Long-debated Thornburgh Resort near Redmond faces another public hearing as appeals continue

(Update: Adding video, comments from Deschutes County)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Thornburgh Resort, first proposed in the mid-2000s, faces yet another public hearing Thursday evening regarding the destination resort's proposed 80 overnight lodging rooms.

Angie Brewer, a senior planner for Deschutes County Community Development, says it’s hard to tell how close the project is to happening.

“As it sits right now, there is an approved final master plan for the destination resort,” Brewer said Wednesday. 

She said the 1,970-acre destination resort southwest of Cline Butte near Redmond still has more appeals and applications to go through. 

“Overnight lodging units were approved conceptually in the master plan, but again there are the necessary site plan approvals for the actual physical development,” Brewer said. 

The resort was initially proposed in 2005 to include 475 overnight lodging units and three golf courses, but has faced criticism from some local residents and organizations on water use and other issues.

“There’s been a series of appeals on very specific issues, and it’s gone through several courts several times,” Brewer said. 

Although construction vehicles were present at the site on Wednesday, Brewer said only one phase of the approval process is complete. 

“There will be future phases, but again I don’t have those proposals in hand, and we have not yet received them,” Brewer said. “I would not expect it to happen before the end of the calendar year, let’s put it that way.”

The public hearing is on an appeal claiming the resort fails to comply with a new state and county resort law, which requires 2.5 individually owned units to every one overnight lodging unit.

“This destination resort is unique, in that its legal history is rather extensive,” Brewer said. “But as far as a proposal goes, there are several other resorts in Deschutes County that have had similar proposals, similar size.”

Nunzie Gould, who filed the appeal, said she encourages the public to participate in the hearing and reach out to the county with any questions.

Kameron DeLashmutt, the developer of the resort, has not provided a comment to NewsChannel 21.

The public appeal hearing will be held over Zoom on Thursday at 6 p.m. Documents can be viewed and downloaded here.