LARKSPUR NEIGHBORHOOD
NEWS & EVENTS
News and events regarding Larkspur Neighborhood priorities, current and on-going projects.
Transportation Update!
As many of you know, safety on Pettigrew Road has been a concern in our neighborhood for some time and we have been having conversations with people from the City of Bend regarding how we can improve the walkability, bikeability and safety of our neighborhood.
We have just learned that City Engineer Sinclair Burr will be attending our Larkspur NA Board Meeting Monday evening to address some of these concerns and make some suggestions.
Please plan to attend if you have questions, concerns or would just like to have more information.
Here again is the link for the meeting. See you there!
Shelter Code UPDATE: Work session & public hearing
The Bend Planning Commission will hold a virtual work session on January 24, 2022, at 5:30 pm and a virtual public hearing on February 14, 2022, at 5:30 pm to review the proposed Shelter Code Update to the Bend Comprehensive Plan and Development Code and make a recommendation to the City Council. The Planning Commission work session and hearing will be held remotely via a virtual meeting platform.
Agenda: https://bend.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=11&event_id=682
There are links in the agenda so you can see what code changes are proposed to accommodate homeless shelters in nearly all zoning types in the city. The agenda will explain how to view, listen to, provide comment, and/or participate in the virtual meetings. Once the meeting has started, the meeting can also be live-streamed by clicking the hyperlink for video in progress. Comments can also be submitted in writing before the meeting.
Click HERE to access the Work Session Packet
City council approves transportation Bond Plan
City Council approved the recommended 5-year Capital Improvement Plan from the Transportation Bond Oversight Committee. The oversight committee advises Council on the implementation and progress of the $190 million transportation general obligation bond approved by voters in November 2020.
Read the news story: https://www.bendoregon.gov/.../Compo.../News/News/4913/29...
Read the issue summary: https://bend.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?event_id=655&medium=email&meta_id=54012&source=govdelivery&view_id=9
TBOC Recommends 5-year project schedule
The Transportation Bond Oversight Committee (TBOC) presented its 5-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) recommendation to the Bend City Council during a work session Wednesday. The oversight committee’s role is to advise on the implementation and progress of the $190 million transportation general obligation (GO) bond approved by voters in November 2020.
More than 21 projects are included in the recommendation and will address traffic flow, east-west connections, and neighborhood safety improvement projects citywide. Some key priority projects include the Wilson Avenue Improvement Project, Midtown Pedestrian and Bike Crossings, and Butler Market Road and Boyd Acres Road Improvements.
The 2020 transportation GO bond projects list was based on two years of community involvement, including a 25-member Citywide Transportation Advisory Committee that developed a list of critical projects to improve travel safety and traffic flow across the city.
The projects include better east-west connections that will reduce drivers’ time behind the wheel and improve Bend’s livability and safety. Priority routes targeted for traffic flow improvements include Reed Market Road, U.S. 97/Parkway, Third Street intersections, Empire Avenue near U.S. Highway 97, Wilson Avenue, Butler Market Road and other key routes. The project list also includes neighborhood traffic safety improvements:
Safer crossings to access schools, parks and jobs
A network of cross-town bicycle routes
Completing missing sidewalks along priority routes
The Transportation Bond Oversight Committee was appointed by City Council to provide transparency and accountability on the progress of projects funded by the transportation GO bond. The committee began meeting in May 2021. The committee established evaluation criteria for prioritizing Bond projects, received public comments and developed the 5-year CIP recommendation to City Council.
The committee’s recommendations can be found at bendoregon.gov/tboc.
The committee will continue working in its oversight and advisory role to the City Council by evaluating project progress and costs. The oversight committee will review progress reports and benchmarks and recommend any changes or adjustments in project scheduling or sequencing.
City Council will consider the recommendation and make the final decision on the first 5-year transportation GO bond project schedule at the December 15, 2021 City Council meeting. Find more information about the 2020 transportation GO bond projects at bendoregon.gov/gobond.
Transportation Bond Update
Click image for more information
As many of you know, on November 3, 2020, Bend voters passed Transportation Bond Measure 9-135. Our community said that congestion & neighborhood safety are community priorities, and helped the City design a list of projects voters ultimately approved. This bond measure will pay to build priority projects in every part of the city to:
Improve traffic flow and east-west connections
Improve neighborhood safety
The City created a Transportation Bond Oversight Committee (TBOC) to monitor, track and report to the community on project expenses, schedule, progress and benchmarks.
