The letters should go out by the end of the month.

Tigard will soon mail out letters to property owners in the future River Terrace 2.0 asking if they would be willing to annex their property into the city in order to create one of the largest planning projects the city has underway.

At issue is asking the owners of about 40 pieces of land if they would allow to have their properties come into city limits to allow private developers to build as many as 4,500 new homes in a wide range of types, sizes and price tags. 

In exchange they would get temporary breaks on the property taxes for those land parcels. 

“We’ve drafted the customized annexation letter and are putting the final touches to maps … and we’ll have letters out to the property owners by the end of this month,” Sambo Kirkman, the city’s community development director, reported to the Tigard City Council on Tuesday, May 20, as part of her quarterly report.

If they accept, those property owners will receive tax phase-in incentives resulting in the payment of no property taxes the first year, 50% in the second year, and the full amount in the third year.

Development is on both sides of Southwest Roy Rogers Road

River Terrace 2.0 is a continuation of River Terrace, a community whose first residents moved into homes in 2016. The future development will straddle both sides of Roy Rogers Road between Southwest Scholls Ferry and Southwest Beef Bend roads. 

A staff report said the city also is approaching River Terrace 2.0 milestones, including housing, stormwater and sanitary service plans.  

Also nearing completion is a city study of Tile Flat Road. 

Tigard officials have long opposed the extension of the road despite a push from the Washington County Board of Commissioners to move forward with the extension but without an exact route. The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals later told the county to go back to the drawing board regarding the issue.

That study will be forwarded to the Tigard City Council by mid-July.

New project to provide more housing options

Meanwhile, Kirkman said Tigard HOME, the planning project designed to provide more entertainment, amenities, services and housing options for residents, is moving forward. 

An acronym for Housing Opportunity, Mobility and Ease, the HOME project recently received another $35,000 from Metro, money earmarked for community engagement. 

“Based on community feedback received, this project will propose development code changes that could allow more options for employment, amenities, services, and housing in residential zones,” a city staff report stated.

Plans are to formally kick off the project in June, involving consultants, the community and the Tigard Planning Commission. The council will get a view of plans in July.