SUmmary of 9/26 meeting about proposed senior housing at Mt Washington & Shevlin Roundabout9/27/2019 About 20 neighbors attended a preliminary meeting with representatives of William Smith Properties and Mountain West, who will develop and operate a market-rate, 55+ apartment complex on land owned by COCC.
Another neighborhood meeting, as required by City policies, will happen this fall. Neighbors within 500 feet of the property and the Summit West and River West neighborhood associations will be notified of that meeting. This meeting was intended to present very early concepts regarding the plan for the property and to solicit neighbors' concerns. The plan is for about 110 units, made up of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments. The exact mix has not been decided on. A single, 4-story building is envisioned, which will be located close to the Mt. Washington side of the property. A long flat wall will be avoided by angling sections of the building to create some visual relief and distance from the sidewalk. Parking will be to the south and east of the building, and is expected to exceed city requirements. The developer is not intending to request any variances, and will be working toward a plan that complies with City code. Recognizing that there is essentially no street parking near the property, Mountain West said they are committed to providing and managing parking spaces to ensure that the needs of residents are met onsite. As a build-and-hold developer of senior and multifamily apartments, they use onsite managers to actively monitor and control issues like parking. In a novel arrangement for Bend, the land will continue to be owned by COCC, which will do a long-term lease with the developers. The objective of this and other projects on the college's property near the roundabout is to generate a long-term revenue stream to supplement other funding sources. The concerns raised by those in attendance included: avoiding spill-over parking on nearby streets; providing safe ingress and egress, especially at peak traffic times; the height and mass of the building, which some felt was out-of-character for the neighborhood; and the number of units and cars that would generate trips at an already busy roundabout. One person also asked that efforts be made to plan a sustainable and energy-efficient building.
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A neighborhood meeting will be held Thursday, Sept 26th from 6:00-7:00 pm to present plans for an 85 to 120 unit apartment complex at the southeast corner of Mt. Washington & Shevlin Park Road. The development will be a 55-and-older luxury complex on land zoned for high-density residential. The property is owned by Central Oregon Community College. The meeting will be held on the COCC campus in Cascades Hall, room 118. Free parking is available on College Way in front of the building or in the lot across the street, next to the library. See the notice below for more information. A previous post indicated that the Planning Commission and City Council will be holding hearings on proposed amendments to city code. (See post on this web page from 9/6/19.)
Code updates like these represent the most critical point in the land use process for the community to provide input. Once the code is changed, future projects will be subject to the new guidelines — for better or worse. Often, the public complains about a project, when all of the standards incorporated in the proposal are, in fact, in the code. So, this is the time to pay attention and speak up if something doesn’t seem right. The general purpose of the proposed code amendments is to allow for more housing opportunities consistent with City policy. Some of the changes are driven by state legislation — for example, ADUs now don't have to provide new off street parking. Other changes are more substantive — for example, some allow more neighborhood commercial uses, especially in areas zoned for multifamily residential housing. Another change will provide for development of Shared-Court Housing — a type of housing not currently mentioned in the code. Additional changes are intended to promote Cottage Housing. These changes are mostly relevant to RH and RM zones, and Summit West only has one such area, at the southeast corner of the Mt. Washington & Shevlin roundabout. A proposed change that might affect the Summit West neighborhood will allow manufactured homes to be used for ADUs, with certain design and foundation requirements. If you don’t live in an HOA or your CC&Rs allow ADUs, you might want to look at that proposal. On the whole, these changes are far more significant for other NAs than for Summit West, as they have higher-density residential zones, with the code encouraging more mixed uses in areas that historically had them. The previous post includes the code update package and a staff report on the changes, if you want to dig deeper into any of these topics. The first hearing on the package of updates will be Sept. 23rd before the Planning Commission. An application has been submitted for a permit for a whole-house vacation rental at 2393 NW Hosmer Lake Drive. Written comments will be taken until Sept. 24th. See the notice below for contact information. A site plan has been filed for a 2-phase, 3-building project called the Grove on the large vacant lot at the northwest corner of the Mt Washington & Crossing Drive roundabout. The plan calls for a 4-tenant "Market Hall" along Mt Washington, with a commercial building on Crossing Drive, and a residential building at Ordway & Charbonneau. (See site plan below.) Written comments regarding this proposal are due by Sept 18th. See the first notice below for details and contact information. The second notice relates to dividing the lot into two parcels -- one with the commercial buildings and the other with the residential building. The same deadline and contact information applies. The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on amendments to the Bend Development Code on Monday, Sept 23rd during its regular meeting, which starts at 5:30 pm in the City Council chambers. The Council will hold a hearing on the same topic on Wednesday, Oct 16th during its regular meeting, starting at 7:00 pm. Written comments may also be submitted to the staff contact listed in the following notice. A draft version of the amendments is attached below the notice, followed by a memo from the staff explaining the changes. |
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