Oregon Public Broadcasting

Thursday, the city of Bend unveiled changes to some long-awaited expansion plans as if they were a movie premier.

The city's largest movie theater was reserved and beautiful images of a dreamlike city were displayed for an interested public. Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey was there.

No one denies that the housing crash has slowed Bend's growth over the short term. But population estimates say the city will grow to 110,000 by 2025.

That's 35,000 new residents in less than two decades.

To deal with that, over the past few years, the city has financed a number of long-range growth plans. 

The biggest and most controversial is a development in the northeast corner of the city, called Juniper Ridge.
First it's big. Really big.

Bob Bryant is the central Oregon regional manager for the state's Department of Transportation.

Bob Bryant: “This is like moving the city of Madras adjacent to Highway 97 on the north end of town.”

If approved, the newly-unveiled city changes would allow Bend to grow by 2000 acres - and more than 5000 people.

Already, Les Schwab has built its brand-new corporate headquarters on the edge of Juniper Ridge.

And the final Juniper Ridge rules, whatever form they take, will determine where people can build houses, where they can put businesses, and where roads will go.

Right now, the undeveloped land is dotted with Juniper trees and crossed by several small creeks and canals.

But transportation planners and others worry that planners haven't factored in all the potential problems.

For example, take the first Bend exit off Highway 97. During rush hour the roads here are as gridlocked as any city road.

Bob Bryant: “They're failing. They're not serving the public today.”

That's Bob Bryant again, the state transportation chief in Bend.

Bob Bryant: “So its really important that we finalize a plan with the city and make improvements over time that would accommodate not only the existing traffic, but also additional traffic that would come as a result of bringing new land into the urban area.”

The transportation aspect was just one of the controversies. The city's proposed plan also includes setting aside land to build a university and high tech businesses. Many in town question whether that's at all realistic.

But maybe the biggest flashpoint was an exclusive contract the city entered into with a group of Juniper Ridge developers .

Earlier this year, the city paid $2.5 million to end that contract.

Now, the city and its critics hope the latest plans for Juniper Ridge will be a new starting point as the city decides how it will grow in the next 20 years.