The City of Roseburg is considering a change to its Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) that could allow for hundreds of new homes.
The new proposal would cut two difficult-to-develop properties from Roseburg's growth boundary, and replace them with flat land in the Charter Oaks neighborhood.
Roseburg’s Community Development Director Stuart Cowie said the city needs more housing, but these current properties have steep terrain and limited water access that make them less than ideal locations.
In comparison, he said the land gained from this swap would likely allow for the construction of 350 to 400 new homes.
“These would be single-family dwellings that would be in character with the rest of the existing rural neighborhood," said Cowie. “The city has been looking at moving out this direction for the last 40 years.”
Right now, Cowie said large employers in Roseburg face recruitment issues, because willing hires can’t find a place to stay in town. And he said the city can also be too expensive for commuters to relocate to.
“Many are saying, ‘we'd like to come and just live in Roseburg, but we're living on the outskirts because we're able to find more affordable housing here,’” he said.
Cowie said while the city has seen strong growth in its apartment supply in recent years, single-family homes haven’t kept up. He said the swap is just one of the tools the city will need to use to address the community's needs.
Over a decade ago, an attempt at a UGB expansion into Charter Oaks failed, but Cowie said a swap doesn’t have the same state requirements.
Cowie also said the previous effort was opposed by neighbors who didn’t want the land developed. But he said with greater housing needs today, he's expecting less pushback.
“It's taken years to get here and we're keeping our fingers crossed that everything moves as smoothly as it can,” he said.
Moving forward, the proposal will need approval from City and County planning commissions, as well as Roseburg's City Council and Douglas County Commissioners.
A public hearing is tentatively scheduled to take place at Roseburg's City Council Chambers on May 6.
