Last week, the Bend City Council unanimously voted in favor of allowing micro-unit housing as one alternative to address the city’s housing crisis.
Micro-units are small apartments or dorms that range between 150 and 400 square feet, according to City documents, with some spaces offering a communal living space and a kitchen. Other cities like Seattle and Portland have embraced single-room-occupancy living as a way to address the shortage of affordable housing.
During a public hearing on Oct. 7, several people spoke in favor of SROs and said they could work well for remote workers looking for new housing, recent college grads and people without homes trying to transition into a more permanent situation.
Several amendments were added to the original code after the proposal was presented to the Planning Commission last month. Originally, SROs would have been permitted in all residential areas of Bend. Melanie Kebler, who’s running for the Council’s position 1 seat, said some members of the Neighborhood Leadership Alliance pressured the Planning Commission to restrict the zoning to medium and high-density areas.
“The NLA is generally made up of wealthy, white homeowners,” Kebler told the Source. “If you restrict this from standard density residential zones, well that is most areas in the city. You just kept it out of most neighborhoods.”
“Segregation, be it racial or economic, is not healthy for a community.” —David Welton, Bend YIMBY
David Johnson from the NLA testified that these units would essentially be like having a dormitory with no “dorm mom.”
David Welton, one of the founders of a local Yes In My Back Yard movement, was also against the changes: “If only certain, limited areas are designated for different types of housing, rather than see a broader diversity spread throughout all of town, we’ll see those with lesser means concentrated in certain areas,” he wrote in an email to the city. “Segregation, be it racial or economic, is not healthy for a community.”
“We are entering another economic downturn, and have already expressed preference for housing density,” wrote Kathryn Olney in an email. “Now, when housing for all but the wealthy is becoming scarcer and more desperately needed, we need to be finding more ways to provide a wide range of affordable housing.”
While the new code specifically bans the use of the units as short-term rentals, several people testified that they were concerned the units would turn into vacation rentals and become unaffordable.
Councilor Gena Goodman-Campbell encouraged fellow councilors and others “give this a chance.”
“There are more restrictions on micro units than I would prefer,” said Goodman-Campbell in an email. “I’m hopeful that we will still have some of these built and that people can get used to them as an attractive option for people who don’t need or want a lot of space.”
Update: In a previous version of this article, Melanie Kebler’s name was spelled incorrectly.
This article appears in Oct 21-28, 2020.
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Keep them in Seattle and Portland – they DO NOT BELONG in Bend!
Affordable housing for people who work in Bend is essential. This is a practical solution and will help prevent more homelessness. Low income/no income (increasing these days) people live in Bend too, maybe we should stop having selective vision and provide for those less fortunate.
Some people seem to think that only well to do White Folks belong in Bend.
Wow. I expect fairer reporting from the Source. Why did the author not interview someone from the NLA instead of letting such a racist comment be included in this article? Neighborhood Associations do wonderful things for our community and this is a knee jerk reaction to the actual process that happened. I know because I am the Land Use Chair for the Southern Crossing Neighborhood Association, which includes part of the Brookswood Corridor, the area above the Old Mill where IBEX Global has their headquarters, and Woodriver Village. So, my Neighborhood Association is quite diverse economically.
Here’s the truth of the matter and a very important nuance to keep in mind: The Neighborhood Associations were against putting microunits in RS zones because they wanted them to SUCCEED – as anyone who has researched microunits knows they work best in areas with good public transportation, services, and are close to grocery stores. Most of Bend’s RS zones have none of this. In fact, I was the person who lobbied the Planning Commission to include laundry units in microunits when my neighbors pointed out to me that Bend only has about 5 laundromats – none of which are very close to RS Zones. Fortunately, the Planning Commission recommended that laundry units be provided for every 10 units and the City Council agreed – and now laundry units will be part of any microunit development. These actions on my part and my neighbors don’t support the myth that we are elitists who don’t care about others. After all, the proposal for microunits didn’t even include laundromats – which could be construed as downright cruel considering many of the people who will live in microunits won’t have cars and Bend has very cold winters.
Members of the Affordable Housing Authority Committee (AHAC) and those they have influenced to be their media surrogates keep missing this nuance and my neighbors and I are weary of being painted in the media as being NIMBY when we support affordable housing – but we actually want it to succeed not build it just because of some vague concept of trying to make Bend “innovative.” I wish the AHAC would stop writing to the media and going on social media attacking Neighborhood Associations instead of celebrating the wins they did get. Bend’s affordable housing offerings are about to improve significantly and all I keep hearing from AHAC and their supporters is whining about microunits not being allowed in RS zones. Microunits ARE being allowed in Bend – and where they are going to go is appropriate. In addition affordable duplexes, triplexes, and tiny homes will soon be allowed in all housing zones. When Bend gets better public transportation systems and makes Bend more livable (if that is ever going to happen), that is when microunits could work in RS zones.
Frankly, it saddens me that one City Council committee (and now a City Council candidate) uses the media to attack another City Council committee instead of rejoicing for the wins that were gained – wins for affordable housing that Neighborhood Associations support. Neighborhood Associations have no political agenda except to make Bend a better place for YOU. Neighborhood Associations are not supported by special interests and members are not elite, wealthy people as anyone in Bend can be part of one of the 13 Neighborhood Associations in Bend – for free. Consider joining your Neighborhood Association as they actually do wonderful things for every person in Bend.
It’s a shame the Source did not bother to do full research on this story. Good journalism involves looking at both sides of an issue. I hope the Source will consider doing an article on Neighborhood Associations to help readers understand the good work we are doing for our community. I also hope that whomever is elected to the City Council actually listens to Neighborhood Associations as we are the voice of the community and, frankly, our neighbors simply want to be heard.