Why is this community called The Peaks 360?

710 Properties, LLC, named the project "The Peaks 360" as a nod to their commitment to taking a holistic approach to every aspect of this project. While the property boasts a stunning panoramic view of more than 10 Cascade Mountain peaks, the “360” in the name also refers to the team’s values of responsible design, environmental sustainability, and giving back to the community beyond the property boundaries.

Where is The Peaks 360 located?

The Peaks 360 community will be built on 710 acres of private nonfarmable land about 10 miles west of downtown Redmond, Oregon.

What is happening with this private property?

The Peaks 360 team is focused on creating a modern housing community to meet a changing market that is experiencing significant population growth and limited rural housing options. It will be a self-sustaining housing community, with the goal of predominantly utilizing solar power to generate electricity. Each site is expected to be about 10 acres.

Who is the team behind The Peaks 360?

The Peaks 360 team is a small group of Deschutes County homeowners whose collective goal is to combine their skills and resources to expand opportunities for Deschutes County families to achieve a sustainable, rural lifestyle. The team is focused on providing jobs and housing and helping to meet community needs in Deschutes County. Meet the team:

• Mark Stockamp – Bend resident and ultra-runner, Mark can usually be found on the trails around Smith Rock or Newberry Volcanic Monument. He enjoys combining his passions for ultrarunning and helping others to host personal fundraiser runs, which have raised a combined $50,000 for NeighborImpact, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and The Cerebral Palsy Foundation. He lives on rural residential land in southern Bend with his wife and pets and is hopeful to provide much needed additional rural residential housing for Deschutes County through this exciting project.

• Robert “Tiger” Turner – Tiger has been a Deschutes County resident since 1969, living most of his life in La Pine and currently living in Sisters with his wife, a local small business owner. Tiger enjoys hunting and snowmobiling around Central Oregon with his six grandkids, and is passionate about preserving the beauty of this region.

• Charles Thomas – A native Oregonian, Charles has been a Central Oregon community member for nearly 30 years. He grew up visiting Sunriver with his family in the early ‘70s and has admired the area ever since. Now, he and his wife live on The Peaks 360 property, where they enjoy a sustainable, rural lifestyle. By experiencing off-grid living firsthand, they have been able to experience the benefits of this way of life and are committed to identifying ways to make it more accessible for all. In his off time, you can find Charles and his wife out fly fishing.

• Dale Stockamp – Dale and his family have been members of the Deschutes County community for over 25 years. Before getting involved in the housing industry, he founded and managed a health care consulting company that employed hundreds of Oregonians and improved the financial performance of hospitals to better serve their patients. He and his wife have also founded a successful nonprofit organization that serves thousands of Oregonians and supports others around the nation. His community-first philosophy guides The Peaks 360 and ensures the benefits of this project extend far beyond our property boundaries.

Why are you building The Peaks 360?

Historically, this private property has not been used for much of anything. The Peaks 360 team wants to give this property purpose in Deschutes County for more families to enjoy. An extensive soil study, conducted by a professional soil scientist, concluded that this property is not suitable for agricultural use. Additionally, the team understands supply of all levels of housing – especially rural housing – is desperately needed in Deschutes County. With the region’s population growing rapidly, using this nonfarmable land for housing will provide more opportunities for Deschutes County families in the ever-changing housing market.

What makes The Peaks 360 unique?

The Peaks 360 team has the utmost respect for the land, environment, and community. They are currently working with a team of environmental and traffic experts to balance the need to increase rural housing supply while minimizing impact to existing land. Through responsible, thoughtful design, their goal is to be good stewards of the land and build a sustainable community. Beyond commitment to environmental stewardship, The Peaks 360 team is actively identifying ways to support the local community by dedicating significant resources to issues that serve the people of Deschutes County. Our focus is helping people who are disadvantaged and struggling with housing, basic needs, and youth development.

Which experts have you engaged for this project?

• Soil Analysis - Brian Rabe, Managing Soil Scientist, Valley Science & Engineering / 35 years’ experience

• Wildlife Habitat Analysis - Wendy Wente, Ph. D, Biologist & Senior Ecologist, Mason, Bruce & Girard, Inc. / 15 years’ experience

• Traffic Impact Analysis - Chris Clemow, Transportation Engineer, Clemow & Associates / 30 years’ experience

• Water Analysis - GSI Water Solutions, Inc., Senior Hydrogeologist / 40 years’ experience

• Wildfire Mitigation Analysis - Craig Letz, Wildfire Management Professional, Tamarack Wildfire Consulting / 30 years’ experience

Why are you proposing a rural residential community?

To better understand the property, The Peaks 360 team engaged a team of environmental experts to conduct a soils analysis and wildlife habitat assessment. Both reports were thorough and took months to collect and report on important data. The findings conclude that the land is not suitable for farming (due to very poor soil quality), there is no wildlife area combining zone over the property, and there are actionable ways to improve the vegetation on the property. The Peaks 360 team is working with several environmental experts to ensure responsible design throughout the planning process.

This rural residential community is consistent with the zoning of many of the neighboring properties in our area.

Is the property suitable for agricultural or farm use?

