The City of Ashland  adopted an update to the Buildable Lands Inventory (BLI) in Novemeber 2011.

The process of conducting a BLI is essentially an exercise in quantifying available land suitable for development within the geographic or political boundary (city limits, Urban Growth Boundary, zones) . Under statewide planning goals a land component of a BLI is utilized to assess whether the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) contains enough land to satisfy the community’s 20 year housing and commercial land needs. The City of Ashland maintains the GIS BLI database to assist with long range planning needs. The inventory should not be construed to mean all properties identified are presently "readily developable", but rather over the next 50 years will likely become available for development. The 2011 BLI Technical Document provides detailed information regarding the abount of buildable lands currently within the City and its urban growth boundary.

The 2011 BLI Map catagorizes buildable lands into the following categories:

Vacant: Vacant lots were those parcels that were free of improvements (structures) and were available for future residential development. Alternative designations were assigned to those parcels that, although physically vacant, were not considered suitable for residential development.

Partially Vacant: Partially vacant properties are those underdeveloped properties that have additional capacity under the current zoning to accommodate additional development (commercial or residential).

Vacant/Undevelopable: Unbuildable acres include vacant areas: 1) with slopes in excess of 35%; 2) within the flood way; 3) within the 100 year flood plain; 4) in resource protection areas; 5) not expected to have service availability within 20 years (City Capital Improvement Plan, Future Street Dedication Map).

Vacant/Airport: land reserved for Ashland Municipal Airport expansion.

Vacant/Parking: paved parking lots.