Union land sale could lead to new industry

Antelope will notice because the town’s population will plummet almost 7 percent since the town population is now 29. And the town will be shy one Yorkshire terrier the Hores will be bringing with them.

The land in question is bounded by Fifth Street, Tenth Street, Arch, and Dearborn. The high school football field is across the street on the south and the Eastern Oregon University Agricultural Station to the west.

“The city is trying to accommodate the Hores,” said Mayor Bill Lindsley, “because the land has been vacant close to 30 years since the mill went down.”

The size of the current lot is not “practical” for attracting new industries, the mayor says. “No one is going to build a sawmill. But down the road if we can get people who want a few acres, that means our land being used and a few jobs in Union.”

The Hores came to the November Union City Council meeting to show councilors how they are proposing to divide the land into smaller parcels to entice industrial use, and the council members were enthusiastic and offered their support.

Councilor Sue Briggs told the Hores, “This would be good for the city as well as for you.”

Councilor Doug Osburn said, “The council’s on board with this and wants to expedite it.”

The Hores have to await the city planning commission approval, but they have already made plans to move in January. They haven’t found a place to live yet, Hore says, and may have to spend some time in their fifth wheel.

Asked how they chose Union to live and in which to invest, Hore said, “The friendliness of the people.” He said they have friends in Union, including the pastor of the Union Baptist Church.

He stressed that they want to make the “whole thing compatible with the area, a plus not a negative.”

The mayor said the smaller parceling will attract light industry, more appropriate for the surrounding residential area than would be heavy industry for which the land is zoned.

The area is surrounded by arterial roads, but Hore says they hope to see Beakman used for any trucks that may be coming in and out and to steer traffic away from Dearborn and the schools.

The Hores are also purchasing two parcels of land just north of Arch across from the land they are currently hoping to re-parcel and offer for business or industrial use and may attempt to develop that land in the future.

The Hores own and formerly ran the Antelope Café and Store from 2001 until 2006 and now lease it out to someone else. They have lived in Antelope for 17 years.