[Note: LandWatch and the City are both substantially revising their technical approach to determining a 20-year residential need. Given that, this analysis is somewhat less relevant than before. We will be issuing another critique when appropriate.]

Back in July, when the City and County Planning Commissions held joint hearings on the Bend UGB Expansion, LandWatch prepared and entered into the record a critique of the City's Residential Land Study. The point of the "RLS" is to calculate the number of acres the city needs to bring in to an expanded UGB to create a land supply - including existing vacant and redevelopable land within the current UGB - suitable for handling 20 years worth of residential growth.

Based on its work in the RLS and a related memo referred to as the efficiency memo, the City calculated a twenty-year need for 2,550 gross acres of residential land. Owing to several technical errors, which LandWatch has detailed in the "Technical Fixes" memo attached below, we believe the city has substantially overestimated its actual need, which we believe to be 1,234 acres.

HeadWaters Economics, who also just released this study on the potential economic impacts of a Badlands Wilderness east of Bend, has also released a new study on the potential for future development on fire-prone lands and the implications on future fire-fighting costs. The report, which addresses fire risk throughout the west, also as a section on Oregon.

For those interested in keeping tabs on the Bend City Planning Commission's UGB workshops, the schedule is attached below. There are seven of them and each has a particular topic starting with Statutory Priorities, Urban Area Reserve, and Special Districts on Monday, September 17th at 5:30pm at the Deschutes County Building, 1300 NW Wall Street.