Bend launches multiyear growth-plan process, officials outline timeline and state requirements

City planners told the Bend City Council on July 16 that the city will begin a multiyear update to its growth plan to meet new state requirements on housing need and climate-friendly areas and to integrate transportation planning with land-use decisions.

The presentation by Senior Planner Brian Rankin framed the update as a multi-package, multi-year effort that will start in early 2026 and likely run into 2029–2030. Rankin said package 1 will focus on determining land need and capacity, package 2 will evaluate options for meeting any additional need (including whether to expand the urban growth boundary), and package 3 will adopt a Transportation System Plan that reflects the chosen land-use outcomes.

Rankin said the growth-plan work must satisfy several new state-level requirements — including the Oregon Housing Needs Assessment and the Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities rules — and that the project will incorporate equity and engagement activities throughout. “This is a multiyear project,” he told the council, “it’ll start next year. It’ll end in ’29, ’02/1930, depending on some council actions,” noting the schedule is driven by statutory deadlines.

Why it matters: the growth-plan update will set policy for where and how Bend grows for the next two decades. Rankin said the city expects to identify both infill opportunities inside the existing urban growth boundary and options for an expansion if the housing-capacity analysis shows an unmet need. He said the work will feed long-term transportation and utility planning and that the city must coordinate with Deschutes County and other agencies for any UGB change.

Details and schedule: Rankin said the city intends to put a consultant team under contract by early 2026 and start the formal work soon after. He described technical tasks the team will undertake: a buildable lands inventory, a contextualized housing-need analysis, an employment/industrial land analysis, and integrated transportation modeling. Rankin also highlighted new state requirements that require ongoing monitoring of outcomes such as housing production and equity metrics.

Council discussion: Councilors asked about how the city’s adopted policy goals (for climate, water conservation, safe streets and complete neighborhoods) will be incorporated. Rankin said council goals and related policies will be woven into the project and that the RFP will request public-engagement tools to reach broader audiences. Councilor Franzosa asked whether the RFP and procurement process would be reviewed by the city’s public contracts body; staff said they would report back with specifics once the RFP is further developed.

Next steps: staff said they will draft the consultant RFP and return to council with a contract request by the end of the year. Rankin described several public-facing deliverables that will be considered in packages and said the city will host outreach events and online open houses during the analysis phases.

The council did not take action on the growth plan at the July 16 meeting; staff asked for input on the proposed sequencing and the early engagement approach.