[OMS_MANAGERS] Vacancy Fee

Tue Apr 14 18:54:34 PDT 2026

Milwaukie used TIF funding to establish an Urban Renewal Distric and fund business development grants.  Using these as incentives with landlords and tenants, the Downtown Alliance of Milwaukie were able to go from around a 33% downtown vacancy rate out with around 120 spaces to, I believe, currently 2 units still currently available, in around 2 years.  A lot of collaboration and hustle!Andy FisherDowntown Alliance of Milwaukie (DAM)Board Chair
-------- Original message --------From: President DCO <president at downtown-corvallis.org> Date: 4/14/26  4:41 PM  (GMT-08:00) To: Dawn Mills <Dawn.Mills at riddle.k12.or.us>, Network Members Oregon Main Street <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov> Cc: Network Members Oregon Main Street <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov> Subject: Re: [OMS_MANAGERS] Vacancy Fee Corvallis is also very interested in this conversation. It is a subject that has been coming up in city council meetings and with our downtown task force. We are most interested in knowing more about how other communities have used incentives to reduce vacancies, rather than punishments.Deann Garcia——503.277.0326 | deanngarcia.comOn Apr 14, 2026, at 6:25 AM, Dawn Mills via OMS_MANAGERS <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov> wrote:

Hi,

We'd be interested in more data on this and other approaches. Currently 50% of our Main Street business district is being lived in or storage. Not all buildings are kept up either. 

What ordinances are helping with this issue? 

Thank you,

Mrs. Dawn Mills

Riddle Downtown Development

From: OMS_MANAGERS <oms_managers-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> on behalf of Executive Director <executivedirector at downtownmedford.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 4, 2026 4:19:42 PM
To: Oregon Main Street Network Members <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: Re: [OMS_MANAGERS] Vacancy Fee

I decided to investigate this. I found these two recent articles. I like what Pendleton is doing. Invite people to the table to plan and discuss, rather than imposing a fee right off
 the top after so many days. This opens a conversation to understand the property owner's, city's, and community's needs. 

Portland (April 4, 2026) - https://www.koin.com/news/portland/leaders-vacant-building-fee-downtown-stakeholders/

Great idea - Pendleton (Dec 17, 2025) - https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/17/pendlteon-oregon-building-owners-vacant-rent/

Annie

Did you miss the March Newsletter... read here

Annie Jenkins, Executive Director
Downtown Medford Association
Mobile | 541-941-5204
Email |
executivedirector at downtownmedford.org

If you like Downtown Medford then

Like us on Facebook | Like
 us on Instagram
Sign-up
for our Newsletter + Become a Friend or
 Partner of Downtown

On Thu, Apr 2, 2026 at 3:28 PM Quinn Haase <quinn at astoriadowntown.com> wrote:

Also something I’ve been grumbling about to my City Manager. If anyone has any data on this being implemented effectively, I’d sure like to know.

-Quinn

Get Outlook for iOS

From: OMS_MANAGERS <oms_managers-bounces at omls.oregon.gov>
 on behalf of Jacobs, Christopher <Christopher.Jacobs at corvallisoregon.gov>
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2026 3:25:07 PM
To: Oregon Main Street Network Members <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: Re: [OMS_MANAGERS] Vacancy Fee

I don’t believe its been established as legal in Oregon.

Christopher Jacobs, CEcD
Economic Development Manager

City of Corvallis | Community Development

501 SW Madison Avenue, Corvallis, OR 97333
PO Box 1083, Corvallis, OR  97339-1083
541-231-1203 Cell Phone
541-766-6339 Office Phone

Christopher.Jacobs at corvallisoregon.gov

From: OMS_MANAGERS <oms_managers-bounces at omls.oregon.gov>
On Behalf Of Executive Director
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2026 3:19 PM
To: Oregon Main Street Network Members <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: Re: [OMS_MANAGERS] Vacancy Fee

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content
 is safe.

We do not but our city has been talking about it. So I would be interested in knowing who does.

Annie

Did you miss the March Newsletter... read here

Annie Jenkins, Executive Director
Downtown Medford Association
Mobile | 541-941-5204
Email | 
executivedirector at downtownmedford.org

If you like Downtown Medford then
Like us on Facebook | Like us on Instagram
Sign-up
for our Newsletter + Become a Friend or
 Partner of Downtown

On Thu, Apr 2, 2026 at 3:10 PM City Club Forest Grove <cityclubofforestgrove at gmail.com> wrote:

Hello,

Does anyone use a vacancy fee in their city to minimize or dissuade building owners to keep their buildings vacant? 

Thank you,

Donna Gustafson, President

Downtown Association of Forest Grove
(formerly City Club of Forest Grove)

Disclaimer: This e-mail message is a public record of the City of Corvallis. The contents may be subject to public disclosure under Oregon Public Records Law and subject to the State of Oregon Records Retention Schedules. (OAR:166.200.0200-405)

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/oms_managers/attachments/20260414/27530335/attachment-0001.html>