A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
LOCAL
WEDNESDAy, AuguST 21, 2019
Umatilla prepares for growth spurt
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
P
olitical pundits may
wring their hands
about rural Ameri-
can communities in
decline, but Umatilla is one
small town that’s not going
anywhere.
The city of 7,320 has seen
a 47% increase in popula-
tion since 2000, according
to the U.S. Census Bureau,
and Portland State Univer-
sity’s population research
center predicts similar
growth in the next 20 years.
City Manager David Stock-
dale expects the commu-
nity will add about 100 new
housing units per year for
the next five to seven years.
“It’s not that growth
is coming to Umatilla —
it’s already here,” he said.
“We’re already making
plans for the growth we
expect.”
For more a decade, the
city saw fewer than 20 new
homes per year. But in 2018
they issued 66 building per-
mits. This year, Stockdale
said, they have issued 38
and plan to issue another 20
next week, with almost five
months left in the year.
Another developer is
waiting for the city to com-
plete changes to the devel-
opment code before launch-
ing a 48-home subdivision
they plan to complete in
18 months, Stockdale said,
while two other 250-home
subdivisions are also in the
works.
“It’s kind of coming at us
from everywhere,” he said.
Stockdale said develop-
ers seem to be putting in
homes that land around the
$225,000 to $245,000 price
point, but one developer is
in the preliminary phases of
planning new town homes
for $145,000 to $160,000,
which is “a really great price
point for people starting out
with their first home.”
Business growth and
housing growth often go
hand in hand, but Uma-
tilla Chamber of Commerce
Board Chair Mark Ribich
said he hasn’t seen the influx
of “support businesses,”
from dentists to dry clean-
ers, that he had hoped would
hit downtown as Umatilla
sprouts new subdivisions.
“The growth has been
phenomenal to say the least,
but the business climate is
not growing as quickly as
the housing has,” he said.
Instead, people tend to
visit Hermiston 7 miles
down the road for many of
their needs, leaving some
downtown buildings empty.
Ribich said he hoped to
see the city’s business offer-
ings catch up to the hous-
ing growth, making Uma-
tilla more of a destination
and less of a “bedroom
community.”
“I think we have to prove
ourselves as a city,” he said.
“It’s like that old saying, ‘If
you build it they will come.’
We have to provide the envi-
ronment first.”
Businesses
already
located in town are seeing
successes. In July, Rae’s
Dayz Diner moved next
door to a larger location to
meet the demand for more
seating. The main restau-
rant is open at 1226 Sixth
St., now, and they will open
a banquet room in the build-
ing within the next month.
“There are lots of new
homes going in, and they’re
going to need somewhere to
eat,” owner Raelynn Gal-
legos said.
She said she moved to
Umatilla from Kennewick
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Isaiah Aquilar fastens a 2 by 4 piece of lumber in a new home construction project in Umatilla.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
A pair of nearly completed homes undergo construction work
in an expanding development in Umatilla.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Jacob Edens carries a pocket door frame into a new home
construction project in Umatilla Thursday afternoon.
in 2017 to start her business
based on a belief the com-
munity would continue to
expand, and she hasn’t been
disappointed.
“I really like the growth
going on in the area,” she
said. “I see a lot of potential
in this area.”
One of the biggest driv-
ers of growth in Umatilla
has been the nondescript
gray concrete buildings pop-
ping up along the Colum-
bia River and the south side
of the city. Everyone who
deals with them gets sworn
to secrecy, but somehow the
entire community knows
they are Amazon data
centers.
The company, operat-
ing under the name Vadata,
hires a steady stream of
people to work in various
technical positions, secu-
rity and construction.
Stockdale said other
businesses have also begun
trickling into town, such as
the River Dawgs restaurant
that opened earlier this year.
He said United Grain Grow-
ers just brought a dozen jobs
to Umatilla, Two Rivers
Correctional Institution is
should help the city pro-
vide a stronger argument
when it tries to recruit new
business.
“It’s not that
growth is coming
to Umatilla —
it’s already here.
We’re already
making plans for
the growth we
expect.”
Preparing for the surge
In June, the city
received the results of a
housing study by Angelo
Planning Group and John-
son Economics. That study
predicted a need for 1,151
new housing units in Uma-
tilla in the next 20 years.
In order to encourage
developers to fill that need,
the city has been making
changes to its zoning and
development codes, such
as decreasing lot size mini-
mums to increase density.
Stockdale said some city
projects have been moved
up in order to accommo-
date that expected growth.
Improvements to their
wastewater treatment plant,
for example, will take place
in 2021 instead of 2023.
They are also looking at
developing their water right
from the Columbia River
and want to either add a
water tower or expand an
existing one.
Heidi Sipe, superinten-
dent of Umatilla School
District, said the district is
well-equipped to handle
growth if it continues in a
“pretty stable way.”
“Umatilla has really low
class sizes,” she said. “Each
grade level has room to add
students.”
The city has a fairly large
retired and empty-nester
population, she said, which
has helped keep the schools
below capacity. Despite the
city’s overall population
growth, the school district
had 1,364 students in May
2014 and 1,346 students in
May 2018.
When the city’s plan-
ning commission is consid-
ering applications for a new
housing project, they solicit
feedback from the school
district on the impact on
local schools. A letter pro-
vided by Sipe in 2018, for
example, estimated that a
new subdivision under con-
sideration would add about
28 new students across
grade levels, making the
impact “manageable” for
the district.
While Umatilla may see
unusually high growth in
the next few years, Stock-
dale said he doesn’t see it
bringing a huge cultural
shift to the community.
“Going from 7,000 to
9,000 people in five years,
if that’s the growth we see, I
think Umatilla will still feel
like a small town, maybe
with a few extra restaurants
or stores,” he said.
Your Family Deserves The
— David Stockdale,
Umatilla city manager
adding jobs, a security com-
pany opened a satellite cam-
pus downtown and even the
city is adding new positions
as the tax base grows.
As the city hopes to
draw more restaurants, ser-
vices and retail to support
the growing population, he
said that population growth
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