SALEM Deschutes County planners are thinking big about big pieces of land, that is as they try to help lure jobs to Central Oregon.

The county has applied for a $50,000 state grant to underwrite an effort to study the region, including Crook and Jefferson counties, to see if it has enough industrial land specifically, lots of 100 acres or more to suit a large manufacturer.

Nick Lelack, Deschutes County planning director, says the study could make it easier for cities to use a relatively new wrinkle in land use law, one passed four years ago to combat a longstanding criticism that Oregons land use laws make it hard to compete with other states for big employers.

The change in land use law makes it easier for cities to expand their urban growth boundaries to absorb large lots for industrial purposes, as long as they can prove a need.

I think this is a fantastic opportunity for all Central Oregon communities and the state to work together on a project that will lead to industrial job creation, Lelack said. The timing of this effort couldnt be better.

The study would look at existing parcels in the region and their suitability for development, such as location, size and access to infrastructure. Assuming the study finds a need for new large industrial parcels and its supporters think it will then it will lead to a database that helps cities prove to the state they need to absorb large parcels into their growth boundaries.

Doug Parker, an asset manager for the Department of State Lands who is involved with the grant application, said the regions study comes in a larger context.

All of this is happening because the state has a paucity or deficiency of large-lot industrial sites, he said. The people that do industrial recruitment for the state are in somewhat of a crisis mode. … Thats a big reason why they changed the rules for urban growth expansion a few years ago.

The application targets grant funds offered by the Department of Land Conservation and Development.

Deschutes County is partnering on the application with the Department of State Lands, which has already hired a consultant to pursue the study.

Neither one is a disinterested party. The county and DSL have been part of a work group thats looked at how to help the city of Redmond expand to the south, where DSL has a 945-acre parcel that could be used for industrial purposes.

The county and DSL are negotiating an agreement on how to pursue development of that land, and its likely that industrial zoning will be the agreements thrust, officials said.

But Parker and Lelack said the study will be designed to help all of Central Oregons cities, and not take sides among them. Bend, Culver, La Pine, Redmond, Prineville, Sisters and Madras will receive equal treatment, they say.

Parker said the push to make it easier for cities to absorb industrial lots is intended to combat an earlier problem with Oregons land use laws. Specifically, cities typically grew in a piecemeal fashion around their periphery, and had to justify their plans by pointing to recent history.

The need for a historical record, in turn, created a chicken-and-egg situation, Parker said. Because small cities rarely have a track record in large industrial land, they rarely could prove they need one.

Its really hard, if youve never had one of these (large industrial lots) before, to say you need another, he said.

Tom Anderson, Deschutes Countys Community Development director, said preserving large lots is difficult when most development plans are for much smaller parcels.

The idea is that when the next large manufacturer looks to relocate, Central Oregon will be ready, he said.

This will help all three counties in Central Oregon to be poised to have suitable land on hand for these companies.

Officials hope to hear back in a few weeks on their application, and say the study should take less than a year to complete.