The committee has been meeting for a number of months and has come up with a list of transportation projects to recommend to the Bend City Council. The first such project is the Wilson Street Corridor Improvements. This is a multi-phase modernization project to improve safety and east-west connectivity for all users along Wilson Avenue from 2nd street to 15th street. The project is currently in the design stage. The West section, from 2nd street to Douglas Street is being designed between August 2020 and November 2021 and the East Section, from Douglas Street to 15th Street, is being designed from September 2021 to June 22, with construction dates still to be determined. However construction could begin as early as this winter.
The committee met November 9th to finalize a list of projects to recommend to the City Council for the first five years of the ten year bond measure. This list is available at this link: https://bend.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=18&event_id=725&meta_id=53239
However the TBOC sent this list to Council with the suggestion that the 4th and 8th Street Intersection Improvements be moved up from their current schedule so the entire Neff Corridor would be completed at about the same time, thereby allowing ease of use by walkers and bikers.
In addition, the committee stipulated that the Bear Creek Road Improvements might also be moved up from their current sequence in the event that the housing project on the corner of Bear Creek and Pettigrew, for which a development application has been filed, is approved by the city.
Click image for more information
A number of the projects listed on Attachment A would impact the Larkspur Neighborhood. Obviously work on the Reed Market Corridor and Bear Creek Road would involve the neighborhood, as would the current Wilson Street project. The 4th street intersection improvements that the TCOB moved up and the Aune Street Extension would impact us as well and the general improvements listed as “improved access to transit”, “local residential street safety” and “intelligent transportation systems improvements” would likely impact all neighborhoods including Larkspur.
Additional information may be found at the attachments below and at the TBOC website at https://www.bendoregon.gov/government/committees/bond-oversight-committee.
Bend 2020 Transportation GO Bond Draft Capital Improvement Program Overview Click HERE
Wildflower property Neighborhood public meeting
Wildflower Property Development Public Meeting 11-18-2021 @ 6pm
You are invited to attend a public meeting to learn about a proposed development project in our neighborhood. The purpose of this meeting is to provide a forum for the applicant and neighbors to discuss the proposed development prior to its application submission to the City of Bend.
Meeting will be held via Zoom, November 18, 2021 at 6:00PM PST
Zoom Meeting ID: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3689765271
Call In: 1-253-215-8782
Meeting ID: 368 976 5271
Annual Meeting
MEETING DETAILS
We hope you will be able to attend our upcoming annual meeting this coming Thursday evening.
When? Thursday, Nov 4 (6:30-8:30pm)
Where? Zoom. Click here to join us (passcode: larkspur).
Guest Presentation Highlights:
Policing in Larkspur :: Q&A with Police Chief Mike Krantz
Housing Bill 4079 + its implications for an upcoming affordable housing project in Larkspur
GO Bond transportation projects in the neighborhood
* SEEKING NEW BOARD MEMBERS *
Besides having our guest presenters cover the important topics listed above, we will be holding new board member elections at Thursday's meeting. We are especially seeking people who are interested in helping us with the following:
Social Media: We could use someone who can help us get the word out about topics of interest for the neighborhood on Facebook and NextDoor and other social media platforms, and monitor social media for issues of interest to our neighbors.
Land Use: There is a lot of new development proposed in our neighborhood. Helping people understand zoning and the development process is an important part of our mission. Even if you don’t currently know much about land use, if you are willing to learn, we have resources available to get you up to speed. This is an interesting and important role for the community.
Transportation: There seem to be plenty of issues around street safety and traffic in the neighborhood. With the recent passing of the transportation bond, a number of projects are slated for our neighborhood. We would like to have someone on the board who is interested in following street safety and transportation issues and serving as the focus for communication about these issues.
Emergency Response: Are you currently involved with the Community Emergency Response Team? We’d love to have someone associated with CERT be connected with us so we can help raise awareness of community safety in our neighborhood.
Being a board member can be a fulfilling way to engage in the community and have a positive impact on Bend's future. Most of us volunteered to join the board during our first meeting, so please consider joining the board even if Thursday is your first meeting with us! Please feel free to email us ahead of the meeting if you have any questions.
Land Use Updates
This has been a busy summer for land use activity in the Larkspur Neighborhood. To access the details on land use activity on any property in the City, the simplest way is through the City of Bend’s interactive map. This link allows one to either zoom in on the map to find a particular property, or enter the property address, or enter a project number. All documentation related to land use projects is now available online.
There are five major land use projects happening or upcoming in the Larkspur neighborhood. Here is what we know as of now:
Townhouses in Daly Estates area: a total of 133 townhomes are planned in the area between Daly Estates and Pettigrew, in the area east of Woodhaven. The first three phases of this development have been approved; details are available by referring to the project numbers associated with these projects.
