In 2021, Bend city employees and City Council hurriedly modified city codes to facilitate a new shelter under the Project Turnkey program.
They targeted an older motel on the east side, and in the traditionally under-served and marginalized Larkspur neighborhood. Among other things, their code changes permanently removed the requirement for a 1000' buffer between shelters. They also removed Conditional Use (public notification) requirements for shelters. Unfortunately, they made all these drastic code changes before doing due diligence on the targeted property - the foundation was faulty and could not be rehabbed within the allowed budget. Below is a summary of what happened and when. It was posted back in Spring of 2021. Read on for all the details.
The City of Bend is proposing significant changes to City Code to facilitate conversion of a motel at 904 SE 3rd St. into Temporary Housing (shelter for the house-less community) for periods up to 18 – 24 months. This effort is being pursued as part of the State of Oregon Project Turnkey program in which 28 counties are competing for $35 million to 'acquire motels/hotels for use as non-congretate shelter'. Code changes being proposed can be summarized as follows:
1.) Remove Conditional Use provisions for Temporary Housing in all Commercial General (CG) and Commercial Limited (CL) zones throughout the city. It will also be allowed throughout the Bend Central District, west of 3rd St. As a conditional use, a public neighborhood notification process is required. Removing conditional use will mean that the use is automatically allowed in these zones with no public process required. Temporary Housing is currently allowed in the Mixed Urban (MU) zones. 2.) Remove a 1,000 foot buffer currently required between Temporary Housing facilities. This was put in place in 2003 to avoid concentrating these facilities in only certain parts of the city. This is being pursued because the targeted property is adjacent to an existing shelter for the house-less community (St. Vincent DePaul) at 950 SE 3rd St. 3.) Remove a requirement for a minimum ratio of 1 on-site staff per 25 residents. 4.) Remove no loitering provisions. 5.) As part of Temporary Housing facilities, also automatically allow the following services:
An overview of the project and proposed changes is outlined in this City published document for an 03/08 Planning Commission meeting. Additional city information here. Final adoption of these code changes is scheduled to occur via Bend City Council vote on April 7th, 2021. Analysis: These code changes are significant and have the potential to have major impact on the type of development that will occur in the Commercial and Mixed Urban zones throughout the city. The changes will also ease and encourage the concentration of these facilities in small sections and only a few neighborhoods in the city, with no, or significantly reduced, public notification or involvement. Making major code changes to facilitate a single project is short-sighted and misguided, at best. City employees could have selected a property for Project Turnkey that did not require these code changes. The need for these facilities in Bend is great. But, the siting of these facilities impacts neighborhood livability, property values, individuals and families living in the targeted neighborhood, and the socio-economic make-up of schools serving the neighborhood. It is simply not reasonable or fair to make code changes that cut community members out of the decision making process around where these taxpayer funded facilities will be located. It's obvious the Larkspur neighborhood, where the targeted motel is located, is already doing its fair share to provide transitional and affordable housing + services to the larger Bend community. Within this small section of the Larkspur Neighborhood (along 3rd St. between Franklin and Reed Market) there is already: 1.) A nightly warming shelter at 275 NE 2nd St, #5177 (website) 2.) St. Vincent DePaul shelter for the house-less community at 950 SE 3rd St 3.) The Bend Trailer Park at 335 SE Roosevelt Ave. 4.) COVO services at 61510 S Hwy 97, #100 5.) Per neighbors, there is at least one other shelter in this neighborhood. 6.) Proposed: The targeted motel property at 904 SE 3rd St., sandwiched between #'s 2 & 3. 7.) Possible: Any of the five other older motels along 3rd Street between Reed Market and Franklin, if these code changes are implemented, could be converted to shelters for the house-less community. If these code changes are passed, is there anything Larkspur community members will be able to do to prevent # 7? Unfortunately, the answer to that question will be very little. Currently, Conditional Use for temporary housing forces a neighborhood public hearing when this type of use is planned, and the proposed code changes do away with Conditional Use provisions for temporary housing. If this happens, there may be no opportunity for public input, or it will be limited only to properties w/in 250 feet of the targeted property, and that will only occur if a city employee decides that a plan should be elevated from a Type I to a Type II decision: The Development Services Director may elevate a Type I application to a Type II application when there is a need to interpret or exercise policy or legal judgment, or to apply discretionary land use standards. The Development Services Director’s decision to elevate a Type I application to a Type II application shall not be an appealable decision These question must be asked and answered: Is this an attempt by the City to concentrate these facilities south of the railroad tracks in the Larkspur neighborhood? Is this is a realistic or equitable long-term solution for siting these facilities throughout the City of Bend? One need only look to Portland's Old Town neighborhood for a view of what happens when transitional housing + services are concentrated in a single neighborhood. It has not been a successful approach to solving homelessness in either the targeted neighborhood (Old Town), or the larger Portland community. So why was this property selected by city employees as target for Project Turnkey? Unfortunately, details of that process have not come to light as part of this analysis. There is an email from city attorney Mary Alice Winters, as part of a city council 03/17 meeting packet that states: 'Real estate transactions on behalf of the taxpayers are some of the only actions we can discuss