Redmond to expand airport parking, add industrial land
Council approves $2.5 million contract, land swap with Deschutes County
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The city of Redmond is moving forward with parking expansion at Roberts Field and also moving to add more industrial land within the city limits.
As the airport itself and its direct flight service expands, parking options need to grow, too.
A new parking lot will add about 480 new stalls to what's already in place.
Airport engineer Fred LeLacheur said Tuesday evening the idea is to create a long term solution for the parking needs at the airport that can be easily expanded if needed in the future.
"With this new edition, and like I said it's about 480 new stalls, adds close to 40 percent of our capacity, so hopefully this will be a fairly long =term solution as we move forward with all the growth we are having out here at the airport," LeLacheur said.
Redmond city councilors approved the contract Tuesday night to move ahead with the project.
It'll cost around $2.5 million, and the lot will be located next to the credit card-only lot, which is the one located closest to the airport terminal.
The plan is to start construction, weather permitting, in the next six weeks, and have it completed by summer.
Councilors also approved a land swap with Deschutes County to improve business opportunities within the city.
An area on the east side of town is where the land swap is set to take place.
An area marked on maps as "inclusion property" would become part of the city while the property marked "exclusion property" would become county land.
Both parcels are about a 156 acres, which makes the swap easy to execute.
Deputy City Manager John Roberts said the land will be zoned for industrial use and provide good options for business in the city.
"The land will be zone light industrial and heavy industrial to allow for a variety of industrial-based businesses, focused on traded sector jobs," Roberts said.
The county also must approve the land swap.
It has already been given the go-ahead by a county hearings officer, and the next step will be for county commissioners to approve the swap.
That meeting is set to take place on Feb. 5.
