Public hearing on Cascades Academy plan amendment and zone change set open-record window through July 16

The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners opened a hybrid public hearing Wednesday on a proposed comprehensive plan amendment and zone change affecting about 22.5 acres adjacent to the existing Cascades Academy campus and set an open-record schedule for additional written materials.

Senior planner Nicole Mardell summarized the request: the applicant seeks to change the comprehensive-plan designation from agricultural and surface mining to a Rural Residential Exception Area and to rezone the property from Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) and Surface Mining to Multiple-Use Agricultural (MUA 10). The property includes seven tax lots totaling 22.5 acres; roughly 4.03 acres are in a surface-mine overlay and about 18.47 acres are EFU. Staff noted mapped wetlands associated with an on-site irrigation canal and a Landscape Management (LM) combining zone near State Highway 20 and the Deschutes River.

Applicant counsel and witnesses presented evidence that: a) several tax lots previously associated with surface mining were not actively mined or used for storage in recent years; b) site-specific soils studies were conducted for each tax lot and showed predominantly NRCS classes 7 and 8 soils; and c) the applicant intends to use the land for Cascades Academy campus expansion. School leaders testified about stewardship, experiential education, and past campus investment; a former owner addressed property use and water rights.

Opposition testimony was presented by Central Oregon LandWatch, which argued the land qualifies as irrigated high‑value farmland and raised legal and procedural objections, including reliance on NRCS mapping and a 2001 county decision treating reclamation as complete. LandWatch’s counsel also expressed concern that the applicant’s environmental-consequences (EC) analysis could allow MUA uses “without limitation.” State Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) staff provided written comments on the EC and the record includes DLCD correspondence dated June 9.

After oral testimony, the board agreed to keep the written record open to allow new evidence and responses: submissions of new evidence and testimony are due to county staff by 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 2; rebuttal materials are due by 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 9; and final argument (applicant only) is due by 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 16. Staff advised all written materials should be sent to Nicole Mardell at nicole.mardell@deschutes.org and warned that the county cannot accept materials by web links alone; files must be received on the county server before the deadline.

Planning staff and the hearings-officer record outline issues that surfaced earlier in the process, including whether the 1992 Goal 5 inventory and EC support rezoning without a new EC and questions about wetlands and visual impacts in the LM overlay. The applicant asked the board to adopt hearings-officer findings where applicable and requested the 14/7/7 open-record schedule to respond to LandWatch and DLCD comments; the board agreed and closed the oral portion of the hearing.

Next steps: the board will review the written submissions received during the open record and may set a deliberation date; staff said comments submitted during the July window will be added to the record for the board’s decision.