VALE – The Vale Planning and Zoning Commission next week will examine a blueprint from two developers seeking to build six triplexes on an empty lot between Barkley Drive and Elm Street.
The session is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 9, at 6 p.m. at Vale City Hall at 150 Longfellow St. N.
That’s when the commission will consider a conditional-use permit for Dave Roberts of Vale and Ryan Vandecoevering of Garibaldi, to build six 2,300-square-foot triplexes to ease the housing shortage in town.
Roberts said there is a “huge need.”
“There is an incredible demand for homes here. But right now, we are still in the conceptual stage,” Roberts said last week.
Producing more housing is a key goal for city officials, said Mayor Tom Vialpando.
“Builders like Mr. Roberts, if they can build something affordable for our area, we very much welcome that,” said Vialpando.
Vialpando said he’s talked to several employers locally who told him lack of housing impacted their ability to hire.
“They (employees) couldn’t find suitable homes or affordable homes so they declined positions,” said Vialpando.
Todd Fuller, Vale city manager, said some who work at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management office in Vale live in Idaho.
“That’s because there is no housing available here,” he said.
While Roberts and Vandecoevering’s proposal must still pass muster with the planning commission, the new Wildwood Estates subdivision, north of Cottonwood Park just off 15th Street on about 20 acres, is nearly ready.
Wildwood Estates is one of the largest housing developments in Vale in decades. Warrington Construction is the developer and owns the property.
Brooks Warringtion, company owner, said the subdivision will contain 62, three-bedroom, two-bath homes.
Warrington said last week his company is down to the “nitty-gritty” on the subdivision.
“It is all paved and we are doing final clean up now,” he said.
Warrington said lots in the subdivision could be available this fall.
“We definitely need more housing in Vale and we need more affordable housing in Vale,” said Vialpando.
News tip? Contact Pat Caldwell at [email protected].
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE – The Malheur Enterprise delivers quality local journalism – fair and accurate. You can read it any hour, any day with a digital subscription. Read it on your phone, your Tablet, your home computer. Click subscribe – $7.50 a month.