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Oregon officials propose new zoning district for advanced manufacturing

Oregon officials are crafting a new zoning district they believe will attract new businesses and form a buffer between residential areas and heavy industry.

The proposed “advanced manufacturing” district is designed for high-quality and attractive manufacturers, said Mike Beazley, Oregon city administrator. The idea, Mr. Beazley said, is to move away from more heavy-industry sites, like the city’s refineries.

“It’s a less intense use,” he said.

A public hearing is set for 7 p.m. on March 28 in Oregon City Council chambers.

Mr. Beazley said officials are interested in attracting more modern factories whose campuses would include amenities like landscaping. While Oregon’s two large refineries are vital to the city, he said, Oregon has done its share in hosting heavy industry.

There are no current candidates for development using the new district, he said.

“All this is, is creating the category,” Mr. Beazley said.

Residents pushed back last year against an idea to turn several hundred acres near Navarre Avenue and North Curtice Road into an industrial zone for future growth. The Oregon Economic Development Committee has also met to discuss the city’s industrial future and the status of its industrially zoned land.

Oregon City Council President Tim Zale said he believes this new zoning proposal was partly born out of those previous meetings and discussions.

The proposal would go to the planning commission and then ultimately to council for final approval. Mr. Zale said he believes city council will pass the measure.

If passed, the plan would be to rezone some of the city’s industrially zoned property under the new district in preparation for new businesses, Mr. Zale said, while repeating that no specific development is in the works.

“We want to be ready for that if that should happen,” he said. “There’s nothing on our radar right now.”

Mr. Zale said officials had been looking at the Willys Industrial Park along Jeep Parkway in Toledo, which features a new Dana plant and several smaller factories, as the kind of “advanced manufacturing” the new district would be intended to promote. The refineries serve the city and provide robust tax base, he said, but that’s simply not the kind of industry Oregon is interested in pursuing more of in the future.

“We have our share, I think, of smokestacks,” he said.

Posted By: The Toledo Blade on March 13, 2022.  For more information, please click here to read the source article.

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