Bend’s planning commission is going to consider a proposal Monday to rezone 1,994 acres in Bend in one fell swoop.

This will be one of the few chances the public will get to comment and better understand the change. If you want to comment or learn more, better do it now.

But the hard thing to understand about this rezone is that it won’t change what can be built where in Bend. Instead, it will make it easier for the public to understand what can be built where and will also make it cheaper and easier for anyone to build everything from affordable housing to office space.

The problem that drives this change is about maps. Bend’s zoning map and comprehensive plan map don’t line up everywhere. That can make it confusing for people about what can be built in different parts of the city.

The zoning map can say one thing. The comp plan, as it’s called, can say another. Over the years, the two maps have grown apart. The idea is to line them up again. The changes that are being considered are decisions about ensuring the proposed rezones are consistent with the comp plan designation for the area and if there is adequate infrastructure to support it.

The hope is this sweeping rezone will increase government transparency — it will make it easier for the public to understand what can be built. There won’t be discrepancies in the maps.

Doing this rezone will also make it cheaper and faster for builders and developers to start construction. Because the two city maps are not aligned, people who own land in one of those areas and want to build something can have to pay about $6,000 and go through a public hearing process, which can add months to a timeline. It’s arguably an unnecessary expense and delay.

So what could be wrong with transparency, cheaper and faster?

By doing it all at once, the public loses the ability to comment on specific projects seeking a specific rezone when zoning maps and the comp plan don’t line up. That is true — up to a point.

The public can also go to those hearings with false expectations. The expectation can be that the rezoning process is an opportunity to challenge the types of buildings that can be built. It’s actually more of an administrative decision without a lot of discretion.

And just because the city is carrying out this rezone, it doesn’t mean that the public is shut out of commenting on new buildings. There’s an opportunity to comment on basically everything from a triplex on up.

If you really want to change what can be built where in Bend, this map realignment is not where it will happen. You have to push the city to change its comprehensive plan. It’s the comp plan that guides those decisions.

The city has done its best to explain all this. It has a website. Search on the web for Bend map alignment project.