HomeMy WebLinkAboutBend Airport Rezone - Staff Docs
MEMORANDUM
To: Board of County Commissioners
From: Peter Russell, Senior Transportation Planner
Date: Sept. 24, 2014
Re: Rezoning at Bend Airport to re-establish Airfield Operations (AO), Aviation Support
(AS), and Airport Related Industrial District (ARID) zones (File 247-14-000156-ZC)
Background
The Bend Airport is owned by the City of Bend, but sits on land zoned and administered by the
County. During preparation in March for a City of Bend open house on future helicopter
operations, City and County staff discovered several zoning errors. First, 16 acres on the
northeast edge of the Airport and the intended site of the proposed helicopter operations is
incorrectly shown as Exclusive Farm Use (EFU), when in fact the land is zoned Airport
Development (A-D). Second, in 2003 the City applied to the County to adopt the 2002 Bend
Airport Master Plan, but the maps for the AO, AS, and ARID subzones were not adopted due to
a procedural defect. The result is no aviation uses can now be approved at the Bend Airport.
The City has applied in File 247-14-000156-ZC to correct these errors.
Planning Commission Summary
Staff held a work session with the Planning Commission (PC) on Aug. 14, 2014, and the PC
was concerned about how the zoning miscue might adversely affect businesses approved at the
Bend Airport between 2003 and now. The uses would be considered legally established non-
conforming land uses. A second question was for a reiteration about the boundaries of the A-D
zone. The boundaries of the A-D zone were established in 1980 by Ord. 80-222 and described
in that ordinance as “Tax Lots 200 and 300 of Section 20, Township 17 South, Range 13 East”
and “Tax Lot 200 of Section 17, Township 17 South, Range 13 East.”
On Aug. 28, the PC held a public hearing, closed the record, and decided by a 7-0 vote to
recommend to the Board that File 247-14-000156 be approved as submitted.
EFU or A-D?
The City of Bend Airport has existed since 1942. When County zoning was developed in the
1970s, the lands were zoned EFU. Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) Ordinance 80-221
created the A-D zone and Ordinance 80-222 gave a written description of the A-D lands that
received a Goal 3 (Agriculture) exception from the Department of Land Conservation and
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Development (DLCD). The described areas also appeared on maps that were exhibits to Ord.
80-222. BOCC Ord. 82-031 adopted the A-D zoning map for the 340 acres at the Bend Airport.
In the mid-1990s a third-party vendor digitized the County’s paper zoning maps and
inadvertently made a scrivener’s error, incorrectly listing16 acres on the northeast edge of the
Bend Airport as EFU instead of A-D. This error was not discovered in either the 1994 or 2002
updates of the Bend Airport Master Plan. The error was incorporated into the County’s GIS
database for zoning.
1994 Bend Airport Master Plan Update
The City updated the 1979 plan in 1994, but did not formally apply to the County for adoption.
2002 Bend Airport Master Plan Update
The City updated the 1994 Bend Airport Master Plan in 2002 and applied to the County for
formal adoption. The 2002 BAMP reports no changes in local land use or airport zoning had
occurred since the 1994 BAMP, although State guideline regarding incompatible land uses
adjacent to airports had been completed since the 1994 BAMP. The 2002 BAMP contains the
1994 BAMP as an appendix and the County used these to guide land use decisions.
In the inventory of existing lands on Page 12 the 2002 BAMP does state:
“However, during a review of existing zoning for this project, it was discovered that a small
area near the northeast corner of the airport is zoned Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) rather
than Airport Development (AD). County planning staff indicated this was most likely an
oversight, which may have been created a mapping error at some earlier point. The City will
pursue re-zoning the small area from EFU to AD at some time in the future. Aviation-
related uses are permitted outright in the AD zone. Conditionally permitted uses include light
and general industrial uses. Fifteen acres of airport property south of Nelson Road and 80
acres of airport property north of the runway, both used as Runway Protection Zones,
are zoned EFU.” (Emphasis added)
The figure labeled “Preferred Development Alternative” shows the problematic parcel on the NE
side of the airport as labeled EFU.
On Page 80 of the 2002 BAMP the plan again summarizes the airport’s zoning as “…the
majority of the airport is zoned Airport Development (A-D) with areas of exclusive farm use (sic)
(EFU) located at the north and south ends of the airport.”
