The Bend City Council approved a developer’s request to rescale the commercial component of a large development Wednesday that will include more than 500 market-rate rental units.

The attitude among the council was reflected in its unanimous vote: Bend needs housing at any cost.

The lot in the Larkspur neighborhood near 15th Street and Wilson Avenue has been empty for decades, save for a few homeless people who temporarily camp on the land. The developer, Jeff Stephens of Evergreen Housing, a Seattle-based company responsible for three other multiunit developments in Bend, said construction could begin as early as next spring.

The Wildflower development was initially approved years ago, but the previous owner wasn’t able to muster enough funds to actually develop it, Stephens said at Wednesday’s meeting. The 586 units of town homes, apartments and small single-family homes known as cottage clusters could be completed within five years of the start of construction, he said.

The City Council’s decision Wednesday shrunk the allotted mixed employment-zoned land, which can be used for commercial buildings, from 6.2 acres to just under one acre.

For comparison, the Grove Market Hall in NorthWest Crossing is approximately 0.59 acres, according to estimates from Beth LaFleur, a senior planner with the city.

Evergreen Housing envisioned a food cart pod with a plaza and a row of two-story commercial buildings on the northwest corner of the property where a new roundabout is being constructed.

“We were thinking community here when thinking about the best way to use this space,” Hans Christiansen, Evergreen’s planning and construction director, said Wednesday.

Several members of the public who spoke at Wednesday’s public hearing were in full support of a development near their neighborhood — a rarity for Bend housing developments.

Some were supportive because it would bring new opportunities for commercial businesses and new housing, but others just wanted to see something done with the land instead of leaving it vulnerable to the fires and trash from unhoused people.

“Wildflower has been empty my entire life,” said Becky Collins, who owns a home near the development, during the meeting.

She would much rather live next to town homes, she said.

The Wildflower development also sits nestled near Ponderosa Park, Larkspur Trail and Coyner Trail. Because of this, traffic and adequate protections for pedestrians and cyclists were concerns.

Bend Bikes, a local grassroots nonprofit, was overall in support of the development, but the organization wanted to ensure people could walk and bike comfortably as they left the park or trails.

“The Larkspur and Coyner trails are important paths away from car traffic that are used by kids to get to school, people with mobility issues and many others. We know that for parents sending their children to school and people with mobility limitations that a path is only as good as its worst location,” Elisa Cheng, the president of Bend Bikes, wrote in an email.

Bend Bikes consulted with Evergreen Housing Development on the development to ensure safety for non-car traffic. In particular, Bend Bikes advocated for a raised crosswalk to be installed within the development where the Larkspur Trail crosses SE Bronzewood Avenue.

“Raised crosswalks are essential to creating connected, low-stress walking, biking, and rolling networks because they are the best treatment available that make it more comfortable for cars to travel at appropriate slower speeds for the local streets on which raised crossings are used,” Cheng said.

However, it’s not a typical location for a raised crosswalk, said LaFleur, the city senior planner.

Raised crosswalks are usually reserved for roads near schools and certain roads where speeding cars is an ongoing issue, per the city’s engineering standards and specifications.

But the intersection of the Larkspur and Coyner trails at the Wildflower development is unique, said Cheng. It’s one of the few places in town where pedestrian and bicycle paths can connect without the pressure of vehicle traffic, she said.

The Wildflower development was approved as a master planned development in 2015, meaning Evergreen must come back to city staff for approval of site-specific features, which could include a raised crosswalk.