CRESWELL – Last week, city planner Curtis Thomas asked the Creswell City Council to provide direction on whether or not to move forward with a one-time Urban Growth Boundary expansion.
An urban growth boundary (UGB) is a designated boundary around a city or region that limits urban development to within the boundary while protecting natural and agricultural lands outside it.
The City has been discussing a possible UGB expansion for years. In 2022, the city adopted a Strategic Plan that included expanding the UGB to meet its housing goals. Prior to that, the city adopted a 2019 Housing Needs Analysis that also identified a 51-acre deficit of housing land.
A way to alleviate that concern is through a growth boundary expansion. UGBs bring benefits to the city, the biggest one being revenue. They can open the door to new property taxes, new development with system development fees, and users who contribute to water and sewer fees.
“One of the ways that we can help pay for our wastewater upgrades is to add more users to the system. It’s not going to solve everything, but it is part of the puzzle,” Thomas said.
Creswell is eligible for a one-time UGB expansion of up to 50 net acres under SB 1537, a measure passed in 2024 aimed at addressing the state’s housing crisis. It establishes the Housing Accountability and Production Office (HAPO), which assists local governments and developers in complying with state housing laws.
This one-time expansion is an expedited process in lieu of the sequential UGB expansion process. The traditional UGB expansion process involves a Housing Needs Analysis, an Economic Opportunities Analysis, Buildable Land Inventories, an updated Transportation System Plan, and more. The sequential process is time-intensive and logistically challenging.
All cities smaller than 25,000 may expand by a maximum of 50 net residential acres as a part of a one-time, streamlined expansion process. Cities must demonstrate that 25% of their renters are rent-burdened, and that there is no 20-acre adjacent area of land zoned for residential use. Creswell barely meets the first criterion, with 25.06% of renters being rent-burdened, but Creswell’s largest adjacent zoned residential land is only 13.8 acres.
There is no cost to the City to take on the one-time UGB expansion other than staff time. There are requirements in the UGB expansion, but the requirements are much more predictable and controllable than the sequential process, such as the inclusion of parkland and workforce housing.
Thomas explained that there are two options for a one-time UTB expansion. One requires sites that are 15 acres and smaller, and the other requires sites that are 15 acres and larger. If the site is above 15 acres, a conceptual plan that includes the requirements, such as workforce housing, needs to be provided.
“My recommendation is to go with the 15-plus plan, because then we have a concept plan, and this is not an everyday opportunity, and if we’re going to expand the growth boundary, we might as well make it worth our time,” he said.
Workforce housing is affordable housing designed for middle-income earners who cannot afford market-rate housing but earn too much to qualify for traditional low-income housing programs. As defined in the Bill, if a house is for sale, it has to meet 130% of the area median income, and depending on variables, that’s roughly a $400,000 home. If the homes are being built to rent, they have to be affordable at 80% of the area’s median income.
Alonzo Costilla, city council president, asked Thomas if he anticipates any applicants for this project. Thomas said he anticipates three or four.
Councilor Staci Holt asked how the City’s current moratorium plays into the expansion process.
“We would expand the growth boundary in anticipation of the moratorium being lifted in 2031. We’re getting ready for that day when our sewer lines come back online, and we can grow like normal Creswell,” Thomas said.
The council gave a general nod of approval for Thomas to present the site plans at a future work session.
