Bend council OKs ride-sharing rules, road, sewer plans

Bend city councilors gave final approval Wednesday evening to new rules for taxis and other vehicles for hire, meaning by early May, ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft will be able to operate in the city.

Uber Oregon Public Relations Manager John Isaacs said within the next few weeks, people can apply to be an Uber driver. The company will form a driver support center in Bend, but people can also apply online with the Portland team.

They will have applicants sign an agreement, go through a background check, and have their vehicle thoroughly inspected. Isaacs said there’s no limit to how many people can apply to be a driver.

This new city code encompasses taxis and all Transportation Network Companies, setting rules for insurance, background checks, data and route plans.

City councilors also approved the final design work for reconstruction of 14th Street between Newport and Galveston avenues. When voters approved a bond measure back in 2006 to reconstruct Reed Market Road and add three traffic circles, they also agreed that any leftover money would be used to upgrade aging 14th Street on the city’s Westside.

Bend Mayor Casey Roats said the road does need rebuilding, but the goal is to also provide improved bike lanes, sidewalks and drainage. The available funds only cover two of the three planned phases, so the rest will be part of the discussion later this month, as city councilors discuss transportation goals and project priorities with available transportation funding, such as the eastward extensions of Murphy Road and Empire Avenue.

Councilors also approved a construction contract for new sewer capacity on Bend’s north end, to meet the growing needs of the area, both residential and commercial.

And they approved — on a sharply split vote — adding three new types of master plans for larger properties — institutional, commercial and residential. The goal is better planning for larger projects over 20 acres, including schools and parks.

Roats said if developers want to build large projects, it’s in the city’s interest to make sure as many details are worked out before major changes. That should help the city maintain livability when mayor developments happen.

“We just make sure that regardless of the applicant, that their projects’ impacts and uses are mitigated, and any problems that we can mitigate for in advance, we should and will,” Roats said. “It just gives the community and the council a way to weigh in on the really big projects.”

With a new urban growth boundary in place, the city wants to be sure more master plans happen, to ensure more efficient uses of the land.

One bone of contention led to debate and approval by the 4-3 vote Wednesday night.

A slim majority of councilors decided to remove a time-specific deadline for one facet of big projects in so-called “opportunity areas.” It would have set a deadline for development of a separate parcel after a so-called “density transfer,” allowing a large project to not meet required residential densities if those single-family homes are instead added to another nearby property.

Representatives of property owners and developers said there are too many variables in projects to add such date-specific deadlines to the projects, something they argued has not been done elsewhere on the West Coast. Supporters on the council said the whole density transfer aspect is a “gift” to developers that is totally optional, but a deadline is crucial to ensure adequate housing in the future. Opponents said there are plenty of other aspects of the rules, including public and council review, to ensure that happens.