Deschutes County Delays Movement on East Redmond Encampment

The Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners is looking at plans to evacuate those in a growing encampment on east Redmond property following a code violation in the area. The violation is on County-owned property near the garbage facility, Negus Transfer Center.

After years of discussing the removal of houseless people living on the nearly 1,333 acres, the commissioners decided on April 30 to continue the discussion at the end of May, given a series of ongoing projects currently in or around the area.

According to a Deschutes County memo, the code violation involved public health and safety regulations, stating that a lack of sanitary disposal systems and unapproved structures warranted immediate attention.

The County land in Redmond is approximately 1,333 acres. Several projects are proposed or in motion on the property, including a proposed emergency management facility and training center, CORE3. Other projects include 3.2 acres considered for Oasis Village, a transitional housing development, 9.48 acres for a Mountain View Community Development housing community and 10 acres for a managed homeless camp, operated by the County.

Last summer, County Commissioners voted to form a managed camp on the east Redmond property, following years of deliberation around relocating those living on the land. The plans called for a camp on 45 acres of land, offering an alternative location for people to go.

The decision was prompted by plans for the Department of State Lands and Deschutes County to swap two parcels of land in the area – giving DSL 137 acres of industrial land and the County 140 acres of land for a planned Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center expansion. In the spring of 2023, the DSL made it clear that the County’s 137 acres needed to be clear of people and debris before a land exchange could take place.

On April 30, Deschutes County Administrator Eric Kropp advised the Commission to delay the decision on the code violation and come back to it once a planned closure at Juniper Ridge, an area containing encampments near Bend, takes place, and the managed camp in Redmond is set up.

“We don’t have the resources or ability to address this code enforcement complaint right now,” Kropp said at the April 30 meeting.

While County Commissioners Phil Chang and Tony DeBone seemed interested in putting the code enforcement on hold until certain projects, like the managed camp, were up and running, Commissioner Patti Adair called for clear plans and action in the near future.

Adair made it clear that she no longer wants to delay the discussion.

“We’ve been talking about this way too long and we, the County, need to step up,” she said. “I don’t want it to be, like, in a year…I want something actually done.”

Following a lengthy discussion on the various projects taking place in the area, they decided to come back to the discussion as soon as the end of May.

Commissioners also requested that staff members provide a strategy, considering the other projects on the lot, that will help inform the timeline of relocation people from the area.

This article appears in Source Weekly May 8, 2025.