The guiding vision and form of new Bend development will depend in large part on the outcome of a continuing process to define the city’s urban growth boundary.
And central to the discussion is the fundamental issue of whether Bend growth will focus on outward expansion or be concentrated inward with higher building density on existing land inventory.
A critical factor will be the inclinations of a newly-transformed city council following the November election, Another will be the earlier 2010 rejection by the state’s Land Conservation and Development Commission of the city’s proposal to add 8,500 acres to the UGB.
State law requires cities to forecast population and estimate land that will be needed to accommodate growth in recurrng 20-year periods.
In rejecting the UGB proposal the LCDC said the assumption of three units per acre for existing land supply did not justify the forecasted need for additional acreage. Rather, LCLD said the city should look to unbuilt land within the current UGB.
The decision sent city planners and elected officials back to the drawing board. The housing crash has resulted in substantial inventory of shovel-ready but unbuilt subdivisions that could absorb some of the housing demand.
As the new city council prepared to take office in January city planners acknowledged that additional acreage in the original proposal would likely be downsized. But the details of where redevelopment and “infill” would occur will depend on the new city council.
City records show that up to 800 building permits could be issued in the current fiscal year. City planners say the population assumptions underpinning the UGB proposal were based on a stable range of 600 to 700 permits.
Slow growth advocates such as the 1000 Friends of Oregon favor more density within current boundaries.
On the other side officials of the Central Oregon Builders Association argue that improving housing demand means the city could be on track to add up to 3,000 new homes in less than three years. COBA says the demand could result in less affordable housing unless additional land is available.
The builders group also says many buyers move to Bend and Central Oregon seeking more living space, although 1000 Friends points to trends with younger buyers who prefer living closer to the amenities of a more dense urban core.
The builders group also says many buyers move to Bend and Central Oregon seeking more living space, although 1000 Friends points to trends with younger buyers who prefer living closer to the amenities of a more dense urban core.
