Development Code and Sign Code Updates
The Bend Code regulates land use, building standards, and signage in Bend, adapting over time to meet community goals and legal requirements.
The Bend Development Code is a set of regulations that guide development and land use within Bend. It mainly applies to private property and covers zoning, land use, building heights, setbacks, and other aspects of urban planning—essentially what can be built in Bend. The Bend Development Code implements the Bend Comprehensive Plan.
The Sign Code, which lives in Chapter 9.50 of the Municipal Code, regulate signs that are visible from streets or which are visible from one site to another. The code provides reasonable regulations for the design, construction, placement and maintenance of signs to protect the public health, safety and general welfare of the community. The intent is not to regulate content, only the number, type, location, height and size of signs.
The Bend Development Code changes over time when the Bend City Council adopts new policies to meet community-driven Council goals, such as reducing barriers to building housing or supporting sustainable development, as well as when state adopts new rules. Due to changes that occur in the City’s land use policies, as well as evolving requirements of State and Federal law, the Development Code is dynamic and regularly updated.
Active Code Updates
These are proposed amendments that will be reviewed by and voted on by the City Council. The official public engagement process is ongoing and public comments are being received until the record is closed.
BMC and BDC Update
- CityView File number: PLTEXT20260025
- Staff Contact: Pauline Hardie
- Stage in the process:
- Planning Commission Work Session: June 8, 2026
- Planning Commission Hearing (Recommendation to City Council): July 13, 2026
- City Council Public Hearing and First Reading: August 5, 2026
- City Council Second Reading: September 2, 2026
- The amendments to the BMC and BDC propose the following:
- Implement HB 2138 and HB 4037 to streamline housing production.
- Define “established service levels” and add approval criteria for public utilities to ensure adequate capacity to serve new development.
- Limit cottage and townhouse developments to 12 units for middle housing land divisions, as the state law limits the standards cities may apply, including maximum block length and perimeter. This is particularly important for these housing types which can involve many more units than duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes.
- Clarify there is no opportunity for a local appeal of the following decisions:
- Decisions on an application for the development of housing that use clear and objective standards.
- Decisions by the Hearings Officer, Landmarks Commission, or Planning Commission.
- Decisions on an Expedited or Middle Housing Land Division application.
- Decisions on an application for an Adjustment under BDC Chapter 5.3, Adjustments.
- Revise middle housing land division approval criteria to better align with Minimum Development Standards Review criteria for townhouses, triplexes, quadplexes, and cottage cluster developments.
- Include additional revisions to other sections of the BDC to improve consistency and clarity.
Amendments to Bend Municipal Code Chapter 9.50, Signs
- CityView File number: PLTEXT20260207
- Staff Contact: Kim Voos
- kvoos@bendoregon.gov; 541-388-5530
- Stage in the process:
- Planning Commission Hearing (Recommendation to City Council): August 10, 2026
- City Council Public Hearing and First Reading: September 2, 2026
- City Council Second Reading: September 16, 2026
This proposal includes some minor amendments to Bend Municipal Code Chapter 9.50, Signs, based on input from the community. The amendments include:
- Streamlining section 9.50.090 Standards for Permanent Signs, providing a better flow, and moving some signs such as window signs, suspended signs, and directory signs from this section to 9.50.050 Signs Exempt from Permit Requirements.
- Changes to building signs include allowing more sign choices for nonresidential and multi-unit developments.
- Changes to how sign area is calculated for individual tenant spaces and canopy structures, an increase in sign area for Sign District 5.
- Allowance of illumination for subordinate facades visible from the Bend Parkway.
- An increase to the height allowed for projecting signs in lieu of a freestanding sign where buildings are close to the street.
- Allowing electronic components for monument and ground mounted signs for Public and Institutional uses in residential zones and Sign Districts 4 & 5.
Recently Adopted Code Amendments
Below is a list of code changes that were recently adopted by the Bend City Council and are now in effect.
Bend Development Code amendment to BDC Table 2.2.300, Permitted and Conditional Uses, to prohibit new auto-dependent uses in the Convenience Commercial (CC) zoning district.
