The nugget., July 22, 2015, Page 21, Image 21

Wednesday, July 22, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
SATISFIED: Sign code
has been changed
and improved
Continued from page 1
89 percent of respondents
very or somewhat satisfied
with street and storefront
beautification; 81 percent
with available parking in the
downtown area; and 71 per-
cent with snow removal from
public rights-of-way.
Lack of affordable housing
is believed to have a negative
impact on employee hiring
and retention by 66 percent
of respondents. Those busi-
nesses that returned their sur-
veys reported having over 550
employees who live outside
the City of Sisters, and own-
ers believe that if there were
affordable housing opportuni-
ties available, 44 percent of
the non-resident employees
would choose to reside in the
city.
The City sign code was
described as too strict by 25
percent, just right by 33 per-
cent, and not strict enough by
seven percent. A full 35 per-
cent don’t know. There were
14 additional comments about
inconsistent or unfair enforce-
ment of the sign codes.
“The old sign code enforce-
ment was complaint-driven.
HARVEST FAIRE:
New location takes
advantage of park
Continued from page 3
the Sisters Area Chamber of
Commerce. “We understand
the significant economic
impact this event has had
on our community, and we
look forward to continuing
in assisting local businesses
and vendors thrive by bring-
ing thousands of visitors
and local residents to Sisters
to enjoy the local shopping
experience.”
Justin Durham, manag-
ing owner of Sisters Coffee
Company said, “While we’re
obviously a little sad to see
the Harvest Faire move away
from Hood Avenue, we do
believe the new location and
layout will provide a bet-
ter experience for visitors.
We are excited to station
our walk-up espresso bar at
Fir Street Park so attendees
may enjoy our espresso and
brewed coffee at the new
site. We are thankful for
the work of the Chamber to
host this event for the past
three decades and look for-
ward to being involved in
the Harvest Faire for years to
come.”
For more information,
contact Jeri Buckmann at
jeri@sisterscountry.com or
call 541-549-0251.
Now it is enforcement
driven,” said City Manager
Andrew Gorayeb.
Staff goes out on an occa-
sional basis to do enforce-
ment sweeps.
Gorayeb reported that
many of the business own-
ers may not be aware that
a sign code review com-
mittee recently completed
a thorough review of the
code, making changes and
improvements and encour-
aged owners to review the
code on the City website.
Sixty-eight percent of
business owners were very
or somewhat supportive of
a proposed paved bike path
from downtown Sisters to
Black Butte Ranch.
There were a number of
written comments regarding
public discourse in Sisters.
All of them alluded to an
atmosphere of negativity in
town, using terms such as
“noisy chaos of nay-saying
project-stoppers,” “bicker-
ing,” and “disruptive open
forums by citizens who
are divisive and confronta-
tional,” and saying the “City
has been negatively changed
by outsiders,” encouraging
the City to not “back down
from ideas because a select
few disagree.”
Two-thirds of responding
business owners live outside
the Sisters city limits and the
suggestion was made that
those owners should be able
to vote in City elections since
their businesses are in Sisters.
Ownership is evenly divided
between men and women,
21
with 76 percent ranging in
age from 35 to 64 years old.
Business owners who
have not completed and
returned the survey, even if
they have already sent in their
license renewal, are encour-
aged by City staff to take a
minute to fill out the survey
and return it to City Hall.
The more surveys turned in,
the more accurate the results,
providing the City with a
clear picture of attitudes
and concerns of the business
community.