1/5/09 Bend
 
by Ariel Wesler
 
It was one of the shortest Bend City Council meetings on record for perhaps one of the biggest votes of the year. In less than five minutes, the council approved the UGB extension Monday, four votes to two.
 
“I mean, it's very historic,” said Councilor Jodie Barram. “The last time this was done was 1981, so it's been a long time coming.”
 
The vote amends the city's boundary as part of a twenty year growth plan. It changes the map and codes to allow for future housing and industry, including almost 9,000 acres of land, 6,000 of which is undeveloped. Council members say the UGB plan has been in the works for more than five years, totaling at least seventy meetings and thousands of hours.
 
“Having worked on this for the last couple years as a planning commissioner and getting to vote on it as a city councilor is really a milestone for me,” Barram said.
 
And the amount of paper work speaks volumes. The plan now moves on to the Deschutes County Commissioners and then the state, where councilors fear the changes could face challenges.
 
“This is probably a little bigger than they would have wanted, but our thinking was particularly with the rapid rate of growth, not recently, but we've had, we don't want to be in that situation again,” said Bend Mayor Bruce Abernethy.
 
He says the limited growth boundary has driven up the cost of land, contributing to the rising cost of housing. He knew two weeks ago the city would pass the plan and feels the council heard enough from both sides during work sessions and public hearings.
 
“We may not have heard from constituent a, but I practically guarantee we've heard constituent A's argument,” Abernethy said.
 
For him, Monday's meeting was a formality and a huge sigh of relief.
 
Councilors Peter Gramlich and Jim Clinton were opposed and Councilor Chris Telfer did not attend.