Keizer is considering loosening its belt to allow for more homes and more growth.
City officials want to hear what citizens think about their community’s future.
What is being billed as a “Community Listening Session” is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 27, at the Keizer Event Center.
“Share your vision for Keizer’s future,” the city says in its meeting announcement. “Help shape city policy and planning efforts.”
WATCH THE VIDEO: What’s at stake
The public session is focused on that belt holding in Keizer – the urban growth boundary.
Simply put, the boundary is the line between city development and surrounding farm land.
As City Manager Adam Brown explained in a video, Keizer is belted in with Salem. And since Salem has land still left inside the boundary for housing and development, Keizer is stuck.
Studies in the past 10 years found that Keizer is going to run out room for new homes. A 2013 plan said another 267 acres would be needed to accommodate growth. A more recent study, which anticipated slower population growth, found the city still would need 52 acres for homes.
For now, new homes can only be built on what vacant land remains inside the boundary.
“What we’re seeing now is infill housing,” Brown said in the video.
Brown and those on the Keizer City Council want a sense of what citizens want.
TAKE THE SURVEY: Should Keizer grow?
“Through our strategic planning process, we learned that much of our community wants to maintain that small town feel and the same people would also like to see us grow,” Brown said in an email.
Tuesday’s session is the second one this month. One held on May 10 “went well,” Brown said.
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