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What’s at Stake?

Register for the Awbrey Butte Neighborhood Association (ABNA).

Your Neighborhood Association (NA)

is one of 13 NAs established by the Bend City Council to fill 2 vital roles:
  • Serve as primary communications channel between the City and our residents.
  • Accurately represent our residents' views to the City.
NAs serve a very different role than that of Homeowners Associations (HOAs). In fact, within our boundaries there are over 20 HOAs, and roughly 7,000 residents on over 3000 tax lots.
NAs participate actively in the issues that affect your quality of life such as:
  • Speeding in our Neighborhood
  • Street Preservation & New Road Construction
  • Public Safety Concerns
  • Land Use
  • Other important matters advanced by residents (you!)
NAs are the channel that the City officially recognizes for these and other issues. ABNA provides our residents a voice in these decisions.
THE CAVEAT

...We can't fulfill our role unless you register!

ONCE YOU REGISTER

...We can reach you with timely information from the City on issues while there is still time to make your voice count.

...You will have access to several ways of expressing your views on exisiting issues and a way to bring new issues up for consideration.

The Board's role is to facilitate discussion, debate and action on the issues you raise. But we need our members to tell us what issues matter to them. All these thoughts lead in the same direction. Register today!

The Registration process is short, membership is free, and once you've registered, your level of involvement and contact is entirely up to you.

For those of you that want to be further involved, we strongly encourage members to work on any of the issues that they consider important. We can use your help. Your involvement provides you with the opportunity to directly contribute to the outcome for the issues that most concern you. It also provides additional transparency to how the ABNA operates - something your Board strongly supports.

Join our Facebook Group at www.facebook.com/groups/ABNABend

TRAFFIC & SAFETY

Traffic and Safety
 

CHALLENGE

In 2017 Bend had the 2nd worst road crash record in Oregon and it will only worsen as our population increases by 30% unless we take action to make our streets safe for vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians.

Our Police Department is underfunded and the Traffic Detail has shrunk from 6 to 2 officers even as the City has doubled in size!  Mt. Washington Dr., Archie Briggs Rd., Awbrey Road and Summit Drive are all examples of flagrant disregard for the posted speed limits, but the problem isn't limited to those major arteries as growing traffic congestion encourages more and more motorists to use residential streets.  In addition, City infrastructure plans will add traffic to Awbrey Butte residential neighborhoods and OSU expansion will increase traffic significantly on Mt. Washington Dr.   

SOLUTION

ABNA has researched the solutions implemented by other cities that face identical challenges to road safety.  Your Board has already coordinated talks between residents, HOAs and the City regarding specific ways to calm traffic and reduce risk to road users and surrounding communities – with results! Traffic monitors on MT. Washington and Archie Briggs and Awbrey Rd.  New speed and parking signage on Archie Briggs. The dialogue on proposals for both physical and technological means for traffic management continue with the City Planning Dept., Street Maintenance Dept., and Police Dept.

A group of ABNA members met August 25th, 2018 to discuss the formation of a task force to promote traffic calming with the City.  A draft scope of work and action plan was discussed and a summary of the meeting can be found under ABNA Initiatives/Road Safety.  If you share the safety concerns of many residents on Awbrey Butte - and across the City - we would welcome your participation, ideas and energy to help the City Leadership change driving behavior in Bend.  Please keep an eye on the ABNA calendar for our next meeting. 

WILDFIRE PREPARATION

Fire Preparation

Be Prepared

when fire strikes.
CHALLENGE

Like other communities that have recently suffered destruction from wildfires, Bend sits on the edge of forest land with historically high levels of combustible fuel. Decades of fire suppression and logging practices that removed the mature, more fire resistant trees have promoted the growth of brush, grass, and younger, less fire resistant species of trees. An ecosystem that evolved with frequent, smaller fires that kept fuel levels too low to burn the mature Ponderosa Pines has been transformed into a fuel rich environment sufficient to ignite even the largest remaining trees and more easily spread to neighborhoods. Combine this with years of drought and we have a condition that presents a serious risk to our homes, our community, and our safety.  

