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County to pause enforcement on East Redmond property while staff draft phased plan to address encampments
Summary
After extended discussion, commissioners directed staff to hold the active code-enforcement case in abeyance and to return within about 30 days with a phased plan tied to managed-camp capacity, land transfers and other milestones to address large unauthorized encampments east of Redmond.
The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday directed county staff to hold a current code-enforcement case in abeyance for the property east of Redmond that contains widespread unauthorized encampments and to return with a high-level, phased plan within roughly 30 days to guide remediation and relocation efforts.
Angie Havener, administrative manager for Community Development code enforcement, and Community Development Director Peter Gutowski presented three options for addressing violations on the East Redmond property: put the enforcement action in abeyance, pursue a voluntary compliance agreement with benchmarks and timelines, or initiate policy GA-23 to remove unpermitted homeless encampments in coordination with property management, legal counsel and the sheriff’s office.
Deputy County Administrator Eric Croft and other staff emphasized that several parallel efforts affect the situation, including a potential land swap with the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL), an anticipated managed camp on county land near the encampments and other housing initiatives such as Juniper Ridge and Core 3 planning. Croft recommended placing code enforcement in abeyance while the land-swap and managed-camp work proceeds, and staff develop a practical, phased approach for clean-up and relocations.
Commissioners stressed the urgency and repeated that enforcement without sufficient alternate housing and services would merely displace people. Several commissioners urged tight timelines, quarterly or even monthly check-ins and that any future voluntary compliance agreement include clear benchmarks, timelines and coordination with services such as shelters, mental health and substance-use treatment providers.
By the end of the discussion the board directed staff to hold the enforcement case in abeyance for the near term and asked county administration and community development to draft a phased staging framework—tied to actions such as managed-camp opening, property conveyances or TSSA wind‑down—and to return to the board with a draft plan at the May 28 meeting. Staff indicated they would provide progress updates periodically as the parallel projects proceed.