- CityView File Number: PLTEXT20240514
- Ordinance No. 2519
- Adopted: December 18, 2024
- Effective Date: January 17, 2025
Bend Development Code amendments to implement certain Oregon state laws and legislation to facilitate housing development. The amendments also eliminated the requirement to apply for building permits in advance of, or concurrently with, a Middle Housing Land Division application, they removed the local option to request that City Council hear appeals on quasi-judicial development applications and the option for Council to call up and review a decision of the Hearings Officer or Planning Commission, and they supported development of townhomes, cottage developments and shared courts.
- CityView File Number: PLTEXT20250128
- Ordinance No. 2515
- Adopted: December 4, 2024
- Effective Date: January 3, 2025
Bend Code amendment to update the boundary of Sign District 6 based on recent changes to the Bend Parkway alignment.
- CityView File Number: PLTEXT20240451
- Ordinance No. 2513
- Adopted: November 20, 2024
- Effective Date: December 20, 2024
Bend Development Code amendment to implement the Oregon Model Flood Hazard Management Ordinance.
- CityView File Number: PLTEXT20240438
- Ordinance No. 2510
- Adopted: November 6, 2024
- Effective Date: December 6, 2024
Bend Development code amendments related to tree preservation and street tree and planter strip landscaping requirements.
- CityView File Number: PLTEXT20230178
- Ordinance No. 2503
- Adopted: July 17, 2024
- Effective Date: August 16, 2024
- CityView File number: PLTEXT20250226
- Staff Contact: Amy Barry and Kim Voos
- Stage in the process (public hearing, etc): Approved
- A high-level summary includes:
- Provide more flexible standards for the number, location, and duration allowed for portable signs such as A-frames
- Allow murals to be painted by hand directly on a flat display structure secured to a building’s exterior wall
- Allow some types of electronic signs such as for drive-throughs and portions of freestanding signs
- Increase in the height allowed for wall signs
- Clarification as to what is counted toward maximum sign area and how it is allocated for multiple signs
- CityView File number: PLTEXT20250128
- Staff Contact: Pauline Hardie
- Stage in the process (public hearing, etc): Adopted on June 18, 2025 and will go into effect on July 18, 2025
- Ordinance 2532
- A high-level summary includes:
-
- A second kitchen in a dwelling unit.
- Up to two accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on a lot or parcel.
- A new housing option called “rowhouses” in the RL, RS, RM and RM-10 Districts.
- Minor amendments to BDC Chapter 3.8, Development Alternatives.
-
The Planning Division periodically updates the Bend Development Code (BDC) to update various standards and processes to better align with local practice and with Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) and Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR). This package of amendments is the latest effort to update the Code. While there are some substantive changes in this update, the intention was not to tackle larger policy issues. The changes are intended to be helpful to the community and developers, and to aid the Community Development Department staff in implementing the Code.
- CityView File Number: PLTEXT20250392
- Ordinance No. 2541
- Adopted: November 19, 2025
- Effective Date: December 19, 2025
CityView File number: PLTEXT20250658
- Staff Contact: Pauline Hardie
- Stage in the process:
- Planning Commission Work Session: January 12, 2026
- Planning Commission Hearing (Recommendation to City Council): January 26, 2026
- City Council Public Hearing and First Reading: March 4, 2026
- City Council Second Reading: March 18, 2026
- The amendments to the BDC propose the following:
- Add exemptions to the tree preservation requirements.
- Replacement Trees: Allow mitigation replacement trees to count towards the 40% parking lot tree canopy required by the Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities (CFEC) rules.
- Allow a deferral of installation of replacement trees under certain conditions.
- Create a discretionary path for on-site root protection zones.
Historic Versions of the Development Code
The Bend Development Code is always updated to show the most recent code changes adopted by Council. If you have a land use application submitted on a date prior to the effective date of Bend’s current development code, the applicable codes will be those in place on the date the application was submitted.
Previous versions of the Bend Development Code can be found on the Bend Development Code website. Click “Track” and go to “historic versions.”