City Council also to review goals for Ashland Street shelter, update inventory of potential housing building sites
By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news
The Ashland City Council will review a number of long term priorities, from affordable housing to emergency shelter to Pioneer Hall and the Community Center, over the course of its study session Monday and business meeting Tuesday.
A 2024 update to the city’s buildable land inventory will be reviewed by council at the Monday, June 1, study session. The buildable land inventory, “offers a comprehensive list of vacant and underdeveloped residential and commercial lands within the City’s existing Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) and City Limits,” according to an agenda item.
The inventory has not been updated since 2019. The update, “allows the City to assess whether or not there exists a 20 year supply of buildable land to accommodate future housing and business development,” according to the agenda item.
Council will also review the potential for land banking. As early as 2026, the city could purchase land in conjunction with nonprofits while also identifying and utilizing unused existing city property to facilitate more affordable housing, according to an agenda item.
“The primary goal of land banking is to reduce or eliminate land costs for affordable housing projects, thereby increasing the capacity of non-profit organizations to build such housing,” the agenda item said.
At the Tuesday business meeting, Council will be asked to develop long-range goals for the city’s future shelter operations at the property at 2200 Ashland St. Mayor Tonya Graham requested the discussion as an ad hoc committee dedicated to developing a future for 2200 Ashland St. prepares to begin meeting, according to an agenda item.
The council is expected to vote on awarding a contract for long-awaited repairs at Pioneer Hall and the Community Center. The city received two bids and is poised to award a $1,722,490 contract to Outlier Construction. Repair for the buildings has already received a $2.3 million allocation in the city’s facilities fund, according to an agenda item.
In other business Tuesday, council will also formally take $159,293 in timber revenues into the city budget, vote on one right-of-way vacation on a portion of Fern Street, and another on a portion of Meadows Drive, and an allocation of $517,000 of Transportation Occupancy Tax to Travel Ashland for fiscal year 2025.
Travel Ashland — operated by the Ashland Chamber of Commerce — received this tax allotment in fiscal year 2024. The organization promotes tourism in the city of Ashland aimed at potential overnight visitors within a 50-mile radius, according to an agenda item.
The meetings will be held in the Ashland City Council chamber at 1175 E Main St. The study session Monday begins at 5:30 p.m., while the Tuesday business meeting begins at 6 p.m. Both meetings can be attended in person or watched remotely through Channel 9 or Channels 180 and 181 (Charter Communications) or live streamed via rvtv.sou.edu select RVTV Prime. Public testimony will be accepted and can be delivered either via Zoom, in person, or as written comment. To sign up for public comment, fill out the public testimony form.
Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news.
