Summary of Dec. 5 board of directors meeting
December 11, 2023
The BPRD board of directors met on Dec. 5 and supported an additional phase of development for Veterans Village and awarded a design contract for Hollinshead Park. A video recording is available.
Veteran’s Village waiver extension
The board adopted a resolution, waiving system development charges (SDCs) for the expansion of Veterans Village. Staff believes the Veterans Village project meets the intent of the district’s desire to waive SDCs for temporary shelters serving people experiencing homelessness, and recommended approval of the resolution. The value of the district’s SDC waivers for the seven additional units is $52,437.
Veterans Village is a temporary shelter with wraparound services designed to accommodate veterans experiencing homelessness. In 2021, Veterans Village was developed with 15 single-occupancy modular units equipped with water and electricity, along with a community building for meals and services. The Bend Heroes Foundation requested a waiver of park SDCs for seven additional units to be added to the existing transitional shelter.
The board waived SDCs for the initial 15 units in Veterans Village in 2021. The Veterans Village project satisfied all of the requirements of the district’s waiver program for shelter developments, except for the 30-year deed restriction requirement, owing to its unique partnership with Deschutes County to lease the land. Veterans Village is located on the Deschutes County Public Safety Campus, off Poe Sholes Drive, under a 10-year lease agreement with the county.
Hollinshead Park
In other action, the board of directors approved a professional design services contract with Flagline Engineering for an improvement project at Hollinshead Park. With Bend’s continued growth and demand on parks, improvements planned for the park include:
- A new permanent restroom.
- New ADA-compliant pathways to increase accessibility, including enhanced access to Hollinshead Barn.
- Renovation of the parking area to improve circulation and operational issues.
- Enclosing the off-leash area to increase park-user safety and reduce conflicts.
- The creation of a “History Walk” with interpretive signs to share the park’s history.
- Preparation of a maintenance report to preserve the park’s structures are for future generations.
Jackstraw Housing Development request
Last year, the Bend City Council adopted a Multiple Unit Property Tax Exemption (MUPTE) program to support development and redevelopment goals in Bend’s core and transit-oriented areas, and identified program requirements that would need to be met for projects to be eligible.
The Jackstraw project is located at 310 and 350 SW Industrial Way in the Mixed-Use Urban (MU) zone inside the Core Area Tax Increment Finance (TIF) area. The site is approximately 5.6 acres is currently under construction. The project received land use approval in August 2022, and construction started eight months ago in April 2023. The project construction is expected to be complete in October 2025.
The project scope includes 313 apartments, approximately 16,000 square feet of retail, 332 bicycle parking spaces and 457 parking spaces. Based upon the City Council staff report, BPRD staff reported that two of the 313 units will be rented at 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and the remaining 311 will be market-rate apartments.
The board approved the request for a ten-year tax abatement for the project as part of the City of Bend’s MUPTE program.
Policy change
The board approved Resolution No. 2023–11, adopting a policy on SDCs for conversions from commercial to residential uses.
During the 2023 legislative session the Oregon Legislature adopted House Bill (HB) 2984 requiring local governments allow the conversion of buildings from commercial use to residential use without a zone change or conditional use permit. The primary purpose of the bill is to encourage the development of more affordable housing.
The resolution allows the district to charge the appropriate residential SDC fee on commercial to residential conversion projects to help provide the necessary park and recreation infrastructure to serve these new residents with the parks, trails, recreation facilities and open spaces that may be lacking in commercial areas around Bend. In the short term, staff does not anticipate many commercial to residential conversions, or a significant impact to the district’s SDC revenue.
Work session
Board members and invited community stakeholders met at 3 pm for a work session to discuss the Executive Director search. Following an internal recruitment to BPRD employees, one applicant met minimum qualifications and will be interviewed for the position.
The next board meeting is Dec. 19.