The fact that many workers commute from elsewhere has been a compelling force for city officials to create more housing in Pendleton.
But while 57.2 percent of Pendleton’s workforce are out-of-towners, Pendleton city intern Haley Meisenholder took a deeper look at commuting data from the U.S. Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies in a report she presented to the Pendleton Housing Study Committee on Friday.
One of Meisenholder’s big takeaways was that Pendleton commuters were coming from unincorporated properties outside city limits, rather than other municipalities like Hermiston or La Grande.
According to the census bureau data, 41 percent of Pendleton commuters come from the surrounding area while less than 20 percent are based in other towns in Umatilla County.
Another conclusion from Meisenholder’s analysis is that Pendleton’s worker retention rate is better than its neighbors — Pendleton keeps 43 percent of its workers in town while Hermiston retains 32 percent.
If most of Pendleton’s commuters are coming from the area surrounding the city, the city could try to make more room for housing by expanding its conservatively drawn urban growth boundary.
But despite a newly passed bill from the Oregon Legislature that establishes a pilot program for communities looking establish their boundaries, interim city planner George Clough said the rules for expansion remain stringent.
Under the pilot program established under House Bill 4079, cities can make a one-time expansion to their urban growth boundaries up to 50 acres, provided the expansion is made with a state-approved affordable housing project in mind.
Clough said the program is worth looking into, but also noted that an affordable housing development could pull low-income residents away from public transportation and other important services.
Umatilla County Planning Director Tamra Mabbott said unincorporated Pendleton might not be a fruitful target for affordable and workforce housing.
Mabbott said the county’s planning department averages about three housing permits per year for the land surrounding Pendleton.
Although there’s room for roughly 76 new dwellings in that area, Mabbott said the cost of buying and developing the land means executive level homes tend to be the most feasible developments.
Committee chair John Turner scheduled the committee’s next meeting for April 29 at 1:30 p.m. at Pendleton City Hall.
Originally Published in East Oregonian
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