Plans to expand the Clatsop Enterprise Zone are on track, but the Sunset Empire Transportation District has concerns about traffic and road impacts, as well as the county’s low unemployment rate.

The Astoria City Council approved final maps Monday that could expand the boundaries of the enterprise zone to include portions of Tongue Point, downtown and the city’s western tip. 

City councilors voted not to be a part of the enterprise zone in 2015 when the development tool was first proposed, but interest in the zone revived this year with a change in ownership at North Tongue Point, an industrial dockside site on the eastern edge of Astoria.

Robert Dorn, CEO of Hyak Maritime, a tug and barge building company, had requested an expansion of the enterprise zone, saying the tax exemptions available will be key to his plans to create a marine fabrication and repair facility at Tongue Point — a project the City Council supports.

But in a letter to enterprise zone manager Kevin Leahy, the Sunset Empire Transportation District’s board asked: As new businesses arrive to take advantage of tax breaks, where will they find employees?

“The tight housing market is also of concern,” the letter continued. “Where will employees find available housing? As we’ve seen with the commercial development on Ensign Lane in Warrenton, the impact on the roads and highway are significant.”

The letter also noted the likely increase in demand for various services, such as transit, water, sewer and public safety. “With the freezing of the tax base, where do the funds for this come from?”

“The opportunity out there is just immense and not just out there (at North Tongue Point) but with the rest of the hopeful passage, it’s going to be an opportunity for our whole region,” Leahy said. He plans to speak with the transportation district more about their concerns, but added, “We keep working on the workforce at all levels.” Dorn is not concerned. “I’m a believer that if you create good businesses, you’ll attract good employees and society will adjust as needed,” he said.

The partners in the enterprise zone — Clatsop County, the Port of Astoria and Warrenton —  will need to approve Astoria’s proposed boundaries and other modifications. Unlike these other partners, the Astoria City Council has stated that hotels, motels and destination resorts will not be eligible for enterprise zone participation in the city limits.