County: Crow Board Offers Up to $25,000 Toward Gales Property Fees; Staff to Draft Restrictive Covenant If Rezone Proceeds

BEND, Ore. — Deschutes County staff updated the Board Sept. 29 on outreach with the Gales family regarding a possible rezoning for a parcel known as the Gales property and said the Crow Board has voted to allocate up to $25,000 from its budget to help offset planning and zoning fees.

Eric Cropp, deputy county administrator, and county staff told the board they have invited the landowner, Craig Gales, to brief the commissioners about the proposal and that staff would prepare a draft agreement that would obligate the owner to limit certain uses if the rezoning is approved. The county’s update described a pre-application meeting between the landowner and Community Development and said the likely land-use review process would proceed via a hearings officer if necessary to avoid commissioner conflicts.

What was proposed

- The Crow Board has approved up to $25,000 to help cover community development fees that would be associated with a rezoning application; the funds sit in a county budget though the Crow manages them.

- If the property owner accepts the funds and the rezoning is successful, the county would work with the owner to record a restrictive covenant or similar agreement limiting commercial uses on the site as a condition of the financial assistance.

Next steps and timeline

County staff said they are coordinating times for the landowner to meet the board and that the formal next step would be staff drafting an agreement for commissioner review. Staff indicated the land-use change remains in pre-application stages and did not present an ordinance or final contract for immediate action at the Sept. 29 meeting.

Speakers

- Eric Cropp, Deputy County Administrator (Deschutes County) - Craig Gales (landowner; referenced)

Authorities referenced

- No specific statutes were cited during the update; staff framed the action as a proposed county agreement tied to fee assistance from Crow-managed funds.

Actions

1) Action: Crow Board allocation (already taken) - kind: other - motion: "Crow Board voted to allocate up to $25,000 from Crow funds to help offset planning and zoning fees for the Gales property." - mover/second: not specified (action reported by staff) - vote_record: [] - outcome: approved (at Crow Board level) - notes: Funds reside in county budget; county staff will draft a restrictive covenant agreement should the landowner accept funds and proceed with rezoning.

Clarifying details

- County staff said a pre-application meeting has occurred with Community Development; no formal rezoning application had been presented to the Board of County Commissioners as of the Sept. 29 meeting. - If an application is submitted, the staff said the hearings officer may hear the land-use application because some commissioners had prior discussions with the landowner and would recuse themselves.

Proper names

- Gales property (landowner: Craig Gales) - Crow Board (source of the $25,000 allocation)

Meeting context

- Engagement level: brief update during the joint session; matters remain at pre-application stage. - Implementation risk: medium — depends on landowner decision, successful rezoning and recorded covenant.

Searchable tags:["Gales","rezoning","Crow Board","planning fees","Deschutes County"]

Provenance: [{"block_id":"s-5412.93","local_start":0,"local_end":200,"evidence_excerpt":"I've been in in communication with, Craig at Gail's and proposing that for him to come in and talk to the board of county commissioners about the, proposal where $25,000 from the scribe budget would go to help pay for CDD fees.","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"s-5543.77","local_start":0,"local_end":160,"evidence_excerpt":"The Crow Board has voted to allocate up to $25,000 from the Crow budget, to help offset the costs associated with the planning and zoning fees.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]

Salience: {"overall":0.30,"overall_justification":"Local land-use funding matter of moderate consequence; potential site for housing or other uses but still at pre-application stage.","impact_scope":"local","impact_scope_justification":"Affects a single property and rezoning process.","attention_level":"medium","attention_level_justification":"Board-level funding question with limited immediate community impact."}