Tillamook Urban Renewal
With an eye toward enhancing economic development and improving the quality of life for Tillamook’s citizens, the City has developed a 25-year plan to revitalize the community and established an Urban Renewal Agency to oversee it.
The Urban Renewal Plan was developed in a series of eight public meetings and public workshops held between January and September 2006. The meetings were conducted by a Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) appointed by the City Council. The CAC reviewed and helped develop all aspects of the Urban Renewal Plan. Both the City Planning Commission and the Tillamook County Board of Commissioners discussed and signed off on the plan and it was adopted by the Tillamook City Council in November of 2006.
The purpose of the Urban Renewal Plan is to eliminate blighting influences found in the Tillamook Urban Renewal Area, to implement goals and objectives of Tillamook’s Comprehensive Plan and to support the continued development of the area as a safe, clean and affordable community.
The Plan
The mission of the Tillamook City Urban Renewal District is to stabilize and improve property values, thus improving the quality of life for those who live, work and visit within the area. The focus is to eliminate blight among commercial, industrial and residential properties and encourage private development through infrastructure improvements.
The Urban Renewal Plan was prepared under the provisions of Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) Chapter 457. Its goal is to support the City's economic development objectives through rehabilitation of older and historic structures, redevelopment of key sites, improvement of transportation and utility facilities, assistance with the construction of needed public facilities and creation of public amenities.
The plan, which will extend until 2032, includes the following goals:
The agency also developed a series of objectives to support each goal.
- Promote private development to increase the City’s economic base.
- Improve and retain existing profitable businesses.
- Provide efficient, safe and effective streets, streetscapes and open spaces.
- Maintain, remodel and construct public parks and open spaces, public facilities and public safety facilities to maintain and enhance safety in the renewal area and increase public utilization of the renewal area.
- Upgrade and repair existing buildings within the renewal area
- Provide for new housing units that reflect a diversity of housing types, occupancy (rental and owner occupied) and income levels in the City.
The Urban Renewal plan does not depend on any increases in the City’s tax rate to achieve its goals. Instead, the City will utilize tax increment financing. That is, as property values in the renewal zone increase through appreciation, the additional property tax revenue realized from that appreciation will be diverted to fund urban renewal activities.
Funding Mechanism
The revitalization project is projected to be completed by the year 2030-31. The total capital costs of project activities are expected to total $12,228,000 in 2006 dollars. During the plan period, assessed property values in the Urban Renewal Area are expected to increase by approximately $98.2 million.
The Urban Renewal Agency received its first tax increment funds in November of 2007. Project activities began in 2007-08. The sequencing and prioritization of individual project activities will be done by the Urban Renewal Agency, and any citizen advisory bodies that the Agency calls upon to assist in this process. The priority of projects and annual funding will be as established in the annual budget process.
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