The Tree Farm unites veteran developers-could be on market in late 2015

            Although awaiting a decision by a land use hearing officer, the Tree Farm residential community of larger lots in the “urban interface” just outside Bend’s westside boundary could be on the market by late 2015, one of the partners told a group of real estate professionals.

            Tree Farm would encompass about 530 acres off Skyliners Road and bordered on the west by Shevlin Park, with more than 400 acres in open space including publicly accessible trails. Some of the lots would be along the rim above the Tumalo Creek canyon.

The property is owned by the Miller family, owners of Miller Lumber Company with Charlie Miller and his sister, Connie, representing the family. Their father, former Bend mayor Bill Miller, purchased the property in 1955 and the family last harvested it in the late 1990s.

          Kirk Schueler, a principal in The Tree Farm LLC and  veteran Bend developer, said Thursday (Nov 20) that the development group hopes to have 30 of the propsed 50 lots ready for sale by the Fall of next year

            Besides the Miller family and Schueler, the development group also involves West Bend Property 2, which includes Brooks Resources, Tennant Development and Ron White. Brooks is responsible for development of Awbrey Butte, North Rim and Black Butte Ranch and teamed with Tennant Development, led by Mike Tennant, on the successful Northwest Crossing to the east of the proposed Tree Farm.

            Schueler is a former President and Chief Financial Officer of Brooks Resources and in more than 17 years with at the company was involved with Awbrey Butte, Northwest Crossing and other well-known Bend communities.

Objective not to hold lots

             In bringing Tree Farm lots to market, Schueler said,“The goal is to price them competitively. We hope to sell them out in two years,”  He cited Tetherow across Skyliners Road, and North Rim, a Brooks Resources project on ther north edge of Awbrey Butte, as possible pricing comparables.

             But he added the  strategy would likely be to wait on pricing lots until “probably a month before release.”

            Thus far CCRs and design guidelines have not been finalized. But Schueler said that at present there is no plan to establish time-to-build deadlines. Minimum or maximum lot sizes have also not been set and he acknowledged that smaller homes of less than 3,000 square feet might be a possibility.

            Essentially, the project would follow “the old Awbrey Butte model-not Northwest Crossing,” Schueler said.

Master Plan site map

            Awbrey Butte, originally developed by Brooks Resources, was begun in the 1980s as a larger lot project by Brooks Resources and partners. Northwest Crossing came to market in the early 2000s with mostly smaller lots of less  than 6,000 square feet.

             Schueler also revealed that West Bend Property 2 members have an option to purchase from the Miller family 240 acres just east of the project. This could possibly be brought into Bend’s urban growth boundary (UGB).

            The purchase would be “entirely subject to UGB,” Shueler said.  The property, now referred to only as Northwest Crossing II, could add 750-800 housing units in a combination of single family, townhomes and apartments. The original Northwest Crossing currently has potential for 1,300 units at buildout.

            Schueler acknowledged Bend’s protracted process to gain state approval of an urban growth plan. Given the problems, Northwest Crossing II could be “2, 3, 4, 5 years” out “if the UGB gets into the quagmire as it is now,”  he said.

            Bend’s state mandated urban growth plan to provide land needed for residential and commercial development was remanded in 2010 by the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission. Among other issues, LCDC said the plan did not adequately address increasing density in potential development areas already within the existing city growth boundary.

County hearing officer hears testimony 

             Schueler’s presentation at AmeriTitle in Bend was followed that evening by a public hearing before county hearing officer Karen Green. Although recommended for approval by the county planning staff, several groups and individuals have raised questions about Tree Farm.

             The county staff findings specifically address the developers application for a cluster development for 10 lots on 109 acres, although that segmeent was reviewed concurrently with the other four parcels which would have an additional 40 lots.

Among the issues Green has under review  are impacts on wildlife habitat, traffic and fire protection and suppression.

            At the Tuesday evening hearing in response to Green’s questions,  representatives for the developers addressed a number of issues:

• confirmed there were no plans to later bring open space in Tree Farm into the UGB
• said that  deer habitat and migration corridors would not be adversely affected, noting that most deer would migrate along the Tumalo Creek corridor
• maintained that the project would be a leader in Oregon for establishing National Fire Protection Association standards of fire protection, and that adequate water in case of fire would be supplemented by cisterns.
• said that it was unlikely that there would be “industrial activity” such as timber harvest on adjacent Forest Service land, which is mostly used for biking and hiking trails at present.

        Green said she would keep the record open for additional written comments and planned another site visit.

            County staff staff report noted the planners had sent notice of the proposed project to landowners within 250 feet of the project but received only two comments.

One of these were joint comments from two persons favoring the developer plans for open space, clustering to prevent sprawl and extension of trails access north to connect with Shevlin Park.

         An opponent expressed concern that affordable housing is a need in Bend and that adequate home sites are currently available in other projects for, “the most fortunate of us.” Traffic congestion and the potential for contributing to, “another housing bubble..” were also mentioned in the response.

         Last minute comments were also filed by Central Oregon Land Watch, often an opponent of growth and new development. Those were not available for the public attending the hearing.