SOLUTION

Residents and neighborhoods can greatly reduce their risk by removing fire fuels close to their homes. For a thorough discussion of the steps you can take to increase your safety, attend the April 23, 2020 ABNA General Membership Meeting. (For details, click on the event calendar link on our home page.) Boone Zimmerlee, director of Project Wildfire  and FireFree here in Central Oregon, and Kevin Stock, Fire Management Officer for the Bend/Ft. Rock Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest, will discuss what steps Bend residents can take to protect their lives, homes, and communities from wildfire. Their presentation will cover the resources available to residents. It will also detail the help these agencies plus Bend Fire and Rescue can provide to Home Owners Associations to assess the neighborhood's fire preparedness and help create a plan to reduce the risk of fire spreading through the neighborhood. Many of Bend’s Home Owner Associations have become Firewise Certified by Firewise USA. Rimrock West is one of these and, just a few years earlier, was used by a COCC professor as an example of one of Bend’s 5 worst fire prepared HOAs. Simple steps can greatly reduce your risk. Come to our April 23 meeting to learn what you can do to protect your home, family, and neighborhood.

THE BEND LIFESTYLE

The Bend Lifestyle

Bend provides

and maintains access to outdoor recreation activities in a beautiful and healthy environment.
CHALLENGE

Maintaining ready access to the natural wonders of Central Oregon, along with workforce and visitor needs for mobility across the City, requires well planned transportation options and infrastructure.  An ever-increasing number of new residents and visitors has stressed our transportation infrastructure and services to breaking point. We are at the start of a new Transportation planning cycle with millions of dollars available from Federal and State agencies.  Our City actively seeks input from Bend residents and needs them to engage, actively participate and contribute to transportation development.

SOLUTION

Resident participation in City initiatives to help transportation improvements through Standing and Special Committees.

A Director of your Board has been selected for the Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee and the Traffic Safety Sub-Committee. Research by your ABNA Board triggered an ‘Innovative Transportation Initiative’ between Oregon-Cascades University, Central East Transit, MOVE BEND, City Leadership, and ABNA. This initiative will create a Bend Mobility Lab that will pilot innovative transportation solutions – including autonomous transit, micro-transit, and MAAS (Mobility as a Service).

THE BEND EXPERIENCE

The Bend Experience

Bend offers

big city amenities with a small town vibe. Keeping this unique experience in the face of unparalleled growth requires all stakeholders to engage in shaping our future.
CHALLENGE

Commercial, Residential, and Land Development need to reflect the input of all stakeholders within Bend.  Neighborhood Association constituents need an equivalent status to Business, Tourism, and Real Estate Development.

SOLUTION

A role for Neighborhood Associations equivalent in status to existing advocacy groups for Business, Tourism, and Land Developers.

Your Board, in conjunction with Neighborhood Associations across Bend, has gained the support of City Council for such a role, and The Neighborhood Leadership Alliance was added to the Bend City Code in July 2018. This Committee, a new Advisory Committee, will consist of a representative from each of the thirteen Neighborhood Associations and will provide input to the City on urban growth strategy, policies, ordinances, and City Services.

Our active involvement with development plans can contribute to economic prosperity while protecting the key characteristics that make Bend uniquely attractive and livable.

STAR FILLED SKIES

Star Filled Skies

A beautiful starscape

is a privilage we enjoy and is a treasure worth defending.
CHALLENGE

We are losing our view of the night sky due to light pollution from unshielded commercial lighting across the City.

SOLUTION

Enforce the City lighting code at both the design and construction stages of new developments. Revise the City's lighting code to reflect changes in new technology and adopt best practices implemented by similar communities across the country.

NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER

Neighborhood Character

Bend neighborhoods

possess a strong sense of community and our residents exhibit a high degree of civility.
CHALLENGE

Congested streets, limited parking, noise, air and light pollution all diminish the livibility of the City and lead to more stress and less civility.

SOLUTION

Participation by all Stakeholders in shaping Bend’s growth will lead to balanced and appropriate development across the cityscape and incorporate the projected 30% growth in our population without losing the unique characteristics of our town.