OSU-Cascades cleared another legal hurdle Monday as the Bend City Council unanimously rejected an appeal challenging the university’s proposed west-side campus, though opponents say they are considering further action.

Monday’s five-hour hearing is the latest step in what has become a lengthy land use approval process for a proposed 10-acre campus near the SW Century Drive and Chandler Avenue roundabout. On Sept. 2, an independent hearings officer ruled the proposal was consistent with city development code despite arguments presented by a lawyer and traffic engineer hired by Truth In Site, a coalition of residents opposed to the application.

On Monday, the City Council, with Councilor Scott Ramsay absent, heard Truth In Site’s appeal of the Sept. 2 decision. Testimony was restricted to issues raised during hearings and a public input period before the initial decision.

The issues of parking, transportation and the university’s planning process have dominated Truth In Site’s critique, and Monday’s hearing in a packed council chambers allowed lawyers from both sides to elaborate at length on how code should be applied in those areas.

The issue given the most attention by both the opposition and the university is whether OSU-Cascades should be compelled to complete a master plan, a requirement under various circumstances but not, according to city planners, those of the 10-acre development. Truth In Site had earlier argued that because the university hopes to develop an adjacent 46-acre site, a project which would trigger a master plan, the university should be required to complete such a plan at the outset.

That argument was repeated Monday, with Truth In Site’s attorney Jeffrey Kleinman saying, “Don’t allow them to site the campus and worry about planning later.”

OSU-Cascades employed a number of defenses, in part noting that although it had not completed what qualifies as a master plan, it had thoroughly planned for the campus, submitting numerous design documents and studies to the record. Furthermore, OSU-Cascades attorney Steve Janik argued that any reading of the code that implied the need for such a plan relied upon a “tortured twisting.”

As they have done throughout the process, city staff members agreed with the university on this issue.

“Under our code, a master plan is not required,” said Colin Stephens, Bend’s current planning manager. “Practically speaking, this would not be a good way to do things.”

Stephens elaborated that requiring a master plan for any aspirational developments would prove difficult to enforce.

City councilors upheld this finding, but Mayor Jim Clinton said he had “sympathy” for the feeling that the campus was being “shoehorned” into place. Councilor Doug Knight stated he’d “like to have master planning occur,” but that code did not allow for it in this case.

For the first time in the process, Truth In Site argued the city should require OSU-Cascades to create a master plan just for its 10-acre site. Assistant City Attorney Gary Firestone said the council could not do that per code.

The council also supported the staff’s findings regarding the university’s parking-management plan. City code concerning college parking is vague, simply requiring a university to have a plan. Truth In Site has argued the university’s plan provides too little parking, relying on an optimistic image of students who would rather walk and bike to school than drive.

A majority of the council seemed to be fine with the university offering an ambitiously low number of spots, seeing an initiative to discourage automobile traffic as in line with the city’s transportation goals.

“Why not let them go for it?” said Councilor Mark Capell, noting the city would be able to require a new parking plan if neighborhood streets became inundated with student cars.

Knight, who is a civil engineer, attempted to persuade the rest of the council to demand the university to supply more parking spaces but eventually relented after failing to gain traction.

He was able to initiate a change to a condition on the application’s approval concerning traffic. City staff had recommended the university not be allowed to end or begin classes within 15 minutes of nearby public schools starting or ending classes.

The clause was meant to prevent traffic congestion, and Knight asked about the possibility of including Seven Peaks School, a nearby private school, something the council agreed to. The council also changed the requirement from blocking out 15 minutes before or after schools starting to instead making the university coordinate start and end times with the schools.

The council expects to officially sign off on a written version of this decision during its Oct. 15 meeting.

“We’ll see what the findings look like and presumably appeal,” said Kleinman, Truth In Site’s attorney.

The group will have 21 days to file an appeal with the state Land Use Board of Appeals once it receives the official decision.

— Reporter: 541-633-2160, tleeds@bendbulletin.com