Pendleton approves vacant storefront ordinance
By Griffin Beach on Wednesday, December 17th, 2025 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The Pendleton City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday intended to encourage owners of vacant downtown storefronts to rent their properties.
“There are people that are being contacted that own buildings by people who want to pay money to rent them and they’re saying, ‘No, we don’t want to rent our empty building,’” City Manager Robb Corbett said on KUMA’s “Coffee Hour” earlier this month.
A recent investigation by the Pendleton Development Commission found that 13% of storefronts within the Urban Renewal District are vacant.
“The community benefit is that it will maintain the cohesiveness and appearance of the downtown commercial district,” said Charles Denight of the Pendleton Development Commission. “The district is the heart of Pendleton and we’d like to see it remain very successfully commercially as well as to make a nice appearance for the city.”
Registration is required when a vacant storefront property owner is aware that their property is vacant, or within 30 days of receiving a written notice from the community development director. Owners have the right to appeal a vacancy decision to the city manager.
Violations of this ordinance would be punishable by up to a $1,000 fine for the first offense and up to $2,000 for subsequent offenses.
Owners of vacant storefronts would be required to display “for rent” signage, keep display windows clean and maintained, and submit an approved plan for acquiring a tenant.
The ordinance applies to the area bounded by the Umatilla River to the north, the railroad to the south, SE Sixth Street to the east and SW Sixth Street to the west.
Mayor McKennon McDonald said she would support the council’s decision, but expressed some reservations.
“It’s something that I personally struggled with especially because we have very few vacant storefronts downtown,” McDonald said. “I think that there are other priorities that we are working on right now that personally to me went higher than this.”
Several council members echoed McDonald’s early concerns but said they were ultimately comfortable with the final outcome.
“There is mechanisms put in place that basically allow the city to work for the property owner to market their property and bring it to a positive resolution,” Ward 1 Council Member John Thomas said. “There is still the rights of the property to do what they feel is right for the purpose of the property.”
Council members Carole Innes, Addison Schulberg and John Thomas listen to Charles Denight present at Tuesday’s meeting.
