Bend City Council Meeting December 4, 2024: UGB Site Selection and Policy Updates
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Bend City Council Meeting – December 4, 2024
The Bend City Council convened on December 4, 2024, for a work session at 5:00 PM and a regular meeting at 7:00 PM. Key decisions included selecting the Caldera Ranch site for a one-time UGB expansion under SB 1537, advancing electrification policies, and approving multiple development code amendments. The meeting lasted approximately six hours and included extensive public testimony.
Consent Calendar
- Approved: Minutes of November 20, 2024; OLCC report; October financial report; contract amendment with Central Oregon Villages for temporary outdoor shelter (not to exceed $353,602, extended to Dec. 31, 2026).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Electrification Policy: Multiple speakers urged council to adopt strong regulatory measures, including a low-NOx standard and right-of-way restrictions. Business groups and the Builders Association preferred education and incentives over regulation.
- UGB Site Selection: Over 40 speakers commented, with many opposed to both Jasper Ridge and Caldera Ranch. Concerns included wildfire risk, traffic congestion, water availability, insurance costs, and impact on existing neighborhoods. Some urged infill first. A few supported expansion for workforce housing.
- Development Code Amendments: Testimony on proposed auto-dependent use ban in CC zone was largely supportive. On STR restrictions in CN zone, two property owners argued the change targeted their redevelopment projects.
- Parking Code: One speaker requested inclusion of a “dooring zone” in bike lanes.
Discussion Items
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Electrification Policy Update (Work Session)
- Staff presented building stock data (residential energy = 1/3 of Bend’s emissions; space heating drives 55% of residential natural gas use). Policy options ranged from education to regulations. The Environment & Climate Committee recommended short-term actions (outreach, navigator program) plus regulatory exploration (right-of-way limits, low-NOx standard, fees).
- Council consensus: Advance short-term actions immediately; refer regulatory options to a roundtable with AHAC, BDAB, and ECC; bring back a work plan by February/March 2025.
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Transportation Fee Phase II (Work Session)
- Staff outlined plans to refine non-residential fees by linking to business trip generation, and to explore exemptions/discounts. Council directed staff to continue the 50% discount for utility assistance recipients, consider affordable housing and childcare discounts, and use existing TDM programs. BDAB will review options, with a recommendation expected by March 2025.
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UGB Site Selection Under SB 1537 (Public Hearing)
- Two sites were evaluated:
- Jasper Ridge (132 acres, 74 net residential acres, 1,091 units, 350 affordable – 180 at 130% AMI, 170 at 80% AMI). Proposed 350 affordable units, with 222 in first three years. Key issues: water service requires $7M in off-site improvements and a possible service area swap with Avion; transportation challenges on Highway 20.
- Caldera Ranch (91.5 acres, 60 net residential acres, 700 units, 238 affordable – 192 at 80% AMI, 22 at 30% AMI, 24 at 130% AMI). Infrastructure certainty: water and sewer available; closer to schools and transit. Concerns raised about wildfire risk and evacuation from southeast Bend.
- Public testimony heavily weighted against expansion, with many citing wildfire danger, traffic, and preference for infill.
- Council selected Caldera Ranch (motion by Councilor Broadman, second by Mayor Pro Tem Perkins) and directed staff to draft a resolution including wildfire mitigation requirements. The resolution will be adopted on Dec. 18, 2024, with a one-year deadline for UGB application submittal.
- Two sites were evaluated:
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Development Code Amendments – Auto-Dependent Uses and STRs (Public Hearing)
- CC Zone: Council passed first reading of an ordinance prohibiting new auto-dependent uses in the Convenience Commercial zone, with an amendment clarifying that approved but unbuilt projects remain permitted. Vote: unanimous.
- CN Zone STRs: After discussion, council tabled the proposed amendment to limit STRs in Neighborhood Commercial zones to one per lot, pending further consideration of a proportionality approach. The item will be brought back in 2025.
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Parking Code Amendment (First Reading)
- Council approved first reading of a new parking code, replacing prior regulations with updated parking districts, management plans, and rules. An amendment changed the detached trailer parking limit from 24 to 72 hours. Vote: unanimous.
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Other Regular Agenda Items
- School Support Fee (Item 9): Deferred to next meeting.
- Property Tax Exemption (Item 10): Approved for 1565 NE 1st Street (six units at ≤60% AMI). Vote: unanimous.
- Midtown Multimodal Connections (Item 11): Authorized $1.53M design amendment for Franklin Avenue improvements. Vote: unanimous.
- Housing Development Code Amendments (Item 12): Second reading and adoption of code updates to comply with state housing laws, including income-qualified housing provisions in PF zones. Passed 6-1 (Councilor Campbell dissenting).
