Bend is jumping on a chance to fast-track a 100-acre expansion of its urban growth boundary through recent legislation intended to spur the growth of affordable housing across Oregon.

The Bend City Council gave the nod to staff Thursday evening to start the process, and hopes to have concepts for a new development approved by the end of next summer.

Signed into law on May 6, Senate Bill 1537 enacted a package of affordable housing policies, including allowing some local governments to expedite expansion of their urban growth boundaries. A UGB encompasses land slated to be annexed into the city limits.

The bill requires the expanded area to include at least 30% affordable housing and sets minimum requirements for density.

“This is a brand new opportunity to bring housing to our community,” said Lynne McConnell, housing director with the city of Bend. “We are going to be one of the first folks likely to do this.”

She called the prospect of a one-time UGB expansion a “down payment on our future growth planning work.” It allows the city to sidestep normal growth boundary rules to add housing as soon as possible in areas that would likely be incorporated only after years of grinding through a rigorous process.

“It’s really about getting more supply,” City Councilor Mike Riley said. “We’ll go through the slog later.”

Bend’s population is predicted to grow from 111,000 to 156,000 people by 2045, requiring more than 19,000 new housing units, according to a 2023 analysis.

The expedited UGB expansion is one tool Gov. Tina Kotek has deployed in pursuit of her administration’s goal to produce 36,000 housing units per year.

Opponents of SB 1537 said it would jeopardize farm and forestland to development. Though the law was billed as an opportunity for a one-time expansion, Kotek hasn’t ruled out the possibility of future changes to UGB rules.

She said the 2025 legislative session would be too soon to reassess the bill.

“I think we need to see how it works,” Kotek said in a discussion Tuesday with reporters and editors of EO Media Group. “The way that bill came together, I think it was the right next step.”

New planned developments are still under construction on land included in Bend’s 2016 UGB expansion, which added 2,380 acres among 10 areas on all sides of the city. The process took years and involved more than 70 public meetings. The first homes from that expansion weren’t built until 2020, after master plans were approved.

New developments proposed through the UGB fast-track would still be subject to the city’s master planning process, despite the accelerated timeline, McConnell said. The City Council will have the power to choose a proposal based on its preferences.

Exact locations of the 100-acre expansion won’t be defined until developers submit applications, which will likely occur this fall. SB 1537 sets a list of requirements for location. The property must be contiguous and adjacent to the city’s current UGB and not zoned for farm or forestland.

The public will have a chance to engage with developers and city staff during a series of public meetings this summer, McConnell said.

Even as the city moves ahead with the expansion process, it’s still uncertain whether Bend will qualify for the bill. That won’t become clear until late summer or early fall, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development releases data about the portion of households who are “severely rent burdened,” meaning they pay more than half their income to rent.

Bend recently dropped below the 25% threshold required by the bill. Driving that statistic down is a population of renters who have recently moved outside of the city because of high rent costs, McConnell said.

“I fully understand that not every city is going to be able to take advantage of it,” Kotek said on Tuesday. “What was good about the legislation is it set some very clear parameters.”

If approved for the expansion, the 100-acre development would need a density of at least 10 units per acre, likely consisting of “lower-height” units: small apartments, middle-family and single-family housing, McConnell said.

The 30% affordability minimum is higher than most developments resulting from the 2016 UGB expansion, McConnell said.

“I think this has tremendous potential — if we could get 30% affordable (housing), that would be fantastic,” Bend City Councilor Ariel Mendez said during Thursday’s meeting. “But I feel like there’s also real risks here, too.”

He cited the added burdens on transportation, and said the city should consider criteria to avoid parking problems and road congestion.

“I don’t want to just grow in the business-as-usual,” he said.