A4 The BulleTin • Friday, July 30, 2021
Heat wave
Continued from A1
“As we head into the week-
end, we are going to get a pretty
good push of moisture into the
area,” Evans said. “We will ac-
tually have a chance of showers
and thunderstorms in Central
Oregon over the weekend.”
The weather service issued a
red flag warning Thursday for
weather conditions that could
lead to wildfires. After Thurs-
day, the approaching storms
are expected to bring enough
Housing
rainfall to lower the threat of
wildfires, Evans said.
“The amount of rain associ-
ated with these storms is going
to offset the lightning threat,”
Evans said. “But with as much
instability there is with these
thunderstorms, there can al-
ways be enough lightning to
cause some problems as far as
wildfires.”
In preparation for this week’s
heat wave, which will affect
most of the state, the Oregon
Office of Emergency Manage-
ment released a report with
types of housing, as well. For
example, a two-bedroom du-
plex built today would require
a developer to provide two
parking spaces. The proposed
code would require none. A
cottage cluster, which is when
a group of homes is clustered
around a common, shared
space, currently would require
at least 1.5 parking spaces for
every two-bedroom home.
The proposed code only re-
quires one per unit.
The proposed changes also
would make it so if someone
owns a duplex or a triplex,
only one of those units can be
a short-term rental.
Continued from A1
To address this issue,
the city has proposed code
changes and possible incen-
tives to make this kind of
housing more available. This
week, the Bend Planning
Commission unanimously
approved code changes in-
tended to allow more dense
housing throughout the city.
The changes were mandated
by a state law passed in 2019
called House Bill 2001.
But some residents fear the
city is moving too quickly
with changes, and fear the
public has not been involved
enough in the process.
Here’s what you need to
know about middle housing
in Bend:
Why is this an issue?
Like many cities across the
country, Bend has not built
enough housing to keep up
with population growth. Be-
tween 2010 and 2016, De-
schutes County underpro-
duced by 150,000 homes,
McConnell said.
In the last year, housing
prices have gone up 40%.
Significant factors behind
the housing shortage are re-
strictive zoning practices and
NIMBYISM — an acronym
that stands for “not in my
backyard” and refers to people
who fight development they
do not like or find suitable for
their neighborhood or town.
“Just because Bend looked
a certain way when each of
us moved here doesn’t mean
that’s the way it should be, or
that’s what is right,” McCon-
nell said.
What is House Bill 2001, and
what does it do for middle
housing?
House Bill 2001 requires
cities with more than 25,000
people to allow duplexes, tri-
plexes, quadplexes and other
denser forms of housing any-
where where a single-family
home can be built.
Since the bill passed, a local
group has worked to develop
and refine specific codes to
help usher in more housing
types around the city. The
planning commission recom-
mended these changes Mon-
day night to the Bend City
Council.
The proposed code in-
cludes several tweaks to the
city’s development code, but
one of the biggest changes
would allow quadplexes in
standard residential zones,
which currently are not al-
lowed, McConnell said.
Fewer parking spaces
would be required for some
Not everyone supports these
changes. Why?
Several residents raised
doubts Monday that more
density in the city would ac-
tually lead to more affordable
housing.
Lisa Mushel, the chair of
the Century West Neighbor-
hood Association, argued that
unless there was a way to keep
people from moving to Bend,
housing will continue to just
go to the highest bidder.
“We are in such high de-
mand across the country,”
Mushel said.
There are also concerns
that not requiring parking
will lead to more congested
neighborhoods, and that
Bend does not have a robust
enough public transportation
system to accommodate these
changes.
Some also argue that
the process in developing
these code changes has been
rushed.
Some are saying the city has
not done enough to solicit in-
put from the public.
“There’s no reason to ex-
pedite this process when we
have until June 2022 for rules
to be adopted,” Jennifer Eich-
horn, a Bend resident, said on
Monday.
So does more housing
necessarily mean it will be
more affordable?
In general, yes, according
to Josh Lehner, an economist
with the Oregon Office of
Economic Analysis.
But it is important to think
of these changes not as a way
to drive down existing prices,
and rather as a way to slow
the increase in prices, Lehner
several recommendations for
cities to avoid the deadly out-
comes of last month’s heat
wave.
Gov. Kate Brown directed
the office to create the report
after excessive heat June 25-30
led to 83 heat-related deaths
across the state. The emergency
management office is working
with local and state agencies to
implement its recommenda-
tions for the extreme heat.
Recommendations include
ensuring the state is fully staff-
ing its 211 hotline to connect
said.
“Outright market rate de-
cline is very, very unlikely,
no matter what you build,”
Lehner said. “But building
some of these slightly more
dense developments where
you are putting up two or
three townhomes instead of a
single-family home will help
market affordability.
“We do know what hap-
pens if you don’t build,” Leh-
ner added. “If you’re not con-
tinuing to build, we know the
affordability will worsen over
time and the prices will in-
crease at a faster pace.”
Lehner also said it’s im-
portant to remember poli-
cies like the ones proposed
in Bend will prompt modest
change over a long period of
time. Neighborhoods won’t
be redeveloped overnight, but
rather over decades as hous-
ing gets older and gets rede-
veloped.
“This is really a long term
housing boost,” Lehner said.
What else is being done to
promote middle housing?
The city is also looking
at ways to incentivize these
kinds of housing develop-
ments.
