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Deschutes County split over Conquest Road gate permit; road staff urges denial and code rewrite
Summary
The county's road department recommended denying a gate permit for Conquest Road in the Eastbourne subdivision, citing land-use conflicts, emergency access and precedent; commissioners signaled they want a new ordinance and asked staff to return with options and potential permit conditions.
On Jan. 26, 2026, the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners debated a contested gate-permit application (G-25-01) for Conquest Road in the Eastbourne subdivision after the county engineer recommended denial.
County Engineer Cody Smith told the board that under ORS 368.056 county governing bodies have authority to issue permits for gates on county roads, but road staff concluded the Eastbourne proposal raises multiple legal and operational problems. Smith said road staff's four central concerns were: (1) land-use conflict because converting the gated segment to a de facto private road would bypass subdivision rules that require a PUD or cluster-development review; (2) emergency-response delays and potential liability even with rapid-entry systems; (3) interference with utility providers' statutory access to rights of way; and (4) precedent and administrative burden because…
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