Bend's west side focus of new planning process: UGB a factor as well

            There will be no shortage of scenarios to evaluate as Bend’s Urban Growth Boundary process unfolds concurrent with a newly-begun effort to map a plan for land use and transportation on the city’s booming west side.
            The issue of how the Central Westside Plan and UGB processes will mesh, rather than be in conflict, was raised midway during the first meeting January 20 of the westside plan's       22-member community advisory committee.

            Interest in both planning efforts is running high, with such emerging projects on the table as the proposed OSU-Cascades campus expansion and Galveston business corridor transportion redevelopment. The meeting drew  standing room only attendance at an OSU-Cascades campus classroom.

            In laying out the westside work plan, independent consultant and facilitator Kristin Hull observed, “It’s clear from the crowd here that there are a lot of people who want to track this process.”

            The state-mandated UGB and separate west side plan both have some overlapping committee members, which in theory should result in sharing information.

            In response to a question by Kirk Schueler, a prominent developer and former president of Brooks Resources, city official Nick Arnis said the UGB and CWP efforts would “inform” each other. Schueler is a member of committees working on both efforts. City councilor Doug Knight also serves on both committees.

            “I guess that’s my question-which one is going to inform the other,” Schueler asked.

            The task, city officials say, is to coordinate the west side plan with the UGB effort. A second UGB plan effort is underway after the state Department of Land Conservation and Development remanded an initial plan that it said did not adequately address several issues, including analysis of existing land for development within the city boundary.

            Work by the UGB participants will be used as a basis for developing “scenarios” that address land use and transportation on the westside, city officials said, taking into consideration available land and zoning.

            The west side study area is defined roughly on the west by Mt. Washington Drive on the north by Portland Avenue, on the northeast by 9^th Street and generally by the Deschutes River south to Reed Market Road. It would also include a trianglular-shaped area east of Metolius Drive and South of Mt. Washington that extends back northeast to the Century Drive and Mt. Washington roundabout. (Refer to map below)

            `The advisory committee is expected to meet up to eight times to provide “input” to the city’s project management team assigned to develop the westside plan and by November of 2015 complete a “preferred land use and transportation scenario.”

            At the first meeting committee members began reviewing a report by independent consultant Anne George that outlined “community values” identified in interviews with 11 persons recommended by city officials. These included representatives of  business, non-profit service organizations and community groups.

            Among some key points in George’s report, those interviewed tended to support a vision for the west side that would include:

• A transportation system that addresses cycling, walking and public transit
• Managed growth with mixed uses
• Improved east-west travel corridors
• Varied housing types accessible to many income levels.
• Requirements that public and private development include mitigation plans coordinated with the community.
• Managed approach to on and off-street parking
• Protection of access to natural areas for recreation and management of human impact
• Active engagement of the community in land use and transportation.

        George’s report said some of those interviewed, “argued that the Central Westside already suffered from crowding and traffic congestion and continued growth should not be allowed.”

        But others, the report noted, “felt continued growth in Bend would contribute positively to the livability of Bend....,”and that “...growth would spur economic development, which would create a more stable and diverse economic future for the city.”

         Westside plan information is available on the City of Bend web site at www.bendoregon.gov/westsideplan. The next meeting of the committee is set for Thursday, February 26, 5:30-7:30 pm a the Rosie Bareis Community Campus, 1010 NW 14^th Street.