behind closed doors...' In fact, City Council members agreed to a purchase agreement on this property on February 3rd, with zero input from neighborhood taxpayers. Based on a recording (Zoom meeting here) of a February meeting of the Larkspur Neighborhood association, Carolyn Eagan, Director of Economic Development for the city, indicated there were 7 or 8 motels 'up and down' 3rd St. that came forward to be considered as target for Project Turnkey funds. Unless someone involved comes forward, it will be difficult to know why, out of these 7 or 8, city employees chose the property that requires the 1,000 foot buffer to be abolished from city code, as well as the (only?) property adjacent to an existing shelter for the house-less community. Why not choose one of the other motels that came forward that didn't require the 1,000 foot buffer to be abolished? Is there any documentation that supports removing the 1,000 foot buffer, independent of this particular project? The City of Bend puts itself in a difficult position when it says that this site was chosen to be close to the existing shelter, but also says it wants to distribute these facilities throughout the city. Is it fair to tax paying residents for the city to give lip service to the latter while cementing only the former with these code changes? It's also necessary to know why the Conditional Use provision for temporary housing is attempting to be removed from the targeted CG & CL zones (which are concentrated on the east side of town). City employees are advocating for this under the auspices of winning the Project Turnkey grant at the proposed site in Larkspur. But is there any good reason to exclude the public from the process of deciding where these taxpayer funded facilities will be sited, for this project, and those in the future? Shouldn't the city instead be aggressively seeking buy-in from neighbors? |
If you want to help us stop the latest shelter attempt from taking root in Larkspur, please consider taking a moment to sign our Change.Org petition. Thank you for your support.
Less than 60 Days From Start to Finish
The above timeline is from a presentation for the March 08, 2021 Planning Commission Public Hearing. The schedule seems alarmingly fast. It is less than 60 days from first 'work session' to completion, and less than 30 days between the first public hearing and the planned adoption of these changes on April 7, 2021. Changes with such a potential impact to an already 'less-favored' neighborhood in Bend should receive adequate time for meaningful citizen involvement and review. This rushed implementation is not reasonable or fair to Larkspur Neighborhood citizens. Would the city implement a timeline like this when the proposed changes would be likely to majorly impact a 'more-favored' neighborhood with wealthier residents?
Funding Questions, Written Agreements & Other Questions
The city plans to partner with Neighbor Impact to run this facility. But no written agreement outlining the details of this relationship has come to light as part of this analysis.
There is no documentation that outlines how Neighbor Impact will manage this facility. For instance, will the facility be a sober facility? Will camping be tolerated on side streets nearby, as it has been in other parts of Bend?
Annual costs were estimated at $600,000, and the first year may be covered by the Project Turnkey grant. As of the February meeting with the Larkspur neighborhood association (Zoom meeting here), a source for funding subsequent years had not been identified.
A 'good neighbor' agreement has not been established between the city/Neighbor Impact and the neighborhood.
Don't Larkspur neighborhood residents deserve to be able to review this information before a decision is made? It's highly unlikely that changes like this would even be considered in a 'more-favored' neighborhood without full disclosure of information like this weeks or months in advance. Here we are, about 2 weeks out from a final decision, but the city has not provided this information to neighbors. This is just not fair to Larkspur neighborhood residents.
The above timeline is from a presentation for the March 08, 2021 Planning Commission Public Hearing. The schedule seems alarmingly fast. It is less than 60 days from first 'work session' to completion, and less than 30 days between the first public hearing and the planned adoption of these changes on April 7, 2021. Changes with such a potential impact to an already 'less-favored' neighborhood in Bend should receive adequate time for meaningful citizen involvement and review. This rushed implementation is not reasonable or fair to Larkspur Neighborhood citizens. Would the city implement a timeline like this when the proposed changes would be likely to majorly impact a 'more-favored' neighborhood with wealthier residents?
Funding Questions, Written Agreements & Other Questions
The city plans to partner with Neighbor Impact to run this facility. But no written agreement outlining the details of this relationship has come to light as part of this analysis.
There is no documentation that outlines how Neighbor Impact will manage this facility. For instance, will the facility be a sober facility? Will camping be tolerated on side streets nearby, as it has been in other parts of Bend?
Annual costs were estimated at $600,000, and the first year may be covered by the Project Turnkey grant. As of the February meeting with the Larkspur neighborhood association (Zoom meeting here), a source for funding subsequent years had not been identified.
A 'good neighbor' agreement has not been established between the city/Neighbor Impact and the neighborhood.
Don't Larkspur neighborhood residents deserve to be able to review this information before a decision is made? It's highly unlikely that changes like this would even be considered in a 'more-favored' neighborhood without full disclosure of information like this weeks or months in advance. Here we are, about 2 weeks out from a final decision, but the city has not provided this information to neighbors. This is just not fair to Larkspur neighborhood residents.
To share your opinion on these 2021 changes to Bend City Code, please contact the decision makers, Bend City Council members. Email them at:
council@BendOregon.gov
Messages can be sent to the authors via the Get In Touch page. Thank you.
council@BendOregon.gov
Messages can be sent to the authors via the Get In Touch page. Thank you.