2025

May:

• Council Adopts Goals:
  • City Council adopted two-year goals to advance several community priorities, including Town Center. The goal is that the “community understands Town Center Plan, Urban Renewal, and other funding sources for infrastructure through engagement to inform Council direction.”

September:

• Council Interviews:
  • An experienced research firm independently interviewed each member of Council to collect their questions, concerns, and aspirations for Town Center. These interviews helped staff and city contractors understand the nuances of Council’s vision.

October:

• Focus Groups and Community Outreach:
  • Three focus groups, each comprised of about 10-12 Wilsonville residents, sat down in person with the same research firm that conducted the Council interviews. Participants shared their knowledge of the Town Center Plan and urban renewal, their vision for the future of Wilsonville, and their questions and concerns.
  • Shortly after, the City collected feedback from residents through Let’s Talk Wilsonville! Over 550 community members responded to a mix of multiple choice and open-ended questions. This data built upon the focus groups and helped inform the strategic communications plan.

2026

March:

• Strategic Communications Plan:
  • Council adopted a strategic communications plan to further inform community members about the Town Center Plan’s 40-year vision of a vibrant, walkable heart of the city that could include food carts, boutiques, entertainment venues, and other amenities desired by residents.
• Building Heights Task Force:
  • In response to public concerns about the height of buildings that could potentially be built in Town Center, Council established a limited-duration task force to review and consider revisions to a provision of the City’s Development Code that allows developers to seek waivers or receive bonuses to maximum building heights in some instances.
• Urban Renewal Feasibility:
  • Urban renewal best practice is to assess the conditions and feasibility of an urban renewal district before forming one. The feasibility analysis evaluates a number of assumptions, including acreage, pace and scale of redevelopment, and types of development (housing, commercial, employment). Based on additional market insights and a desire from the City Council to take a more conservative approach compared to the last feasibility analysis in 2023, staff presented two different reduced scenarios. Council asked staff to craft a third scenario and return to Council for direction.

April:

• Urban Renewal Feasibility Options:
  • Staff presented Council with the three scenarios requested. Council directed staff to advance the scenario that represented a 10% reduction to redevelopment acreage.
    (Redevelopment acreage was not the only assumption that was changed. Other calculation inputs were also changed to reflect a development scenario with more surface/on-site parking, incrementally lower building heights, and larger residential unit sizes.)

June:

• Council Direction to Begin Drafting Ballot Measure Title:
  • Council confirmed their support of the revised 2026 Wilsonville Town Center Urban Renewal Feasibility Study, which supersedes the 2023 study. The revised and updated study contains updated project costs, shortens the duration of an urban renewal district by two years, and is based on the more conservative development scenario described above. Council expressed its desire to pursue a vote on the establishment of a Town Center urban renewal area in November 2026 and directed staff to begin drafting ballot measure language.
• Primary Election Results Certified:
  • City Council adopted the vote of the May 19, 2026 primary election as certified by the Clackamas and Washington County Clerks. The action certifies that Measure 3-632, which requires voter notification and approval to create or substantially change urban renewal plans, was passed by Wilsonville voters and will be adopted into the City Charter.
• Advancing Limitations on Maximum Building Height:
  • Based on the input of the Town Center Building Height Task Force and the Planning Commission, City Council directed staff to advance an ordinance to eliminate building height waivers as well as a bonus floor for properties that contain affordable homes. The effect would be to limit buildings in Town Center to two (2) to five (5) stories, depending on their location in Town Center.