Bend planning panel approves home at 2049 NW Lakeside Place with 5‑foot river setback variance

The Bend Planning Commission approved a waterway overlay zone application Monday that will allow a new single‑unit, detached home at 2049 Northwest Lakeside Place to include a covered patio that dips 5 feet into the site’s 100‑foot setback from the Deschutes River.

The commission unanimously approved staff’s recommendation to grant the application PLWZ2024‑0709 subject to standard conditions; staff asked the commission to omit a previously proposed Condition 5 after the applicant provided the requested paint‑color information.

Alexa Repko, an associate planner in the city’s current planning division, presented the staff report and recommended approval. Repko said the 10,407‑square‑foot lot is in the residential standard‑density zone and the waterway overlay, that the proposed 2,063‑square‑foot two‑story house and 718‑square‑foot attached garage meet Chapter 2.1 and Chapter 3.5 development standards, and that the applicant proposes to retain two existing trees larger than 4‑inch DBH. “Staff recommends that the Planning Commission approve this waterway overlay zone application subject to four conditions of approval, all of which are standard in nature,” Repko said.

Repko told the commission the site lies within the city’s Deschutes River Corridor design review combining zone and that, because this lot is outside the riparian corridor and outside the mapped floodplain, the review was limited to the design‑review criteria in the Bend Development Code. For the site the code prescribes a 100‑foot setback from the ordinary high water mark (OHWM); Repko said the proposal would leave the main house outside the setback but the covered patio would encroach roughly 5 feet, yielding a 95‑foot setback for that feature. She said the commission may approve a lesser setback and impose requirements such as public access or additional landscaping.

John Jordan, the project designer, explained the application for owners Chad and Sunny Trot. Jordan said he found the site “build‑ready” because utilities, the sidewalk and the driveway apron already exist, and that the design keeps the house above the rim rock and preserves significant trees. “We have also selected mostly natural wood and stone materials of muted natural tones in the interest of blending with the natural environment,” Jordan said.

Chad Trot, who identified himself as the property owner, told the commission the project team is complying with sight‑line and design requirements. “We are absolutely abiding by sight lines and doing everything as absolutely respectful as possible,” he said.

A neighbor, Douglas Bini, who said he owns two properties north of the subject lot, urged the commission to deny the encroachment. Bini described the riverbank there as steep rim rock and said earlier tree removal on adjacent lots had altered the local windbreak and views. “It was sickening to my stomach,” Bini said, describing removal of mature trees on a nearby property. He said he was concerned about grading and about raising the lot in a way that would alter existing relative grades and view lines, and said he wanted the commission to enforce the waterway overlay rules to avoid raising the site further.

In deliberations commissioners discussed the code and precedent. Commissioners and staff noted that the river setback varies by stretch of river and that previous approvals in other reaches have ranged in their lesser setbacks; staff said the commission has authority under the code to approve setbacks as little as 40 feet from the OHWM on a case‑by‑case basis while the nominal standard for this area is 100 feet. Several commissioners said the proposal preserves the main house outside the required setback and that the only encroaching feature is a partially covered patio with the roofline aligned to the neighboring rooflines.

Commissioner (motion maker not specified) moved to approve the waterway overlay zone application PLWZ2024‑0709 for the new single‑unit detached dwelling at 2049 NW Lakeside Place based on staff findings and the recommended conditions, omitting condition number five because the applicant provided the information it required. The motion was seconded (second not specified) and approved by voice vote; the record shows the motion was adopted and the application approved. The transcript does not record a roll‑call tally for each commissioner.

The approval requires the applicant to comply with the conditions of approval recommended by staff, which cover tree protection, stormwater, design‑review requirements and standard construction and site‑protection measures. Staff recorded that the project will meet the Bend Development Code standards for setbacks (except the limited patio encroachment approved by the commission), lot coverage, building height, on‑site drainage and dark‑sky exterior lighting.

The commission also noted the Ponderosa Master Plan and comprehensive plan text amendment will be heard at City Council on Feb. 19; commissioners canceled the Feb. 24 commission meeting because no matters were scheduled for that date.

The commission’s decision allows the owner to proceed with the design approved by staff and the commission. Opponents may still have appeal options under the Land Use Board of Appeals process if procedural grounds exist; staff and the hearing record cautioned that issues not raised with specificity at the hearing can be barred from later appeal.

What’s next: The project must satisfy the conditions of approval and any building and permitting requirements before construction can begin.