Time to limit large-scale, luxury development on rural land
Ryder Redfield
Enough is enough
Frustration has been building over the past decade over new destination resort developments in Central Oregon. With a changing climate and mounting concerns over water, wildlife habitat, and regional resiliency, the urgency has only intensified.
Fortunately, Oregon’s land use system has a built-in rule to limit new destination resorts. That’s why last fall, we submitted an application requesting Deschutes County amend its zoning code to conform to this longstanding law that limits new destination resort development within 24 miles of Bend.
Why now?
In March, the Deschutes County Planning Commission voted to recommend the approval of our application to the Board of County Commissioners.
This application aligns with both established state law and Deschutes County’s Comprehensive Plan.
Specifically, Oregon land use law limits the scope of new destination resorts within 24 miles of a nearby city with a population exceeding 100,000. This ensures that any new or expanded destination resort proposals will not include sprawling luxury development onto rural lands.
Shannon Wine
A population of 100,000
Deschutes County currently has several destination resorts and more than any other Oregon county. Over the past 20 years, Deschutes County has approved four large destination resorts in the rural county outside of city limits. These four resorts, Eagle Crest, Tetherow, Pronghorn (now called Juniper Preserve), and Caldera Springs, came in addition to the historic resorts of Black Butte, Sunriver, 7th Mountain, and Widgi Creek. The four new resorts were permitted under Oregon’s land use law; Statewide Planning Goal 8 Recreation provides a path for resort development in certain instances, meant to promote tourism in rural areas.
Mule deer in Deschutes County: Greg Burke
However, Goal 8 also includes an important limitation on destination resorts. Because Oregon’s land use laws generally protect rural land for farms, forests, open space, and wildlife habitat, destination resorts are only permitted to a point. According to Goal 8 and Oregon statute (ORS 197.455), “The county may not allow destination resorts [...] Within 24 air miles of an urban growth boundary with an existing population of 100,000 or more unless residential uses are limited to those necessary for the staff and management of the resort.”
Now that Bend's population is over 100,000, it’s time the County updates its zoning code to reflect this law.
The Planning Commission’s recommendation to approve illustrates Deschutes County’s responsibility to conform its zoning code to state law, and reflects a commitment to protecting rural lands and shared community values for wildlife, water, agricultural livelihoods, and more.
UPDATE (7/13)
On July 12, an important milestone was reached as the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) held a public hearing on our proposed text amendment.
We called on the community to write in and testify in support, and you showed up in a big way!
The vast majority of the oral testimony delivered at the hearing, as well as the 500+ written comments submitted to the record, vividly demonstrate the overwhelming desire of Central Oregonians to prevent any future development of destination resorts.
The Commissioners decided to leave the written record open until Friday, July 14 at 4pm. They plan to deliberate and reach a decision on Wednesday, July 26.
We look forward to the BOCC’s deliberations on July 26. We’ll keep you posted on the outcome.
Greg Chapel
A Watchdog for Central Oregon
At LandWatch, we serve as a watchdog organization and continually monitor development across Central Oregon. When we see something that clearly violates Oregon’s land use policies or environmental laws, we sound the alarm.
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