Urban Renewal Agency

About Us

Urban Renewal is a program authorized by the State of Oregon. It is intended to assist communities in improving and redeveloping "blighted areas". The statutes define a "blighted area" as one that is detrimental to the health, safety, or welfare of the community "by reason of deterioration, faulty planning, inadequate or improper facilities, deleterious land use or the existence of unsafe structures...". Among the conditions that characterize a "blighted area" are the existence of inadequate streets, open space and utilities, a prevalence of depreciated values, unsafe buildings or structures, and a growing or total lack of proper utilization of an area.

The City of Waldport established its Urban Renewal Agency in 1981 by adopting Ordinance #435, which also appointed the members of the City Council to act as the Urban Renewal Agency members.

The City's first Urban Renewal Plan was successfully concluded in 2011. The area encompassed by that plan included much of Old Town and the commercial district along Highway 101. One of the projects completed by this plan was the Downtown Revitalization Project which, in conjuction with funding from ODOT, transformed the Highway 101 business district streetscape. Other less noticeable but equally important projects included upgrades to the City's water and sewer infrastructure, replacing deteriorating supply lines and inflow and infiltration improvements. By utilizing Urban Renewal monies, the City was able to accomplish those improvements with minimal financial impact to utility customers.

The current Urban Renewal Plan (Plan #2), was adopted by the City in July of 2005. The purpose of this plan is to create new property values and stimulate economic growth by providing the infrastructure needed to allow and accelerate development of vacant, underutilized land primarily located on the south end of the City, and to modernize public facilities and assist in relocating safety facilities out of tsunami hazard zones.

The Waldport Urban Renewal Agency meets on an as-needed basis, and usually in conjunction with a regularly scheduled City Council meeting. Meetings of the Agency are open to the public.