Some incentives being
considered by the Bend City
Council include offering
down-payment assistance to
homebuyers, reducing regu-
latory costs and scaling sys-
tem development charges —
which is a fee the city charges
developers to help pay for
transportation infrastructure
— by home size, according to
McConnell, the city’s afford-
able housing manager.
Another idea is to support
what is called naturally oc-
curring affordable housing,
which basically means the
city invests in fixing up older
buildings and selling or rent-
ing them for a price people in
the middle-housing market
can afford.
The city would be able to
put a covenant on the prop-
erty to ensure it could be
rented by someone making
“middle income” in Bend, she
said.
The Bend City Council
will likely take up this issue at
a meeting in September, ac-
cording to city staff.
e
people with health and social
service organizations and pri-
oritize the importance of resi-
dents checking on their neigh-
bors, relatives and coworkers.
Another recommendation
is for public transit agencies to
consider waiving fares during
extreme heat events.
Derek Hofbauer, outreach
and engagement administra-
tor for Cascade East Transit in
Bend, said most routes have
already been offered for free to
the public since April 2020 due
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those routes will likely con-
tinue to be free through the
end of the year, Hofbauer said.
“Fares currently only exist
for CET’s recreation shuttles
such as Mt. Bachelor, Ride the
River, and Lava Butte,” Hof-
bauer said.
During the heat wave in
June, several social service or-
ganizations in Bend set up two
large cooling tents on Hunnell
Road for homeless people in
the area. Volunteers handed
out bottles of water and other
cooling and health supplies.
Masks
turn to full-time in-person
learning this fall, five days per
week and with minimal dis-
ruptions. With many children
still ineligible to be vaccinated,
masks are an effective way to
help keep our kids safe in the
classroom, the learning envi-
ronment we know serves them
best.
“In the meantime, as we ask
Oregonians statewide to mask
up in public indoor spaces, we
will continue working hard to
vaccinate more people so we
can finally beat this virus once
and for all. Vaccines remain
the most effective and best way
to protect ourselves and our
families.”
Brown’s announcement
came as new cases continued
to rise in Oregon. On Thurs-
day, for the second time this
week, more than 1,000 new
cases were reported by state
heath officials.
The CDC advised people
wear masks in public indoor
spaces in parts of the country
that have recorded more than
50 new infections per 100,000
residents over the previous
week, or where there is a more
than an 8% test positivity rate.
The health authority re-
corded 107 cases per 100,000
in Deschutes County between
July 11 and July 24. Over 200
cases per 100,000 people were
reported in Crook and Jeffer-
son counties over the same
period.
Bend-La Pine Schools, Cen-
tral Oregon’s largest school
district, was the only district
that was planning on requiring
Continued from A1
“The Redmond School Dis-
trict is waiting to review the
Oregon Health Authority’s
rule to determine when a K-12
mask mandate will go into ef-
fect and what it will entail,”
Sheila Miller, a spokeswoman
for the school district, said in
an email. “When we have that
information, we will make
any necessary changes to our
masking rules for the 2021-22
school year and/or summer
school.”
Sara Johnson, Crook County
School District’s superinten-
dent, was more blunt. “I’m de-
termined to retain local control
and decision-making that’s in
the best interest of our com-
munity and Crook County
School District,” she said in a
statement.
The governor’s move comes
after the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Preven-
tion on Tuesday recommended
that everyone, regardless of
vaccinations status, return to
wearing masks indoors in parts
of the country where the virus
is surging.
Later on Tuesday, the Ore-
gon Health Authority updated
its guidance to recommend
masks in public indoor set-
tings.
“The science and data are
clear: the Delta variant is in
our communities, and it is
more contagious,” the gover-
nor said in a statement Thurs-
day. “My priority is to ensure
our kids are able to safely re-
David Notari, director of de-
velopment at Shepherd’s House
Ministries, a homeless shel-
ter in Bend, said Thursday his
shelter and other organizations
are monitoring the heat and
will consider offering another
cooling shelter if needed.
“If things get into triple
digits, we will likely do some-
thing,” Notari said. “We are go-
ing to play it on a day-by-day
basis and make sure people are
safe.”
e
Reporter: 541-617-7820,
kspurr@bendbulletin.com
masks for some students.
“We are awaiting additional
information from the Oregon
Department of Education and
Oregon Health Authority and
will comply with the Gover-
nor’s new masking require-
ments,” Steve Cook, the school
district’s new superintendent,
said in a statement.
Peter Weber, executive di-
rector of the Oregon School
Activities Association, felt the
governor’s announcement was
clear: When indoors, masks
must be worn regardless of
vaccination status.
Masks were worn through-
out the high school season last
year, but once athletes received
their vaccines, they were able
to take masks off while com-
peting. Now they must put
them back on for the time be-
ing.
Volleyball is the sport mostly
impacted by Brown’s an-
nouncement because it is the
only fall sport to be played in-
doors.
“The indoors are moving
forward, but people will have
to wear masks,” Weber said.
Traditional fall sports —
football, soccer, cross-county
and volleyball — are still set to
start on Aug. 16, with compe-
titions beginning Aug. 26, ac-
cording to Weber.
“We are better than where
we were last year when we
weren’t able to play,” he said.
“Indoors people need to wear
masks, but that is better than
not being able to play.”
e
Reporter; 541-617-7854,
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