MOSCOW — A proposed urban renewal district on the south end of Moscow is on hold after Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories asked not to be included in the district, Moscow Urban Renewal Agency Executive Director Bill Belknap said.

“Because of that, we have kind of stepped back and are reevaluating if or what a district might look like there,” Belknap said. “Their project was one of the drivers of looking at the creation of a new district there.”

The district the urban renewal agency is considering is roughly 600 acres. About half of the proposed district study area is outside the current city limit boundary and any property in the district would need to be annexed into the city.

SEL and another private landowner own a major chunk of the land that would potentially be part of the district.

SEL purchased more than 150 acres that has been annexed into the southwest part of Moscow. Construction of a manufacturing facility recently started on the site to accommodate the Pullman-based company’s growth.

Belknap said he spoke with the other significant landowner in the proposed district about two months ago and he said the group is considering being part of the district. Belknap said the group expressed in the past that it had concerns about tax consequences of having to be annexed into the city.

Belknap said the district likely would not be feasible without interest from SEL and the other landowner.

Urban renewal agency Commissioner Art Bettge said the new district would bring benefits to landowners in the district and Moscow as a whole.

The agency often helps pay for the development of public infrastructure, like sewer, streets and sidewalks, in a district, which reduces a developer’s costs. The agency’s existing Legacy Crossing Urban Renewal District is 169 acres.

Bettge said the proposed district would promote industries like light manufacturing, which would diversify Moscow’s economy. The University of Idaho is the largest employer in Moscow.

“Where the university goes, so goes the city,” Bettge said.

He said it would be great to add high-paying technical jobs instead of businesses in the form of restaurants or other service industries.

The agency first discussed the proposed district in 2017. Belknap said at an agency meeting in October that the city in 2009 recognized the need to identify an area in the community for future industrial development. There is no industrial-zoned vacant land that is available for new business development in town.

During the last decade, Belknap said the city received various inquiries from manufacturers and other commercial business owners looking for a location in Moscow.

The district boundary could go outside the city’s boundary if the city entered into a transfer of powers ordinance with Latah County. The county determined in 2017 the ordinance could potentially be in conflict with the Idaho Constitution, so the county commissioners encouraged the agency to move forward with working with property owners for annexation.

Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.