The Rainier City Council has designated the Rainier Economic Development Council (REDCO) as the City's Urban Renewal Agency and directed REDCO to plan for the development and improvement of the Rainier waterfront. REDCO has worked with Rainier citizens, the City Council, the Planning Commission and others to prepare an Urban Renewal Plan (the "Plan") and Urban Renewal Report (the "Report") for the Rainier Waterfront Urban Renewal Area (the "Area"). This Plan, developed by REDCO and adopted by the City Council and accompanied by the Report, governs the actions of REDCO related to planning and development within the Area.

The Rainier Waterfront Urban Renewal Plan arose out of concern about Rainier's lack of connection to the Columbia Riverfront and the interest in promoting appropriate development of this economically and environmentally valuable area. The community noted that the existing downtown waterfront was in need of revitalization. The community was also aware that the substantial land area created by deposition of dredge materials after the Mt. St. Helens eruption of 1980 presented important development opportunities. The citizens of Rainier found that without public attention to these opportunities and needs, the waterfront might fail to properly develop, and that jobs and public access to the river could be lost.

Finally, the closure of the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant by PGE, which had provided high wage jobs to Rainier area residents, triggered a realization that the community must mobilize to avoid economic stagnation. The Rainier Waterfront Urban Renewal Plan expresses the community's resolve to create a vital and attractive riverfront.