Three cities in West Umatilla County are hosting an open house to review preliminary reports for the West County Housing Study.
The open house is scheduled for Wednesday, March 13, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Stafford Hansell Government Center. The event is co-sponsored by Umatilla County Economic Development.
Beginning at 6:30 the consulting teams will give a presentation of the first two study reports. First will be an overview of the Residential Buildable Lands Inventory in each city, which includes maps that will show existing residential-zoned lands, constraints or barriers to development and the amount of net buildable acres.
The second presentation will summarize the Housing and Residential Land Needs Assessment which includes a forecast of new housing units that will each city will need to accommodate growth over the next 20 years.
Staff from each city, Echo, Stanfield and Umatilla will be on hand to listen and answer questions. An opportunity for questions and answers and public input will be provided.
Last spring, the three cities were awarded a grant from the Department of Land Conservation & Development. The project reflects a trend of regional collaboration in West Umatilla County.
“This partnership reflects the regional housing and employment markets that Stanfield, Echo and Umatilla have in common,” said Stanfield City Manager Blair Larsen. “We share many of the same challenges and opportunities, and it just made sense to join together for this study.”
Initially, Hermiston was part of the project, however, it has opted out since Hermiston had recently completed a Buildable Lands Inventory and Housing Analysis in 2017.
A second open house will be held on May 1, 2019 where recommendations for each city will be presented.
For more information or to become involved, contact staff from Stanfield, Umatilla and Echo:
- Blair Larsen, city of Stanfield, 541-449-3831
- Tamra Mabbott, city of Umatilla, 541-922-3226 X101 or 541-561-5011
- Diane Berry, city of Echo, 541-376-8411
