ARTICLE
On January 24th, the City of Hillsboro’s Planning Commission voted to approve a proposed amendment to the city’s Housing Needs Analysis as drafted by staff. Following testimony from several HBA’s including Eric Peterson, and Marc Farrar, and Preston Korst, the commission agreed to include in its recommendation an Alternatives Analysis which entails more robust assumptions about how the city will grow. The city’s HNA is an important, and foundational document that will guide how Hillsboro manages future growth. The inclusion of this Alternatives Analysis is significant because it ensures Hillsboro has access to more realistic forecasting models and data points in helping it nurture growth. That translates to more flexibility in how the city makes future decisions about land use and growth. It would also allow the city and its residents to capture the return on decades of investments it made in infrastructure. The result will be more land for housing and employment—and greater prosperity for current and future residents. Hillsboro City Council will vote on the HNA at its upcoming meeting on Tuesday, February 6th, at 6pm.