Urban Renewal Agency | City of Sherwood Oregon

The Sherwood Urban Renewal Plan was adopted and approved by ordinance on August 29, 2000. The initial URA “maximum indebtedness”, as defined by statute, was $35,347,600. However, on February 27, 2012, the Sherwood City Council approved a substantial amendment to increase the maximum indebtedness to $45,133,469. There are 596 acres designated in the Urban Renewal Plan

The Urban Renewal Agency was formed to redevelop underutilized and blighted areas in Sherwood, including Old Town. While a separate and distinct agency was formed according to Oregon statute, the governing board consists of the same group of people as the Sherwood City Council. This is common among URAs throughout Oregon. The agency and its activities are funded by tax increment financing. To read more about this, go to the following link: SURPAC FAQs
The following projects have been funded by the URA:

• URA expenses related to project administration, planning, technical and financial services, renewal area marketing and support.
• The Façade Grant Program - Since its inception, local business owners through application with the Urban Renewal Agency have been awarded almost matching grants to improve building facades, remove blighted structures and rebuild structures in their place. The programs offer a district match of 50% of the expense per façade with a maximum of $15,000. To learn more go to this link: Facade Grant.
• In 2003, the district spent $600,000 to convert a portion of the City owned Public works facility into an indoor soccer complex, with restrooms, bleachers, party room and a state of the art indoor field complete with artificial turf. The City has partnered with local youth sports organizations and the YMCA to program activities and events in the facility.
• In 2004, the District, in partnership with the Sherwood School District invested over $500,000 to install a new Turf Field, artificial surface at the High School stadium. In addition, the district participated in the funding of new lights at the High School and middle school fields, and invested in the new stadium at the High School, increasing capacity and use for community groups.
• In late 2003 the Urban Renewal District invested $300,000 to purchase fiber for Old Town. In purchasing the fiber, Sherwood now has a direct link to provide speed of light access to the internet. A large portion of Sherwood’s Old Town is now a “wireless internet hot spot”. An outgrowth of this investment is the formation of Sherwood Broadband, a city utility that provides high speed broadband service to businesses in Sherwood, Newberg and other parts of Yamhill County.
• The URA has purchased several properties in Old Town Sherwood that will be used for redevelopment purposes.
• The two most visible and important projects to the Sherwood URA are the building of the new Civic building in Old Town and the Downtown Street project. The Civic building is home to Sherwood City Hall on the second floor and a 14,000 square foot library. This facility is a major draw to patrons of Old Town.
• One of the most exciting projects which is now underway is the development of the Cannery site, a 6.5 acre parcel in the heart of the Sherwood Old Town that has been master planned to include, mixed use residential, office space, retail shops, a community plaza, and a Community Center.

Because of Sherwood’s rapid growth and its limited geographic resources, partnerships with overlapping tax districts like the School district and fire district have been crucial in the success of urban renewal planning. With a rapid growth in population comes higher expectations and need for services and community amenities. Through urban renewal, Sherwood has been able to provide improvements to our community that our residents desire and expect.

Complete information on URA projects can be found in the links Urban Renewal Plan & Report and Annual Report.