Proposal to rezone 710 acres west of Terrebonne for rural housing draws fire at hearing

(Update: Adding video and comments from hearing)

TERREBONNE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A Deschutes County hearings officer heard testimony Tuesday from many residents and a land-use watchdog group opposed to a proposal to rezone 710 acres west of Terrebonne from farmland to rural residential that would allow about 70 homes on the property.

The proposal from applicant 710 Properties LLC and landowner Eden Central Properties LLC, both of Sisters, would allow up to one home for every 10 acres on the land near Coyner Avenue, Lower Bridge Way and Buckhorn Road, but has drawn objections from the group Central Oregon LandWatch and nearby farmers, among others.

A total of 160 public comments were in the file as of the hearing, such as a letter from nearby farmer Binny Skidgel, who said the "most pressing" concern was groundwater levels, having had to lower their irrigation well pump in 2020 due to dropping water levels and this year their residential well pump as well.

The applicants said in their submittal that the main farm use on parcels without irrigation water rights is grazing cattle, but wrote, "The extremely poor soils found on the property, however, make it a poor candidate for dryland grazing."

A representative for the applicant says they're not in it for the money.

"This project is really not about maximizing profits. If we're trying to maximize profits, we would do it a lot differently," Dale Stockamp said. "First, we'd be pursuing higher housing density than the current residential 10 acre zoning that we're currently applying for."

"The comments by the developer about the affordable homes," said Becky Powell. "I don't see any homes within a 10-acre parcel in that area would be in fact affordable." A representative for the developer later said they addressed others' mention of affordable housing and did not indicate that is planned for this land.

Traffic is another factor Skidgel raised: "Our road system is inadequate for this degree of an increased traffic load."

A neighbor says he's seen many dead animals on the road, due to cars speeding on the winding roads. With the way things are going, he's terrified of more traffic and its impact.

"Say there were eventually 70 homes -- that is 140 potential cars traveling each day. If we have these fears and concerns already based on what's existing," said Ryder Redfield. "I don't even want to know what's going to happen."

The applicants submitted a traffic impact analysis and said the area's roads were adequate to handle any increased traffic from the proposed rezoning.

Bend resident Renee Sweezey sent a letter in which she called the proposal "a misguided, mangled and deeply flawed project that would be extremely detrimental for the land, for wildlife and for the overall quality of life in Central Oregon."

A lawyer for the applicants countered critics later at the hearing by saying there is no designated wildlife-protection habitat mapping under state land use Goal 5 on the property, and that any actual subdivision proposal would bring requirements to mitigate any traffic or other impacts.