Public Participation Needed on Middle Housing Code Changes
The City of Bend has not engaged the public before holding hearings on proposed amendments to change the Bend Development Code to allow duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, and other housing types on every single family lot in Bend.
These changes are Bend's response to Oregon House Bill 2001. Your Southern Crossing neighbors have told our Land Use Chair that they believe the City should be educating everyone in Bend about these changes by having public meetings to gather public input, because this would change housing density in Bend forever. This is also the opinion of several other neighborhood association land use chairs and members, who have launched a petition drive asking the City to engage the public before proceeding further.
HB 2001 became law in 2019. It requires that cities allow middle housing (duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhomes, and cottage clusters) wherever single-family detached homes are permitted. The land use chairs support having more housing types available in Bend and believe it is important to gain community acceptance of this critical change in land use practices.
However, the City is limiting the role of the public as it drives toward adopting code changes nearly a year before the state’s deadline. Meanwhile, cities like Eugene, Beaverton, and Hillsboro are carrying out extensive public outreach prior to even drafting changes.
Under state rules, cities can choose among options regarding lot size, building height and scale, parking, garage doors, and other standards. City of Bend staff drafted one particular set of standards with advice from a stakeholder advisory group of only 15 people that was weighted toward development industry insiders. While some community members were in the group, it was not at all representative of the general public.
The proposed draft amendments will be presented to a work session of the Planning Commission on Monday June 14th. (Read below about how to contact the Planning Commission and attend the meeting.) Later, public hearings are planned for July and August, which would lead to adoption by the City Council.
Bend has until June 2022 to make the necessary changes. The land use chairs believe the City should follow the example of other cities and use some of that time to make sure the community understands and supports the integration of middle housing into our neighborhoods.
To learn more about HB 2001 and what the City is doing and not doing about it, visit: OurBendHousingCode.com.
Tell the City to
Pump the Brakes!
This petition was started in the hope that the city will “pump the brakes” on adopting the proposed changes to Bend’s Development Code to allow more time for public outreach, education, and feedback. If you believe the community should have a voice in the Middle Housing code amendments, please click the button below to sign this petition.
Tell the Planning Commission and City Council to slow the process and engage the public.
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Contact the Planning Commission and Attend Their Meeting
The Bend Planning Commission virtual meeting is on Monday June 14th at 5:30pm where a final draft of proposed Development Code amendments will be reviewed. We encourage you to attend the meeting, call the commission ahead of the meeting, or both.
Here are some talking points to consider in your phone call or if you speak at the meeting:
- Other cities like Eugene, Hillsboro, and Beaverton have held multiple public meetings about HB 2001 changes, but Bend has held none. Bend needs to have open houses and public meetings so citizens can learn about HB 2001, and so the public can give input. This is a huge change for Bend housing and the public has been excluded.
- There are grants available from the State to hold these public meetings, so lack of money should not be used by the City as an excuse to not have public meetings.
- The actual deadline for Bend is June of 2022 - so there is still time to have public input.
- The City did hold multiple public meetings around Transportation, but has held no public meetings about these Code changes. Public meetings are needed around these, and future, code changes.
To attend the virtual meeting, and speak if you like, you should register ahead of time. Go to the Planning Commission web page, scroll down to Upcoming Events, then click the Agenda link next to the June 14 meeting. (The agenda is posted about a week ahead of the meeting.) The process for registering and attending is described at the top of the agenda. Once the meeting has started, you can also observe (though you will not be able to speak) by clicking the In Progress link next to the June 14 meeting on the above web page.
You can also express your thoughts before the meeting. Email cityplanningcommissionall@bendoregon.gov to reach all members of the Planning Commission. Call or email Sally Russell, Mayor and Council Liaison to the Planning Commission: 541-480‐8141or srussell@bendoregon.gov (phone calls are best). If you would like to call or email individual City Councilors, go to the City Council web page to find their contact information (phone calls are best).
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