The Peaks 360 team engaged various agricultural and farm experts to understand the suitability of their property for agricultural or farm use. Here are their professional evaluations:

• “As a lifelong leader in the Central Oregon agricultural industry, I can say with certainty that any claim that this property is farmable is not accurate. A comprehensive third-party soil analysis found these soils to be largely Class VII and Class VIII, which wouldn’t support a working farm by any stretch of the imagination. Additionally, the land is not irrigated, which means any potential farm use would be severely limited.” - Matt Cyrus, President of Deschutes County Farm Bureau & Oregon Family Farm Association
• “The subject property is not in Three Sisters Irrigation District’s (TSID) boundary and it is not possible to deliver TSID water to this property. Additionally, there are currently no water rights for sale by any of TSID’s water users. Over the last 3 years, there has only been a few acres transferred in the District.” - Marc Thalacker, Three Sisters Irrigation District Manager
• “The land is not irrigated, and water is not accessible nor affordable. Additionally, with a complete lack of farmable soils, significant vegetation is not viable and could not support livestock. Given my experience in cattle ranching and knowledge from visiting this property, I would never invest time, effort, or money in land of this quality. It is too rocky and has no water to operate even a feed lot operation.” - James Stirewalt, 4 Point Ranch, LLC
• “For several reasons, I would never consider grazing this property because I would not recoup my setup costs to fence, remove rock, pay property taxes, and attempt to establish water rights. It doesn’t make sense to want to pay the property taxes on a property to just store hay, because I would need to truck hay in and out of the property. - Russ Mattis, Mattis Ranch
• “Unfortunately, the structure of the property creates many difficulties for an equine related industry. Whether horse breeding, training, or horse boarding, there are so many problems for startup that I could never recommend initiating such a project. A few problems for an equine related business on this property are: lack of irrigation, difficulty setting up horse safe fencing into such rocky and uneven land, and the out of the way location for horse lovers.” - Fran Robertson, Robertson Ranch
• “The subject property is not suitable for agricultural uses such as livestock grazing. The property is poor quality rangeland located on a hilltop plateau with no water and very limited access. Significant improvements (fence construction, etc.) would be required before any grazing activities could occur. The costly improvements that would be needed only to graze a small number of livestock on the property make such agricultural use of the property not economically feasible.” - Rand Campbell, Hopper Ranch and Back Forty Hay Farm

How exactly will The Peaks 360 strive to be self-sustaining?

With advancements in satellite and solar technology, The Peaks 360 is planning to be predominantly self-sustaining with solar energy. The property is ideally located atop a rimrock plateau, which receives year-round sun exposure.

How will The Peaks 360 impact the native ecosystem?

The Peaks 360 team engaged various environmental experts to conduct a thorough assessment of the property. The experts confirmed that there is no wildlife area combining zone over the property and offered the project team actionable advice on how to design a master site layout to best accommodate and enhance the local environment.

How will The Peaks 360 impact wildfire risk?

This new sustainable rural housing community will help Redmond, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Lower Bridge Estates development be more fire ready. Currently, if a wildfire reaches the property, there is no feasible way for a ground crew to fight the fire. Constructing a new road network will provide access to a large segment of land that is currently unreachable by roads. The team is currently working closely with wildfire management professionals at Tamarack Wildfire Consulting to ensure this community improves wildfire preparedness for current and future residents.

How will The Peaks 360 impact water usage in surrounding areas?

The Peaks 360 team engaged hydrogeologists at GSI Water Solutions to conduct a comprehensive water use study. This study found the proposed water use for The Peaks 360 rural residential community is not likely to have a measurable effect on neighboring wells/groundwater levels because of the robust aquifer properties.

How will The Peaks 360 impact traffic patterns?

The Peaks 360 team engaged a traffic engineer to conduct a comprehensive traffic study of the property area. The engineer provided a thorough assessment of existing roadways showing there is minimal existing traffic and impacts to the adjacent properties will be quite small. The traffic study also found there are no safety concerns with this new rural residential community and all roads are anticipated to operate safely and efficiently.

How will The Peaks 360 benefit Deschutes County?

The Peaks 360 team is dedicated to utilizing local labor and resources to the greatest extent feasible. This new community will naturally create numerous employment opportunities for many years to come in local construction, utilities, landscaping, home maintenance, and other service industries. The Peaks 360 team will also provide rural housing options for homebuyers as Deschutes County continues to experience rapid population growth and a shortage of housing supply.

With the community striving to be self-sustaining, this decreases reliance on the existing power grid and improves collective resiliency in the face of natural threats like wildfire and earthquakes that cause power disruption.

The Peaks 360 team is also passionate about serving its community through financial giving. The team is dedicating significant financial resources from project proceeds to local nonprofits directly serving the people of Deschutes County, with a specific focus on homelessness, financial assistance and support services, as well as youth development.

What is the timeline for The Peaks 360?

Projects like this don’t always have a straightforward timeline.

Their plan amendment/zone change application has received both a favorable recommendation from a Deschutes County Hearings Officer and approval from the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners in December 2022. The County's approval of their application was appealed, and they are now proceeding through Oregon's land use appeals process.

The Peaks 360 team is confident that the facts and evidence presented throughout their land use application process indicate this property should have a rural residential zoning designation.

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