- Stevens Ranch Master Plan (Item 13): Second reading adopted unanimously.
- MUPTE Suspension (Item 14): Second reading adopted unanimously, suspending new applications after Feb. 21, 2024, effective immediately.
- Appointments (Item 15): Council approved appointments to AHAC, BEDAB, Budget Committee, ECC, and Planning Commission.
Key Outcomes
- Selected UGB Site: Caldera Ranch (700 units, 34% affordable at 80% AMI and below), with wildfire mitigation requirements.
- Electrification Policy: Short-term education/outreach to begin; regulatory roundtable involving key committees in early 2025.
- Transportation Fee: Residential discounts for utility assistance continued; BDAB to evaluate non-residential fee structure and exemptions.
- Parking Code: First reading passed; 72-hour limit for detached trailers; effective July 1, 2025.
- Development Code: CC zone auto-dependent use ban passed first reading; CN zone STR regulation tabled for further study.
- Housing Code: Adopted second reading (6-1) to align with state housing mandates.
- Next Steps: Resolution for Caldera Ranch to be drafted for Dec. 18, 2024; staff to return in February/March 2025 with work plans on electrification and transportation fee; CN zone STR item rescheduled.
Meeting Transcript
So we're going to go ahead and get started with our work session. Thanks, everyone, for being here. I see you respectfully holding your signs down so that people behind you can see. Thank you for doing that. And so we're going to start with our electrification policy update, and we've got staff here who can go ahead. It looks like she might be connecting to audio. Okay. We do have one more Tracy Lensford who'll be joining, but I will move on since she is still getting hooked up. Oh, there's Tracy. Perfect. Okay. So as a reminder of the background of this project included in our council goals for this biennium was an action to develop policy to reduce natural gas use. We held a work session on March 20th with you all to outline a process through which we would research and then consider policies for how we can encourage electrification and reduction of natural gas in bed. This is a strategy that is rooted in trying to achieve our climate goals. At the March work session, we discussed and then launched a two-phase process. The first phase was a period where we were researching best practices from other communities around the country to understand what options we have to encourage electrification. We really wanted to understand the full range of options, including both voluntary and regulatory approaches so that we can make an informed decision about what approach makes the most sense for Bend. Phase one also included getting input from stakeholders as part of the research process and then working with the environment and climate committee to review these policies. And then the committee was asked to help identify which of the policies of that list warrant further exploration. So the goal in phase two is to take a narrower set of policies and do further research, broader public and stakeholder engagement to identify and develop whichever programs or policies the council is interested in us pursuing. So we're at the conclusion of phase one. So we have for you the results of that research that we did and also the committee's recommendation about which policies to pursue. We'll also share some of the key takeaways from our stakeholder meetings. And the goal today is really just for you to receive all this information about the work we've done today, and then to get direction from you about how you'd like to proceed with pursuing any of these policy options. So first I'm going to pass it to Maddie. She is going to share some just a couple of findings from our building stock characterization study. This study was meant to help identify where we have the biggest opportunities for electrification within our building stock and bin. Awesome. Thanks, Trey. Cassie. So just to situate us in the context of this project, here at the bottom in this little pie chart are the results from the last greenhouse gas emissions inventory showing that residential energy made up about a third of Bend's local emissions. So a rather large component we're talking about here. Next slide, please. A building stock characterization looked at end uses for natural gas and electricity to, like Cassie said, identify opportunities and what is kind of worth your while when you're talking about electrification. On the left is showing natural gas end uses, and this is for an average household. So this won't be the case for every single household. But space heating is a really big driver of natural gas use 55%, and then water heating is also a big portion as well at 38%. You'll notice other uses like cooking, clothes drying, and then other um pool and hot tub heating are quite small comparatively. And then if you look at the pie chart on the right, um, this is showing electricity end uses a little bit more variable in terms of what electricity is used for. Um you can see that um this use in residential buildings is really being driven by space cooling, space heating, and water heating. Um next slide, please. Um flipping over to the commercial side of things. Commercial energy drove about one-fifth of Ben's local emissions. Um, so another significant portion there as well. Next slide. And then similarly, looking at end uses for natural gas and electricity in commercial buildings. On the left is natural gas end uses, space heating is a huge component here. 69% of natural gas in commercial buildings is generally used for space heating, um, followed by cooking, which you'll notice is quite a bit larger than for residential, um, and water heating is a big portion at 10% as well. Um, and then on the electricity side of things, again, uses are more varied. Uh, ventilation is quite high, cooling is quite high, lighting as well, and then you've got this other bucket for items that are not easily placeable.
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