Bend City Council Meeting and Work Session - February 7, 2024
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Bend City Council Meeting and Work Session - February 7, 2024
The Bend City Council held a work session starting at 5:00 p.m. and a regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. on February 7, 2024. The work session covered updates on the Tree Code, Economic Improvement District (EID) renewal, and Transportation Fee draft code. The regular meeting included a proclamation, extensive public comment and deliberation on a letter to federal representatives regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict, consent agenda approvals, public hearings, and several action items. The meeting was followed by a Bend Urban Renewal Agency (BURA) work session.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of January 17, 2024 (work session and regular meeting).
- Accepted OLCC report, monthly financials as of December 31, 2023, investment report, EIPD quarterly report.
- Authorized agreements and expenditures for various infrastructure and operational needs, including power infrastructure for Southeast Area Plan Pump Station ($225,000), calcium carbonate for wastewater treatment ($125,000 initial, up to $625,000 over five years), sodium hypochlorite amendment ($130,699.79, up to $800,000 over four years), Flygt replacement pumps ($450,000 with renewal options), AKS Engineering for Juniper Ridge subdivision ($110,000), and several other items.
- Authorized a Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan of up to $2,850,000 for Silver Sage Sewer Project and up to $997,740 for Pinehaven and Woodhaven Sewer Project.
- Item K (Mobility Hub at Troy Field) was pulled for discussion. After presentation, it was approved (intergovernmental agreement with COIC, $256,872).
- Item F (Southeast Bend Pump Station) was pulled due to Councilor Norris recusing herself (conflict of interest). Approved with Norris absent.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Proposed Letter to Federal Representatives (Item 3B): Over 20 speakers addressed council. Positions included:
- Support for the letter, with calls to include the word "ceasefire" and demand end to U.S. funding of Israel.
- Opposition, arguing the letter is divisive, not representative of Bend, and that the council should focus on local issues. Some speakers shared personal ties to Israel and concerns about Hamas.
- Several speakers urged council to acknowledge the humanitarian crisis and adopt a stronger stance, while others requested the letter be dropped.
- Stevens Road Tract Public Hearing: Two speakers raised safety concerns about proximity to the TC Energy pipeline. Robin Vor also submitted written comments on housing affordability.
- Core Area Business Assistance Program (BURA): Three speakers (Mark Capell, Malia Fonalza Kruger, Dana Gully) advocated for additional support for childcare businesses, noting the low award amounts for Timber Kitties and Growing Tree relative to other applicants.
Discussion Items
- Tree Code Update and Public Engagement Process: The Tree Regulation Update Advisory Committee (TruAC) presented recommendations for tree preservation standards on sites over 1 acre. Key proposals: map trees 6 inches DBH or larger, preserve 20% of priority trees (20+ inches) or 25% of total DBH; mitigation options include on-site replacement or payment in lieu. A discretionary path for cases where preservation is infeasible. Staff also proposed expanding street tree list and prohibiting turf grass in rights-of-way for new development. Council supported moving forward with public informational sessions and a planning commission hearing process.
- Economic Improvement District (EID) Renewal: DBBA board members proposed a new 3-year EID (starting July 1, 2024) at 30 cents/sq ft (up from 27), with annual increases of 1 cent for two years. Focus on beautification, maintenance, and six core events. Council expressed support and requested annual reporting.
- Transportation Fee Draft Code: Proposed phased implementation: $5M year 1, $10M year 2, $15M year 3. Residential rates: single-unit $5.40/month, multi-unit $4.00/month (with 50% discount for utility billing assistance). Non-residential rates: $6.25 per 1,000 sq ft for first 50,000 sq ft, tiered rates above. Special categories for hotels, short-term rentals, schools, parks, higher education. Key policy decision: Council voted to provide a 50% reduction for K-12 public schools (reducing rate from 4% of revenue responsibility to 2%), with the lost revenue absorbed by residential accounts (~$0.20/month increase). The reduction is for Phase 1; Phase 2 will revisit with better data. Council also confirmed the fee structure and directed staff to publish the draft code and schedule for public listening sessions (Feb 26 and Feb 29).
- Stevens Road Tract Planning Amendments: Public hearing on ordinance to amend Comprehensive Plan, Development Code, and Transportation System Plan for a 261.66-acre tract. Approved on first reading (6-1, Councilor Broadman opposed). Council discussed pipeline safety but determined regulation is outside scope of this project.
- Cooley Road Right-of-Way Vacation: Approved on first reading (6-1, Councilor Mendez opposed).
- Supplemental Budget and Appropriation Adjustments: Approved unanimously.
- Sale of City Properties for Affordable Housing: Approved sale of two parcels (Bear Creek and Franklin) to Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity and Thistle & Nest for development of 26 for-sale affordable housing units (deed restricted for 40 years).
- Extension for Hiatus Homes Middle-Income Housing Funds: Approved 4-month extension (amended from 3 months) for Hiatus Homes to record deed restriction on Penn Micro-Apartments.
- Condemnation for 3rd & Powers Traffic Signal: Approved resolution authorizing eminent domain if needed.
- Suspension of MUPTE Applications: Approved first reading of ordinance suspending applications after February 21, 2024.
- Second Readings: Approved new Utility License Fee and Use of Rights-of-Way code (Chapter 3.20) and System Development Charges amendments (Chapter 12.10) on roll call votes (all yes).
