Briefs around Bend and the region

Whose backyard – mine our yours?

            The NIMBY-YIMBY kerfuffle in Bend now has a new marquee participant in the form of Bill Smith, visionary developer of the Old Mill District on what was the site of Bend’s once-booming timber industry.

View above waterpark from apartment site

            Smith and his powerhouse land use attorney, Liz Fancher, have stepped into the controversy over the scale of a proposed apartment complex that would overlook the city’s new waterpark at the Columbia Street crossing on the Deschutes River downstream from the Old Mill retail area.

Old Mill REI above smokestacks upriver

            He joins some nearby homeowners who argue the 180 unit apartment with 199 off-street parking spaces planned by Seattle-based Evergreen Housing Development Group would result in tangled traffic and parking problems. The project meets current city comprehensive plan requirements and could be approved administratively by city officials, but Smith and the neighbors say the impacts warrant a public hearing.

            The proposed apartments and others in Bend have created a “yes in my back yard” movement calling for more affordable multi-family housing, counter to what some say is a “not in my back yard” mentality.

Bend councilor faces scrutiny over alleged harassment-Boddie asked to step down

            The Bend political temperature appears to be rising with the heat in mid-July, as city councilor Nathan Boddie has been accussed of inapproptiate advances to a young woman several years ago, among other indiscretions.

            The state Democratic Party organizations and others have distanced themselves from Boddie, who was running for the seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Knute Buehler, the party’s challenger to incumbent Democratic Gov. Kate Brown.

            Bend councilor Sally Russell, candidate for Bend mayor in the city’s upcoming first election for that position, has called for Boddie’s resignation from the council. The issue will be aired at a council session July 18.

Study says Bend officials should let another entity plan Juniper Ridge

            After years of sputtering development, including a lawsuit Bend settled over ownership of an early master plan, an independent study has recommended the city government step aside from trying to manage development of the 1,500 acre Juniper Ridge on the city’s northern perimeter.

            The study recommends the city turn over planning and strategy for future development of the site, acquired by the city from Deschutes County for a nominal sum in 1990, to a separate board and hire an employee to manage the effort.

            Once forseen by the city to be a model research, industrial and residential complex that could have been home to the OSU-Cascades 4-year campus, the project has thus far attracted only a few businesses, including the headquarters of Les Schwab Tires, Suterra Corp. and a small office of Pacific Power. Meanwhile OSU-Cascades is building and expanding its campus along Century Drive and Chandler Avenue on Bend’s west side.

            Anticipating future development the council approved a $3.2 million extension of the city sewer system. However, additional obstacles include how to accommodate burgeoning traffic problems on Highway 97 and the Cooley Road intersection.

            Creating an interchange that would effectively turn 3^rd Street-Highway 97 into a local road and route high-speed Bend parkway traffic to the north on 97 is problemmatical in that it would be outside the urban boundary, in conflict with state land use law.

Brooks steps in to develop urban infill site

            As Bend begins to implement development strategies to comply with the state-approved Urban Growh Boundary plan, highly-respected developer Brooks Resources has stepped in with a proposed mixed-use project along Franklin Street west of  3^rd  that would fit a new urban infill template.

            Brooks is in preliminary planning stages to develop the approximately 1.75 acre former Murray-Holt auto dealership site on Franklin in a multi-story configuration to include either 130 apartments or 50,000 square feet of offices above retail space.

            The proposal is compatible with the city’s UGB plans to create urban infill activity centers east of the existing downtown core. Bend’s early attempts to gain approval of its UBG plan were rebuffed several times by the state, which said the city had not given enough weight to developing existing land within the city boundary.

OSU-Cascades gets another boost

           

            After winning city approval of its master plan OSU-Cascades officials have announced that the expanding 4-year university has raised $10 million to combine with $39 million in state bond funds that will finance construction of a new academic building along with infrastructure improvements.

Proposed ew STEAM building

            In a news release OSU-Cascades vice-president Becky Johnson said the $10 million included a $5 million anonymous gift contingent on raising the other $5 million.

            The academic building with be “state of the art” to focus on the STEAM disciplines of science, technology, arts, engineering and math.

            “With the completion of the $10 million fundraising initiative and the unanimous approval of the campus master plan....the path is clear for the creation of an extraordinary university campus to serve the region,” Johnson said.

            As the university continues to expand eventually to more nearly 130 acres including the current 10-acre footprint, officials continue to grapple with transportation and parking issues.

Student bus ridership has fallen below projections and congestion along Chandler Avenue fronting the campus has increased.

            The university is assessing other solutions to encourage parking away from the campus, including shuttles and other incentives to alleviate congestion, and as part of the master plan approval will fund a roundabout at Columbia Road and Colorado Avenue.