A new urban renewal district to spur more economic life into two areas north and west of downtown Medford is taking another step forward.

The Medford City Council Thursday night agreed to continue discussions and look at establishing a committee to help steer what could be a yearlong process to create the district.

“I’m really in favor of urban renewal,” Councilor Nick Card said.

The area west of downtown would be around West Main Street from roughly the Black Bird Shopping Center to Oak Grove Road. More analysis of this proposed renewal area would be developed in the near future.

“It could be a large geographic area,” said Harry Weiss, director of the Medford Urban Renewal Agency.

The other area stretches from McAndrews Road to Jackson Street, including Jackson Elementary School. This district could generate up to $62 million in property taxes for MURA projects, according to a study commissioned by the city last year.

The idea behind an urban renewal district is that it can take all the increase in taxes on properties for typically 30 years to help fund projects for redevelopment. During that time, the new taxes would no longer flow into the city’s general fund or to other taxing districts.

The money received would be used as an incentive to develop housing or commercial projects, as well as to improve streets or sidewalks.

While the two proposed urban renewal areas are located some distance from each other, they could be linked by a common roadway, such as Columbus Avenue.

This new district would be in addition to an existing urban renewal district created in 1989 that encompasses an area in Medford from 10th Street to McAndrews, and then from Barnett Road to Garfield Street, with a sliver of land connecting the two sections along Interstate 5.

The existing district, which could sunset in 2025, played a role in the Southgate development around the south Medford interchange, which has been transformed over the past 20 years.

The council generally appeared supportive of the idea of creating a new urban renewal district, but wanted a steering committee to develop the proposal.

“I don’t know if the council really wants to take this on,” Councilor Kevin Stine said.

He said he is in his 10th year of dealing with MURA and he’d support having a steering committee handle most of the tasks of creating the new district.

Stine, who indicated he’s “on the fence” about starting a new renewal district, joined the MURA board when the City Council took charge of MURA, which previously had its own board of directors.

Councilor Eric Stark said, “I’m a proponent of MURA and moving forward with a new district.”

While housing developments are in the mix of goals urban renewal would have for these two proposed areas, Stark said, “I don’t want to limit our district to housing.”

Stark said a steering committee, which could include members of the council and other community members, would provide fresh insights.

A study completed last year by Elaine Howard Consulting looked at another proposal to create an urban renewal district south of downtown and didn’t generate much interest.

One of the proposed districts encompasses an area roughly from West 10th Street to Stewart Avenue, mostly on the west side of the freeway. This project, which could involve realignment of Central and Riverside avenues, could generate up to $75 million in taxes for Medford Urban Renewal Agency projects, the study estimates.

“This study area is one of the entrances to downtown Medford,” the Elaine Howard study says. “It sets the tone for what residents and visitors can expect to see in Medford.”