2012 Bend Airport Master Plan
One aspect of the 2012 update is the rise of rotary wing, aka helicopter, operations at the Bend
Airport. The Airport Layout Plan (ALP) in the 2012 update depicts helicopter operations on the
16 acres on the northeast side of the current runway. Initially, staff thought the land was zoned
EFU, however after extensive research County staff agrees with City staff that land is in fact
zoned A-D.
EFU or A-D conclusion
The language in both the 1994 and 2002 Bend Airport Master Plans is incorrect; the entire 340
acres of the Bend Airport are zoned A-D and have been since 1980. The current land use
application corrects the EFU error. At a later date, the City will apply to the County to formally
adopt the 2012 update in a subsequent land use action, which will require public hearings
before the PC and Board.
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AO, AS, and ARID subzones
The City applied to the County to adopt the 2002 updated Bend Airport Master Plan, which
added the AO, AS, and ARID subzones to the A-D zone. BOCC Ord. 2003-035 adopted the
2002 Bend Airport Master Plan into the County’s Comprehensive Plan. BOCC Ord. 2003-036
repealed and replaced DCC 18.76, adding the text for the three subzones into a new DCC
18.76 and mapping those subzones. The subzones’ text appears at DCC 18.76.070 through
090. While the text was adopted correctly, the maps were not and the procedural defect of
BOCC Ord. 2003-036 has had unintended consequences.
Legally the maps for the AO, AS, and ARID subzones do not exist, which means the subzones
cannot be administered. The upshot is the only zoning in effect at the Bend Airport is the A-D
zone. Unfortunately, the text for A-D was changed drastically as part of BOCC Ord. 2003-036.
Before Ord. 2003-036 the A-D zone read this way regarding core aviation uses:
“18.76.020 Uses Permitted Outright
A. Airport and non-structural uses such as fuel storage, tie-down areas, and parking
facilities;
B. Hangars, aircraft site, sale and repair facilities and related offices”
That zoning language was then replaced by the language in Ord. 2003-036, which balkanized
the A-D zone into three districts, apparently based on the concepts from the 1994 BAMP. The
intent was to have the zoning districts’ current and planned uses at the airport be in better synch
in the amended DCC 18.76 (A-D zone).
The A-D Purpose Statement at DCC 18.76.010 states “[T]he A-D Zone is composed of three
separate zoning districts, each with its own set of allowed uses and distinct regulations, as
further set forth in DCC 18.76.” (Emphasis added). The three zones set forth in Ord. 2003-036
were Airfield Operations District (AOD) at DCC 18.76.070; Aviation Support District (ASD) at
DCC 18.76.080; and Aviation-Related Industrial District (ARID) at 18.76.090. The ASD is the
largest at 118 acres, AOD has 105 acres, and ARID has 35 acres. These three are the only
zoning district in 18.76 that allow aviation or aviation-related uses.
After Ord. 2003-036 the A-D zone reads this way:
“18.76.0.30. Uses Permitted Outright
A. Class I and I road or street projects…
B. Class III road or street projects
C. Operation, maintenance, and piping of existing irrigation systems…
D. Farm use as defined in DCC Title 18”
The only allowed conditional uses are farm accessory buildings, utility facilities necessary for
public service, and selected excavation, grading, and fill and removal operations. No aviation or
aviation-related uses are allowed; they were all shifted to the AOD, ARID, and ASD zones.
AO, AS, and ARID conclusion
The County has administered the AO, AS, and ARID subzones for a decade, believing the maps
were adopted correctly and the zones were in full force and effect. The procedural error, where
the maps were not adopted as separate exhibits, was discovered by City staff in March 2014 as
part of the research on the EFU or AD question regarding the 16 acres on the northeast side of
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the Bend Airport. File 247-14-000156ZC will simply re-establish the three subzones the County
thought it had adopted in 2003.
Next steps
The Board will hold a public hearing and at its conclusion the Board will have several options:
Continue the hearing to a date certain
Close the oral record and leave the written record open to a date certain
Close the oral and written record and hold deliberations at a date certain
Close the oral and written record and hold deliberations immediately
Staff would be happy to answer any questions.
Attachments:
Air photo comparing boundaries of 1980 and 2003 A-D zone
Map of AO, AS, and ARID subzones
Source: Esri, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, i-cubed, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping,
Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo, and the GIS User Community
Airport Development Zoning
1982 vs. 2003
1982 Zoning
2003 Zoning
Z
1" = 750’
March 11, 2014