As the Metro Council considers whether to expand the urban growth boundary this fall and how to invest in existing neighborhoods and employment areas, it has been working hard to make sure that new growth won't outpace local governments' abilities to provide vital services such as sewers, roads, schools and emergency services. With the costs of building and providing new services posing major limitations to urban development, councilors want to be sure that they are using the best mechanisms to determine how much demand will be placed on new and existing services.
Metro staff enlisted the services of local design firm Group Mackenzie to help anticipate infrastructure needs as well as to determine how much it will cost to build new roads and run new water lines to areas slated for future development. The Metro Council reviewed and discussed results of the staff and consultant work at the June 29 work session. With the assistance of Metro planners, the Council has identified roughly 8,000 acres across the metro region to be surveyed for these calculations. Any expansion of the urban growth boundary will be limited to areas already designated as urban reserves, which are set aside for possible future urban development over the next 50 years.
Councilors are also looking to remove a significant barrier to major commercial and industrial development: the availability of large-lot industrial sites, which are tracts of land 50 acres or more that are ready for development for manufacturing or other industrial use. Without available large-lot employment sites within the UGB, it can be difficult to recruit new industrial and manufacturing businesses to the metro area. Metro is developing a process to monitor the use of these large-lot sites and identify potential sites for future large-lot employment lands that could be quickly included in the UGB as the needs arise.
The Metro Council will consider whether to expand the urban growth boundary, along with related policy and investment decisions dealing with centers, corridors and employment areas already inside the UGB, by the end of the year.