BEND, OR -- Deschutes County Commissioners continue to look at how private property made available by its owners could be used as a sanctioned location for the homeless moved from other areas in the county.
"I'd sent an email to our governor's office on June 27th asking for a re-evaluation of property right outside the UGB in Bend," Commission Chair Patti Adair said Wednesday, "When I had Matt's call from the Housing and Homelessness Initiative Director on Monday, I felt like, 'Oh my gosh. I think she's finally heard us.' He's asked for more information." Adair wants the Governor to grant permission to use the site for a managed camp.
Commissioners say the Gales family wants its parcel east of Bend used for a county benefit. But under current state guidelines, it is not in the right location to be used as a managed camp, "The property is 1400', approximately, from the UGB line; of course, that was another problem. And it's EFU," says Adair. Governor Tina Kotek has previously denied the county's request.
Commissioners Adair and Tony DeBone want to send a letter to Kotek asking her to reconsider. DeBone said Wednesday it could include, "'Dear Governor Kotek, we would like to seek your, I don't know, blessing or approval or guidance - add to an executive order to rezone this property for emergency purposes' or something." Adair says funding is available for amenities, "The good news is now that there is $1.1 million from the Governor's office for pods. $1.1 million, of which $65,000 has been allocated to spend at the Oasis Village. So there is funding available for pods to be put at this property. It's located between two churches." She says those churches are supportive of the project.
Wednesday's County Commissioners meeting got heated when Commissioner Phil Chang said a quicker solution would be to use the Gales property for safe parking, "In order for their property to be eligible to do safe parking, there isn't really any state involvement; that's a local land-use decision on our part to do that rezone so that we can make use of the safe parking ordinance." When his proposal failed to gain traction, he told Adair and DeBone, "All of this discussion about land use at the Gales property is a distraction, when what we need to be doing is coordinating on and investing in case management, to be able to match the facilities coming on line in our community to move people out of homelessness."
