Redmond’s planned Oasis Village gets pushback from worried West Powell Butte residents

(Update: Adding video, comments from Powell Butte residents and Mayor Fitch)

REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- At last week's Redmond City Council meeting, community members voiced their opinions on the planned Oasis Village. The village is part of Redmond's homeless service campus, which is planned to be built in 2024.

The village will begin with 10 tiny-bedroom style homes, a kitchen facility, a shower trailer, a restroom trailer and a lounge area on a 1.5-acre property. Land owned by the city near the Redmond Airport and Highway 126 will house the campus, just down the street from NeighborImpact.

Residents will pay $50 to $100 a month in rent and have access to the showers, restrooms and mental health services.

Trish Davis Scheller, who lives with her husband James in the West Powell Butte area, about five miles east of the site, told councilors how she some neighbors feel about the planned village. She argued the campus would bring an increase of crime and fire danger to the area.

"The fear and safety of extreme fire danger in this area, as there's already (been) a very dangerous, major fire from unauthorized homeless camps that had already spread in our direction -- that happened last year, in 2022," Davis said.

On Wednesday, she told us, "This is a big problem, and we don't want to be that close to the Oasis Village and the increased traffic that it's going to bring, and the increased -- all of that."

The Schellers agreed that the homeless in the county need help, but suggested the city not be involved, or at least do more research on locations.

"We have to reach out to these people from a grassroots position, not from a mayor or governmental issue," James said. "We have to reach out to them."

Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch responded to the concerns, telling NewsChannel 21 he believes the new village will be safe.

"We are going to have really strict requirements regarding fire, crime, anything like that. It's not a free-for-all out there. From my perspective I don't think the people out in Powell Butte will even notice it," he said.

Oasis Village was already delayed in 2021 due to funding, but Fitch says there is no stopping the project.

"We've worked on this for years," he said, "It's going forward, and I think it will not only help these people who are homeless will preserve the livability of the community."

Construction has already begun in the area and is expected to be complete this December.