PRESS RELEASE (10/16/08) TO: Bend Bulletin; Daily Journal of Commerce; Oregonian; East Oregonian; Klamath Falls Herald and News; Madras Pioneer; Redmond Spokesman; Eugene Register-Guard; Hood River News; Dalles Chronicle; [Tigard] Times; [Sisters] Nugget Newspaper; Bend Weekly; Sunriver Magazine and Chamber of Commerce; Medford Mail Tribune; Hermiston Herald; La Grande Observer; Baker City Herald, KTVZ television, KOHD television, KBND radio, KITC FM radio, Crestview Cable Channel 4, Cascade Business News East Editor, Frontier Advertiser, KQAK FM radio, KSJJ FM radio, Wise Buys Ads, La Pine Chamber of Commerce, Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association City of La Pine Selects Welkin Environmental team to prepare City’s first Comprehensive Plan
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DATE:October 16, 2008 CONTACT: Larry Epstein, lle@welkinenvironmental.com, 503-598-1866, ext 20 (work) or 503-317-3182 (cell) La Pine City Manager Christine Nelson announced today that the City has contracted with consultant Welkin Environmental to prepare the initial comprehensive plan for the city, the newest and 242nd city in Oregon. Incorporated in November 2006, La Pine has a population of about 1585 people and occupies roughly seven square miles in southern Deschutes County. The La Pine Comprehensive Plan will be the first such plan written since 1986, when the Land Conservation and Development Commission approved the last two plans in the state (for Grant County and the City of Granite) except for the City of Damascus, which was incorporated in 2004 and continues its initial comprehensive planning process. Welkin’s planning coordinator, Larry Epstein, FAICP, will manage the consulting team, which includes former Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) Central Oregon representative Brent Lake, former Deschutes County Community Development Director John Andersen, Registered Geologist and Certified Water Rights Examiner Terry Sprecher in Bend, Portland-based DKS and Associates transportation engineers, and engineers and planners at Tigardbased Welkin Environmental and Welkin Engineering, PC.. The City expects to take eighteen months to complete the La Pine Comprehensive Plan. The process will start with a vigorous public education and participation campaign, including a gala public kick-off event on Wednesday evening, October 29, from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the La Pine Senior Center (16450
Victory Way, La Pine (541) 536-6237). Residents of the City and environs are encouraged to attend that meeting. In subsequent months, the consultants will lead the City through an exhaustive public involvement, goal setting, information gathering and plan preparation and review process. The City’s comprehensive plan must comply with Statewide Planning Goals, which involve public participation, land use planning, farm and forest land, natural, scenic, historic and recreational resources, air, water and land quality, natural hazards, recreation, economics, housing, public services, transportation, energy conservation and urbanization. A future project is expected to create zoning and development regulations to implement the comprehensive plan. The City’s comprehensive planning process is funded largely by a technical assistance grant from DLCD.