprehensive plan map amendment and application.
Three Rivers Oregon LLC owns 12.91 acres of vacant land and intends to develop the property residentially following annexation. Victory Lighthouse Church owns the 10.92 acres of property. The property currently contains the church. The property owners intend to expand the church operations on the western portion as well as residentially develop the eastern portion of the lot. Larry and Florence Bankston own the 2.015 acres of property which contains a single-family dwelling.
City Planner Clint Spencer said the properties are within the urbanizable portion of the urban growth boundary. He called the area “a rural but rapidly urbanizing portion of our urban growth boundary.”
To the west of the 25.9 acres of property is the newly constructed Loma Vista Elementary School and several single-family subdivisions which are either under construction or are approved by the city and scheduled for construction, according to Spencer. To the north and east sit rural single-family estates and undeveloped land. To the south sits the Country Squire Mobile Home Park, the Vista Mobile Home Park, and rural single-family development.
Spencer said the Low Density Residential designation allows single and two-family dwellings on lots with a minimum lot size of 8,000 square feet.
The properties have an assessed value of $448,860. Spencer said the property has the potential for 71 or more dwellings, adding that residential development will likely generate approximately $151,000 annually at full build-out.
Before the annexation is official, however, it must also be approved by the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners. Spencer said there is no indication that the county will oppose the annexation.
Councilor Roy Barron applauded the annexation as a sign of continued growth in the area, which not only includes a new school, new housing, but prior to all of that, a new water tower allowing for future development.
“This is another really great victory for the water tower we have up there and the development it’s created up in that area,” Barron said.
Mayor Dave Drotzmann said the growth in the area likely would not have occurred without the water tower and the city’s involvement in building the road out “and all the investments that we co-jointly put in out there. That’s allowing more development and more housing for our community, which is a huge win.”
