IMPORTANT: City Council has approved a plan to create a Transitional Shelter (Camp) Site in Juniper Ridge for the homeless.
At the recent City Council meeting, Wednesday, October 21, 2020, a recommendation by City of Bend staff was approved by City Council to proceed with the creation of an Emergency Homeless Task Force to create a Temporary Transitional Managed Shelter Site (Homeless Camp Site) in Juniper Ridge. This site is located near the eastern end of present Cooley Road and will initially comprise six (6) acres. This plan of action is being taken as a purported temporary measure and by Emergency Order authorized under Covid Emergency Legislation and HB 4212. It is being used to address an immediate crisis the City of Bend has with BNSF Railroad threatening to revoke the city's two unimproved rail crossing licences in the northern portions of Juniper Ridge after two serious incidents involving homeless campers (one being a serious fire and another a vehicle/train collision). Both incidents caused train schedule interruptions. The crisis response by the City of Bend is to move the camps to the Cooley Road site and gate these two problematic crossings.
Justification for this emergency action is based upon recent court rulings stating basicly that cities and other public land entities have to provide alternative sites for the homeless when displacing them. This put the City of Bend into the immediate position of seeking another site. The site on Cooley is being described as a temporary site, but actually is intended to be Phase One of a Three Phase plan to address homelessness in Bend. All Three Phases are identified in the surrounding landbase of Juniper Ridge. Phase One is the six acre Temporary Transitional Site, Phase Two will be a permanent RV/Trailer Park & Campground and Phase Three will be future low income and affordable housing. All with projected locations in Juniper Ridge, north of Cooley Road.
The initial Emergency Order is being utilized to facilitate the Phase One - TemporaryTransition Shelter Site, as the landbase is zoned Light Industrial (IL) and this is not a compatible use. So, the normal land use processes and reviews are not being applied and the temporary status is expected to continue for a considerable period, perhaps several years. Phase Two - RV Trailer Park and Phase Three - Housing should require an Overlay Zone to be approved within the Juniper Ridge Light Industrial zone. In regards to these plans, community input and neighborhood outreach have been limited and restricted. Plans have been rushed through in response to the BNSF incidents. They have been developed internally by city staff and in consultation with social service providers, then very quickly placed on the City Council agenda and acted upon in the same work session. An Emergency Homeless Task Force is now being developed to begin implementation of these plans. It should also be noted that the City of Bend sanctioned committee, the Juniper Ridge Management Advisory Board, was not informed or consulted in these matters.
It is imperative that the city's public, area residents and affected neighborhoods have better opportunity to comment and affect these decisions and plans. To this end, Boyd Acres Neighborhood Association needs to become immediately engaged, quickly inform residents regarding this important situation, take appropriate action, engage the City Council and develop a firm position.
Jim Beauchemin
BANA Land Use Chair