Sean C. Morgan
Residential growth appears to be driving a flurry of requests for the creation of new subdivisions and residential lots.
Developers are filling in the southeastern part of Sweet Home, an area that has been largely undeveloped and characterized by large, open tracts of land.
In 1999, 121 new residential lots were created in Sweet Home, most of them in the southeast part of town. Since 1999, the City of Sweet Home has approved the creation of 15 to 39 new lots per year.
Many of those lots are now developed, and developers are asking the City of Sweet Home to approve more new subdivisions and lots in the area. In 2004, they created 108 new lots; and even before the end of this year, the city is processing two more subdivisions with 104 lots for 2005.
Builders aren’t able to find enough lots, Community Development Director Carol Lewis said, so they want to create more. Partition requests are down slightly. The city usually has nine or 10 partitions per year. In 1999, the city had eight partitions, and in 2004, the city has approved seven, adding a net of eight new lots.
None of these requests are tied to the giant Santiam River Club project, a proposed 750-acre development, including residential and commercial features.
After these subdivisions were created, “we had a lot of these lots sit for awhile,” Lewis said. Duck Hollow was among them, after shifting to a manufactured home park and back to a regular subdivision twice during the 1990s. Its 34 lots are filling up, and Duck Hollow was before the Planning Commission for another 49 lots Monday night.
Duck Hollow is located off the 4000 block of Long Street across from the rodeo grounds.
Another subdivision, the Knight subdivision in the Green River-Clark Mill area, that lapsed and was never platted is back in the land-use process too.
Subdivisions around Live Oak Street and Mahogany Street, between 44th and 47th Avenues north of the airport and the 28th Avenue Foothills Drive area are almost full. A new subdivision on 27th Avenue is under construction.
A 55-lot subdivision around 46th Avenue and Airport Road and a 49-lot subdivision for the old rodeo grounds on 49th Avenue will go before the Planning Commission next month.
This year’s subdivisions included the previously mentioned Duck Hollow and 26-lot Knight subdivisions. The city also has processed a 28-lot subdivision off Riggs Hill Road behind the Point Restaurant and a nine-lot subdivision off First Avenue.
After years of sitting vacant, Lewis said, she has been surprised while doing site checks just how much development has happened.
The city building official will complete the final quarterly report for 2004 this month, Lewis said. She doesn’t know how many building permits have been issued so far this year, but “they’re going to be up. We’ve been busy.”
The growth has been in all types of housing, including single-family and multi-family, Lewis said. Overall, Sweet Home is seeing more site-built homes than in the past.
The growth will help increase Sweet Home’s property values, something the city is watching after overall declines in property values created a budget shortfall and budget cuts for the 2004-05 fiscal year.
The construction of the new high school building will create a spike in the value of permits issued, but that won’t help with the city’s budget situation. Lewis, whose department sustained budget cuts, is looking forward to seeing just how much value the development activity will add to property values.
Commercial properties are not developing the same way right now, Lewis said. Commercial activity has mainly been repairs and remodeling.
People want new houses, Lewis said, and “land is still more affordable here, and they can build an affordable home.”
The City of Sweet Home recently received new population estimates from Portland State University. The estimate shows a population increase from 8,330 to 8,380 in 2004.
Information from fiscal year 2003-04 showed a net gain of 28 new single-family units and 18 multi-family units. The city added eight new manufactured home units for a total of 789 manufactured homes.
In 2002-03, the city added 30 single-family units, 20 multi-family units and five manufactured homes.
In 2001-02, the city added 35 single-family units and had 776 manufactured homes.
“We’re just seeing continual steady growth,” Lewis said. “It’s important for us. We’re getting new people in. That means change?. Change is exciting.”
It also means the city needs to plan for more growth, Lewis said. The information is important in planning future services for both the city and School District 55.
School enrollments have decreased in recent years while the population increases. Enrollment appears to have leveled off this year with about as many students as last year.
To explain why student enrollment has decreased during population growth, Lewis thinks the answer is that Sweet Home’s population is aging with the growth, and families are smaller. In some cases, whole neighborhoods may have no children at all.
Sweet Home has had extra space for years, but if the growth trend continues, especially if Santiam River Club develops and brings its own associated growth, the City of Sweet Home may be looking at requiring smaller lot sizes or expansion in 20 years or less.
“In 10 years, (Sweet Home) could look very different,” Lewis said.
Subdivisions sat empty for years, Lewis said. “All of the sudden, it’s like what happened? It’s full.”
The contractors are not all local either, Lewis said. She counts Albany and Lebanon as local, but contractors are coming from Salem and Eugene as well.
“Sweet Home is on the map for a little bit more regional market than we had in the past,” Lewis said.