Oregon Cities Debate Expanding Boundaries

Bend, Oregon could expand its boundaries under a recently signed law that allows cities a one-time exemption to the state’s urban growth boundary policy, which limits development at the edges of existing cities. As Jonathan Bach explains in The Oregonian, the bill was passed as a response to the housing crisis and would allow cities to expand by 100 acres. 

“Conservationists, meanwhile, view expansion with skepticism, arguing there’s ample land already inside the city to accommodate new construction. They defend the way that Oregon’s more than 50-year-old land-use system carefully tailors growth.” The state requires cities to justify the need for additional land through extensive analysis and demonstrate a high rent burden for residents. 

While the high cost of land inside the current boundary is prohibitive to many developers, Ben Gordon, executive director of Central Oregon LandWatch, points out that prior expansions to Bend’s boundary, in 2016 and 2021, have failed to produce additional housing to date. The advocacy group is pushing for more infill development closer to existing infrastructure, pointing to a 2023 city report that found space for 23,000 housing units in the existing city boundary.