Property owners are seeking to remove agricultural zoning protections from hundreds of acres of land in rural Deschutes County to allow for low-density or luxury housing in the next few months, before a new slate of county commissioners takes office.
Incoming candidates who will make up the future majority on the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners earlier this year have already said they’ll be far less friendly to rezoning rural lands than the two outgoing commissioners, Tony DeBone and Patti Adair. The pair routinely outvotes a third commissioner, Phil Chang, in support of property owners seeking to change what’s allowed on their land.
“You can’t discount the fact that starting in 2027 there’s going to be a new board that’s going to be seated,” Deschutes County Community Development Director Peter Gutowsky told the board of commissioners at a meeting Sept. 16. “I’m not trying to speak for the applicants, but I think there’s a certain intent from the applicants that some of these plan amendment zone changes will be able to be heard in 2026.”…