Oak Harbor seeks new opportunity zones to spur investment

Oak Harbor is trying again to turn federal opportunity zones into a magnet for private investment, this time with two tracts that could cover parts of Pioneer Way to Seaplane Base and the downtown business area. The City Council unanimously backed the applications during its May 19 meeting, clearing the way for staff to seek redesignation of one existing tract and new designation for another tract within city limits.

The program is designed to steer capital into lower-income census tracts by offering tax advantages to business owners and investors who put money into designated zones. In Oak Harbor, city staff pitched it as a possible engine for economic growth, but not as a quick fix for long-sought change in the city’s commercial core.

Councilmember Bryan Stucky pressed the central question: would the zones actually be used? He pointed to the program’s nine years in Oak Harbor, during which it had gone essentially unused. That skepticism shaped the council discussion and underscored the uncertainty around whether another round of applications would produce visible activity on the ground.

City officials acknowledged that if the state accepts the applications, Oak Harbor will need to do more than simply draw new lines on a map. Businesses interested in the zones would likely need attorneys or brokers to untangle the tax structure and decide whether the incentives are worth pursuing. Mayor Ronnie Wright and other officials also warned that the city has to explain the program clearly without crossing into legal advice.

That balancing act matters because the policy is complicated, and the benefits are not automatic. Opportunity zones can help channel money into places that have struggled to attract it, but only if investors see a deal they are willing to make. In Oak Harbor, that means the promise of redevelopment will have to compete with the reality of a program that has sat largely idle for years.

To prepare for that possibility, the city’s communications and grants staff outlined outreach plans that would include social media, a new web page and promotion through the utility newsletter. The goal is to make the zones understandable enough for residents and business owners to see whether they could bring jobs, housing or commercial revival to specific neighborhoods.

For Oak Harbor, the decision was not just about approval. It was about whether the city can turn a federal tax incentive into something that actually changes what people see along Pioneer Way, downtown and around Seaplane Base.