16
Wednesday, May 24, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
ANNEXATION: Strictures
on development have
contributed to delay
Continued from page 1
into the city by a public vote
in 2006, subsequently receiv-
ing approvals for an original
annexation agreement in 2009
and two later revisions in 2010
and 2011 to reflect infrastruc-
ture improvements, made by
the owner, and refined devel-
opment plans.
Thus began a long and
costly journey through
approvals for a comprehen-
sive plan and zoning map
revision, master plan, prelimi-
nary subdivision plat, master
plan modification, site plan,
and multiple extensions to
the master plan and subdivi-
sion plan. A number of these
approvals have now expired
due to delays caused by mul-
tiple formal appeals by a third
party, including filings with
the State of Oregon Land Use
Board of Appeals.
In 2011, the City approved
a site plan for an 82-unit
assisted-living facility and a
maintenance building on the
property. The property owner
had contracted with Yakima-
based Pinnacle Alliance
Group to develop the assisted-
living facility, to be called the
Lodge at McKenzie Meadow
Village. The repeated inability
of Pinnacle to secure financing
for the Lodge project resulted
in delays for the overall devel-
opment of MMV due to overly
prescriptive terms of the
annexation agreement.
As currently written, the
agreement requires that a
senior-living facility be devel-
oped before any additional
development can occur on
the property. After multiple
contract extensions, when
Pinnacle failed to secure
financing, the contract with
them was eventually not
renewed and a new agree-
ment was reached with a Bend
developer to build the senior
living facility.
What followed was a
series of legal challenges by
Pinnacle owner Mark Adolf
to the application to develop
a senior/assisted-living facil-
ity at MMV. At the same time,
Pinnacle received land use
approval to build an assisted
living facility on another
site in Sisters. MMV owners
believe that Pinnacle will con-
tinue to create legal obstacles
to the development of a senior
living facility at MMV. At this
time, Pinnacle’s development
process sits idle.
Subsequent to the origi-
nal annexation agreement in
2009, Sisters has continued
to grow, housing prices have
continued to escalate, and the
housing supply continues to
fall short of what is needed.
The rental vacancy in Sisters
is very low and the availability
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of residential lands is decreas-
ing while the demand for
housing is increasing.
The requested amend-
ment to the annexation agree-
ment is primarily focused on
three aspects: The require-
ment to provide affordable
housing at a minimum rate
of one unit per 10 dwelling
units would be retained, but
the prescriptive nature of how
the units are provided would
be removed. The affordable-
housing provisions dealt
with affordable senior hous-
ing, called for affordable
units to be “evenly distrib-
uted” throughout the prop-
erty, and related to housing
sizes, styles, and design types.
Since annexation, afford-
able-housing needs in Sisters
have continued to increase,
affordable-housing provid-
ers and funding sources
have changed, and the abil-
ity to provide senior hous-
ing (affordable or standard
market rate) has proven to be
extremely challenging.
Currently, housing for
all age categories is needed
in Sisters. Although there
are benefits to spreading
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that the public park require-
ment be removed. By remov-
ing the language and allowing
it to be provided and addressed
in the master plan process, the
needs of the City would be
accommodated and the owner
would be provided flexibility
in design. Maintenance of the
future park/open space would
not be the responsibility of the
City.
The proposed amendments
are intended to recognize
changes in the community
since the original annexation.
The amendments would also
allow efficient development of
MMV and housing provided
as intended by the City’s com-
prehensive plan and required
by the City’s development
code.
The proposed amend-
ment spells out clearly the
provisions regarding afford-
able housing, water rights,
infrastructure, master plan,
and open space. It recog-
nizes the changes in circum-
stances identified by MMV
and changes in City needs that
warrant revising the original
annexation agreement to bring
it current.
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affordable housing units
throughout the site, providers
can more efficiently secure
funding and provide housing
when economies of scale are
realized from adequately sized
projects. By removing the pre-
scriptive affordable-housing
elements, more flexibility in
design is possible and housing
is expected to be provided as
quickly and efficiently as pos-
sible. The one-in-10 require-
ment would be met through
the required master planning
process.
Since annexation, MMV
has been rezoned to include
a 1.8-acre open space and the
City’s Parks Master Plan has
been revised to identify a park
in the open space zoned area.
The proposed amendment
would remove the rigidity of
a “designated and dedicated
public park,” and instead, pro-
vide the option of a park/open
space that is publicly avail-
able, but maintained via a dif-
ferent mechanism, such as an
owners association.
The City currently doesn’t
have the financial resources
to maintain another dedicated
public park, and would prefer
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