Finding fertile ground for commercial growth in Oregon

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Four bills being considered by the Oregon Legislature would help make existing industrial land more suitable for job creation and economic growth. These bills are especially noteworthy in 2013 as Oregon’s innovative land-use planning program prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

The program proactively plans for development by directing growth within urban growth boundaries, where public facilities and services exist or can be provided. Over the past 40 years, Oregon’s planning program has succeeded in concentrating growth in urban areas and deterring sprawl into adjacent farm and forest lands.

For example, according to the U.S. Census of Agriculture, Oregon succeeded in reducing the loss of mid-size and large-scale farms to one-sixth the national average, even though the state’s population grew by approximately 80 percent during that period.

On the other hand, many Oregon communities have significant shortages of market-ready industrial land within their UGBs. For example, according to Portland’s most recent Economic Opportunities Analysis, the city has a shortage of approximately 700 acres of industrial land, mostly along the Portland Harbor.

This shortage of market-ready industrial land limits the state’s ability to expand and recruit traded-sector industries, which form the foundation of state and regional economic development strategies.

House bills 2284 and 2285 and Senate bills 246 and 253 would begin to tackle this shortfall by making existing industrial land more suitable for development. These bills, under the Oregon Business Development Department, would create a statewide program known as the Oregon Industrial Site Readiness Program. The purpose of the program would be to provide grants and loans to qualified project sponsors, to make state and regionally significant industrial sites market-ready.

HB 2284 and SB 246 would empower the Oregon Business Development Department to establish rules for certifying state and regionally significant industrial sites for inclusion in the Oregon Industrial Site Readiness Program. These sites would need to be either 25 net acres or greater in size within a UGB, or 15 net acres or greater outside a UGB. Upon qualification, the department would be able to extend loans to eligible employers to assist them in overcoming development-related constraints and incentivize industrial development of the site.

HB 2285 and SB 253 would focus on the creation of a similar grant program to assist public and private developers to perform due diligence assessments and create detailed development plans to bring large industrial sites into a state of market readiness.

While the particulars of these bills are likely to change as they move through the legislative process, as written, they are squarely aimed at making existing industrial land more suitable for development. Having a suitable supply of industrial land is precisely what Oregon’s innovative land-use planning program envisions.

For example, under Oregon Statewide Planning Goal 9 (economic development), all local governments are required to provide an adequate supply of suitable sites for a variety of industrial uses. According to a report prepared by several Oregon public agencies and business groups recently, there is a severe shortage of sizable market-ready industrial sites in the Portland area. Similar shortages exist in other parts of the state.

The Oregon Legislature is rightly concerned that as we continue to climb out of one of the deepest recessions in several generations, and as we prepare to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Oregon’s land-use planning program, Oregon needs to have enough market-ready industrial land to grow family-wage industrial jobs, both now and in the future.

One of the best ways to enhance the growth of family-wage jobs in Oregon is to provide economic incentives to develop the industrial land we already have. These bills would help make our existing industrial lands more fertile. In doing so, these bills would enhance Oregon’s industrial land supply, provide more room for family-wage jobs, and help cities and counties better satisfy the requirements of Statewide Planning Goal 9.

Phil Grillo is a partner in the Portland office of Davis Wright Tremaine. He represents the Working Waterfront Coalition. Contact him at 503-778-5284 or at [email protected].