The Rees-Goad Project and the Highway 11/30 Connector Road project is underway on May 20, 2025, in Pendleton. The project will connect Oregon Highways 11 and 30 with new roadway and water line infrastructure, opening 250 acres of undeveloped land near Interstate 84 for future development. (Yasser Marte/East Oregonian)

City planner hopes housing report encourages construction

PENDLETON — The city of Pendleton’s population is expected to creep up during the next 20 years, increasing its need for housing.

But Pendleton has room for those developments.

Winterbrook Planning created the city’s new housing needs report that states Pendleton’s urban growth boundary has the space to accommodate anticipated growth of about 1,200 people.

The city’s expected growth rate for the next 20 years is 7%, which is lower than the county’s 10% expected growth rate.

Overall, according to the report, Pendleton by 2044 will need 516 additional housing units:

• 328 single-family detached homes.
  82 multi-family units.
  73 townhomes or complexes.
  33 mobile or other types of homes.

However, the report clarifies, the identified need of 516 units is based “solely on projected population growth” and doesn’t take into consideration “current underproduction” or the needs of people experiencing homelessness in the city.

Julie Chase, city planner, said the city doesn’t have specific numbers or documentation about the number of people who want housing but can’t access it, “but we do know there are people out there who have that need.”

Instead, the report focused on future housing needs based on population. Its results tell developers and investors that “Pendleton is a place to invest” for housing and construction work, according to Chase.

“We want them coming here, looking at our land and bringing more housing in,” she said. “We need more housing, and Pendleton is going to grow, so that’s two aspects that developers need to pay attention to.”

The report will supplement a larger comprehensive plan the city created that goes over its zoning rules based on statewide planning goals, Chase said.

“You go out and you do studies, and from those studies, you realize what your community wants, what your community needs, and how it relates to what state laws are pushing for communities to have,” she said. “You take that report and you start to make your rules and regulations, such as what we want in a residential zone.”

Variety of housing needs

Chase added the city and its residents will need to pay attention to the variety of housing, especially different types, such as duplex or triplex homes, rather than just apartments or single-family homes.

In Pendleton now, affordable rentals are most accessible to people in the middle income ranges, from $20,000 up to $75,000 annually. For those making under $20,000 or at least $75,000, there is a “significant” rental need gap, according to the report.

Chase said some people during the commission meeting wondered why people making $75,000 or more would want to live in a rental, but sometimes people just don’t want to own their own home, or may want to stay renters. According to the report, the lowest income households have a rental gap of 468, and the highest income households have a gap of 545 households.

The numbers Winterbrook Planning used assumed 30% of a family’s income is allocated to housing. People paying more than that are considered housing cost-burdened, the report states, which could affect their ability to afford other expenses. The report doesn’t mention what proportion of Pendleton’s population falls into the cost-burdened category.

The Pendleton Planning Commission at its May 22 meeting discussed the report and  recommended the city council adopt it. The council considers that recommendation at its meeting Tuesday, June 3.