Council favors looking into ‘land banking’ — acquiring possible project sites

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news

The Ashland City Council received an update on potentially developable housing sites in Ashland and possible use of land banking — the acquisition of  vacant, abandoned or underutilized properties to meet community needs, particularly affordable housing at some later time — at its study session Monday evening, all with an eye toward alleviating the local housing shortage.

The city’s buildable lands inventory (BLI), which takes a look at what city properties available for potential development to support population growth, has been updated for the first time since 2019. It revealed successes and challenges for the city. Several spaces open on the old inventory have since been developed, many with more dwelling units than previously anticipated, said Ashland Community Development Director Brandon Goldman. 

One development in the North Mountain Neighborhood — on Coffee Lane and Randy Street — was expected to yield only 26 units, but were developed into 37. The Beach Creek annexation was identified as only 42 lots in the 2019 BLI and is now being developed into 53. 

But available lands for multi-family housing development within city limits are few, he said. 

The updated BLI identified the potential to build 1,407 dwellings within city limits. Another 1,303 are possible within the urban growth boundary. Both numbers taken together would allow Ashland to meet projected housing demand over the next 20 years, according to the BLI staff report. The inventory includes developed and undeveloped land, properties that are below their development potential and potential physical limits to development such as flood plains. 

The city can consider some increased mixture of commercial and residential development in zones that allow it.  

“If you visualize two or three floors above Albertsons, that’s quite a bit of housing. … And in this market, people are increasingly doing that,” Goldman said. 

Under Oregon state law, affordable housing is exempt from normal rules prohibiting residential development in commercial zones. But the city of Ashland code can only compel developers to build affordable units in the case of annexations, he said. 

Land banking could be a long-term tool to create more high density affordable housing. If the city decided to pursue it, council and staff would consider both parcels of land that could be purchased and city owned properties. The city has created affordable housing this way before. 

The city purchased 10 acres in concert with the Jackson County Housing authority. When the housing authority was ready to begin a project in Ashland, the city then retained part of the parcel for open space in the form of wetlands and sold the required acreage to the housing authority, charging only its purchase price around eight years prior, Goldman said. The housing authority was saved from market escalation costs, the city regained the cost of the land and now the Snowberry housing development is standing on the property. 

The city would have to consider if there are organizations it could partner with as it did with the housing authority, particularly in the case of purchasing land. That can create a minor catch-22: Without an idea of how much land is available and when it could come into their possession, potential partners can’t create plans or designs. But without an identified partner, the city would be purchasing land it would then be responsible for. 

“It’s not without considerable risk, because now we’ve taken on those lands and we’re not housing developers. … and also (taking on the responsibility of) stewardship and maintaining those properties over time,” Goldman said. 

The city does have the advantage of being exempt from property taxes as a government organization, he said. 

Councilor Eric Hansen asked if the city could use some of its funds from investments to pursue opportunities. 

Interim City Manager Sabrina Cotta stated it could take multiple budget cycles to acquire land, as it is now working through a series of capital improvement projects. However, with each budget cycle, the council chooses priorities for funds available after obligatory services are covered. The previous priority was wildfire; as the next budget cycle approaches, council could choose housing development and land banking. 

It could also consider the model used by Ashland Parks & Recreation. Desirable land for possible parks and open spaces was inventoried, interest in the properties made known and funds were set aside for purchase as properties became available or landowners approached APRC with offers. 

Councilor Gina DuQuenne speculated on the potential to create multi-use developments, such as those with needed childcare facilities on the ground floor and housing units above. She also stipulated she wanted to see the city focus on existing properties rather than purchasing land. 

Mayor Tonya Graham said identifying potential properties to purchase in an APRC-like inventory would be an additional project. The city, she said, should consider the support for housing and infrastructure coming from the state level while respecting the limitations of Ashland’s already busy staff time. 

“There is a moment in time, but I’m not sure exactly how best to balance that moment in time, but those resources that are flowing now that are not going to be flowing forever,” she said, referring to current state support for housing projects. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news.