- BURA - Core Area Business Assistance Program Awards: Council amended the Core Area Advisory Board's recommendation by reallocating $7,500 from Riverside Animal Hospital (design assistance) evenly between Growing Tree Children's Center and Timber Kitties Preschool (both childcare providers). Final awards: Kalima Market ($24,637), 1631 NE 2nd St ($17,253), Open Space Event Studios ($42,250), Dogwood Cocktail Cabin ($18,750), Growing Tree ($18,250 + $3,750 = $22,000), Timber Kitties ($7,500 + $3,750 = $11,250). Riverside Animal Hospital to reapply. Approved with amendment.
- BURA Appointments: Appointed John Halen to Core Area Advisory Board and Don Coffer as alternate.
Key Outcomes
- Letter to Federal Representatives: Approved as amended (adding "and promote a lasting peace for the Palestinian and Israeli people" and clarifying constituent input). Mayor to send letter on behalf of council (6-1, Councilor Broadman dissenting). Council agreed not to spend further meeting time on this subject.
- Transportation Fee: Council directed 50% reduction for K-12 public schools, with the cost absorbed by residential accounts. Staff to publish draft code and fee schedule; public listening sessions scheduled for Feb 26 (4:30-6:30 p.m.) and Feb 29 (9:30-11:30 a.m.). Target adoption hearings in March.
- Tree Code: Council endorsed staff's outreach plan and will proceed with public informational sessions before planning commission hearings in April and council hearings in June/July.
- EID Renewal: Council expressed support for moving forward with resolution to establish new EID; remonstrance hearing to follow.
- Stevens Road Tract: First reading passed; second reading scheduled for a future meeting.
- Cooley Road Vacation: First reading passed; second reading to follow.
- BURA Grants: Amended to prioritize childcare; all seven applicants funded. City manager authorized to execute agreements.
Meeting Transcript
Oh, would that be Sterling? Of course. It's kind of a tragic to the suit table that they don't. Good. Okay. Yeah, thanks. All right. Let's go ahead and get started with our work session. We're starting with tree code update and public engagement process. Go ahead, introduce yourself. All right, good evening. Um, I am Colleen Hardy with the community development department, and then I have with me two members from the tree regulation update advisory committee. Um, Jeff Harris and he is with Solar Homes and Corey Harlan with Central Oregon Land Watch. And so the presentation tonight is going to go over three um topics. One is just gonna go through the recommendation from the tree regulation update advisory committee, also called TruAC. Uh the second part of the present presentation is just gonna go over two additional um code amendments that we would like to propose to be part of the package of the amendments, and then the last one staff is looking for guidance from council on discussing um the public outreach options, and um well, I'll get into more detail on that once we get there. So just to remind the council and for the um the audience, the true ac was working under a very specific scope from council when it um had to propose or recommend updates for our tree regulation standards. Uh one of the this part of the scope was to provide consistency uh between all our different codes and standards. So uh the BEN code, chapter 16, the BEN development code, we have a landscape chapter, and then also our standards and specs need updated. So what TruRAC recommended, we're gonna make sure is consistent in all the different documents. Uh TruAC worked really hard in uh providing clear and objective tree preservation standards in line with the scope. Uh they did consider larger trees, and we'll talk about uh what their recommendation is for that. And they considered and recommended different mitigation options too. Um if they have developer can't preserve trees, they can do some mitigation. So the summary of the tree regulation update advisory committee process. Uh I'm gonna pass on to Jeff so he can just give a real quick overview of um the committee and the meetings, and then I'll talk about the the meetings that we held. Thanks. Um as we a little, I guess sort of mentioned when we did our check-in with you uh midstream in the process. We're really focused on a collaborative consensus building approach. We have subject matter experts in the on the committee um that have different you know perspectives. We did a lot of learning, which is why we took nine meetings to do five meetings worth of initial work that we had planned for. Um I think everybody came curious and they came with an effort uh with an understanding that we needed a balanced clear and objective, tree preservation with our housing crisis. Um and keep practical thoughts in mind. Um so we we work through, we didn't have we we we would generally go through a discussion and we would go around the table, we would do a little head nod, a little straw poll, a little get the feel of the room, because that's how you have to build consensus when we have so many rocks to put in the jar as far as um the kind of specific things we had to get to. So um, if that's clear enough, I'll pretty much leave it there. But that was the idea was consensus building so that we could come to a sensible recommendation. So like Jeff said um they ended up holding nine public meetings uh during the meetings the very beginning. We just reviewed a whole bunch of different codes from different cities from different states. Uh we reviewed different preservation plans from different applications and bents. We looked at different site plan review applications, land division, uh, master plan applications, uh, just to see what they were preserving at the time compared to some of the preservation standards other cities were implementing. The committee did discuss making sure that we provide options that allow for flexibility. They talked about options for mitigation, which includes the tree replacement on site and payment in lieu of tree preservation, which I'll go into detail on. They talked about sometimes to balance the housing and tree preservation on smaller sites, that might be a little bit more difficult. So they added some language to exempt some smaller sites. And then they also were concerned that if we were too flexible, that a developer might just go straight to mitigation and not preserve any trees. So we call it a floor of what is the bare minimum that uh TruAC recommended them to preserve before they go to mitigation. So this is the true RAC recommendation. So it starts with a development site, it would apply to any sites that are more than one acre. The applications, and this was under council scope to make sure it applies to larger projects. So site plan review applications, which includes larger building expansions to existing developments, and then also any new developments, so like industrial, multifamily, or mixed use developments, and then any land divisions, so partitions or subdivisions that create new lots or parcels.
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