(Project numbers : PLSPR20200985, PL20-0946, PL20-0918)
Bear Creek Commons Apartments: 176 apartments in six buildings are planned for the northeast corner of Bear Creek and Pettigrew. The developer has held a neighborhood public meeting regarding this property, and the application is currently under review. Project number is PLLD20210861
Wildflower development - 15th Street southeast of Wilson: The developer is seeking a change in the master plan for this area to eliminate the mixed employment zoning and build only rental housing. 574 total dwelling units in a variety of housing styles are proposed. The application is currently under review; the developer is required to have a neighborhood public meeting but this is not presently scheduled. Project number: PLPRE20210804
Affordable housing - between Bear Creek and Highway 20, east of Dantili. This is currently still in discussion with the developer; because it is technically outside of the city, at this point it is not part of the general planning and review process. The preliminary plans at this point call for 345 housing units, 138 of which will be classified as affordable. A portion of the property will include a park. There will be some sort of a public process once the master plan proposal has been developed. We hope to have representatives of the City give a presentation on the proposed development at a future meeting.
Outdoor Homeless Shelter: Carolyn Eagan, Recovery Strategy and Impact Officer from the City of Bend, had a presentation on the proposal regarding the proposed homeless housing at 9th Street just east of Glenwood. The recording of that meeting is available here (Passcode: khH6v#G%). As more information is available, we will include it here.
Fee Changes & city Adoption
Councilors approved new fees for the coming year as part of the biennial budget adoption. The fee schedule covers utility rates, development fees, System Development Charges (SDCs), airport fees, parking fees, solid waste rates and more.
Utility rates will increase 3% for water, 2.5% for sewer and 7% for stormwater. System development charges – fees on development to pay for infrastructure needed are increasing 5% each for transportation, water and sewer SDCs. Development fee increases include: building 3%, planning 6% and private development engineering 3%.
Here is the full list of fee changes. The fee increases are part of the 2021-23 budget which Councilors adopted unanimously.
The biennial budget of $927.7 million is a 4 percent increase over the last biennium. The $927.7 million number represents all operating revenues for the biennium (which are $395 million), as well as debt proceeds, interfund transfers, one-time grant funding, and reserves from the prior fiscal year. The $395 million in projected operating revenues for the biennium is a 5 percent increase for the first year of the biennium and a 6 percent increase for the second year.
Of the $395 million of City-wide operating revenues, $124 million are in the City’s General Fund. The primary source of revenue in the General Fund is from property taxes, and about 80 percent of the General Fund pays for public safety. The General Fund is also where the Council and the Budget Committee have the most discretion for funding priorities.
Councilors approved allocating about $3 million of General Fund discretionary revenue to support implementation of their Council Goals. Addressing homelessness is a priority, with approximately 40 percent of the allocated revenues dedicated to Council’s housing goals.
The proposed 2021-23 budget is here. Past and present budget documents are found at: www.bendoregon.gov/budget.
This short, animated video explains more generally how the City's budget works.
Wildflower Property Update
There have been pre-application discussions between the developer and the City Planning staff regarding the property on 15th street east of Wilson, known as the Wildflower Master Plan area. Based on those discussions, the developer is putting together some revised plans and is expecting to have at least one neighborhood public meeting (virtual format) before the application is submitted to the City. That meeting is likely at least a month away, and perhaps more. There is a requirement that notification be submitted to neighbors a certain number of days before the public meeting. We will be keeping people informed as we know more about this schedule and have more detail on what the developer is proposing.
You can review the pre-application documents and the City’s response on the City website by following this link:
https://cityview.ci.bend.or.us/Portal/Planning/Status?planningId=696
Transportation plans for our neighborhood
Here is some information from our Land Use Chair:
In 2020, a bond measure was passed to address funding for transportation system improvements in Bend. What does that mean for the Larkspur Neighborhood?
The entire plan runs to 156 pages, but the City website has a good interactive map that can help you understand what is happening locally. You can find it here.
Click this link for a summary of what we can expect for improvements in or near the Larkspur Neighborhood - and when.
Bylaws Refresh
Every Neighborhood Association (NA) and its board operates under a set of bylaws, which includes standard procedures that guide our actions. Over time, our NA bylaws have become outdated so the board recently revamped them. All members attending our virtual general meeting on 4/29/2021 will be asked to vote on these new bylaws before they can be formally adopted. You can read this 4-page document here. If you have any questions regarding the bylaws, contact the Larkspur Chair at chair.larkspurna@gmail.com prior to the general meeting date.