A joint plan between Deschutes County and the city of Bend to manage homeless camping at Juniper Ridge was revived Wednesday, one week after a legal dispute left it in a tailspin.

Facing a deadline to allocate federal funds, the city had given the Deschutes County Commission until Wednesday to sign an agreement to create a temporary “safe stay” area north of Bend. Two commissioners who refused to sign a resolution last week switched their votes Wednesday, swayed by tweaks to the agreement and a hard stance by the city of Bend.

“I know this isn’t something our legal has recommended, but we’ve got to do something,” Commissioner Patti Adair said during Wednesday’s meeting.

A flurry of meetings between city and county staff and elected officials since last week produced three options for the county commission. Two of those were legal resolutions enshrining the plan for a safe stay area. The other, proposed by Commissioner Phil Chang, was an agreement to resolve health and safety code violations at Juniper Ridge while providing more services.

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Deschutes County Commissioners clash over homeless camps

Chang remained concerned that formally designating an area for camping on land zoned for farming would result in land use battles, arguing the resolution was unnecessary for the city and county to collaborate on solutions at Juniper Ridge.

But he conceded to keep the agreement moving forward.

“I really believe we could have proceeded in a number of ways,” Chang said. “If this is the only way they (the city of Bend) are going to get our agreements from Sept. 5 implemented, then I will vote yes.”

City and county legal departments disagreed about the interpretation of 2021 state legislation, HB 2006, which permitted in some cases emergency homeless facilities on lands where they normally would be prohibited.

Bend City Attorney Mary Winters said formal no opposition to the safe stay area has surfaced, and the city is confident it could defend a land use challenge under the framework of HB 2006.

Commissioner Tony DeBone supported Wednesday’s resolution and the one presented last week.

The adopted resolution, which the Bend City Council is expected to approve at its next meeting, resulted from a joint meeting between the council and the Deschutes County Commission in September, when the jurisdictions agreed to close about 1,000 acres of public land at Juniper Ridge, designate 170-acres for homeless camping and ramp up case management services — all an effort to eventually move people out of one of the region’s largest homeless encampments.

An estimated 100-200 people live at Juniper Ridge, swathes of undeveloped High Desert east of U.S. Highway 97 owned by the city and county.

In August, a fast-moving wildfire that brushed with homes in north Bend was determined to have sparked from a cooking fire in an encampment in south Juniper Ridge on private land.

Officials aim to close the southern portions of open land, closest to the city, by May 31, 2025 — before wildfire season begins.

Wednesday’s decision kept that timeline intact. City and county staff still need to procedure nonprofit service providers and issue a plan to relocate homeless campers.

Adair said she was more comfortable with an agreement designating a smaller safe stay area — 40 acres — than the 170 acres specified in the September agreement. She suggested a 20-acre area in meetings with staff on Tuesday.

Bend also agreed to begin paying half the cost for trash, toilets, water and sanitation services being provided on county land.

The city has earmarked $660,000 of soon-to-expire federal funds to the Juniper Ridge, along with $700,000 for safe parking programs in the city.

City officials hope efforts to increase capacity for emergency shelters, temporary housing and other options to help people leave homelessness will be enough to support the eventual closure of the large encampment.

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“People living in our forests is not a permanent solution,” Councilor Megan Perkins said. “But it’s an emergency solution that’s going to make things a lot better for people that are living in really deplorable conditions right now, and for the people that are living around them.”

Meanwhile, the county remained committed on Tuesday to another managed camp plan in east Redmond, intended to aid the removal of homeless encampments east of the city.

The county earmarked $1.5 million in federal funds for outdoor homeless shelters earlier this year which has yet to be allocated.