16
Wednesday, April 24, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
GROWTH: Sisters
lacks inventory for
expected growth
Continued from page 1
National Forest lands sur-
rounding the city and the
lack of much land that could
be brought in to expand the
Urban Growth Boundary
(UGB).
With the apparent contin-
ued growth of the popula-
tion, it is prudent to address
the housing needs now, when
there is still the opportunity
to plan wisely for the growth.
Before finalizing the
HNA, which will inform the
new Comprehensive Plan
for the City, Community
Development Director
Patrick Davenport told a
joint meeting of the Planning
Commission and the Housing
Policy Advisory Board, <We
need community conversa-
tions regarding what we want
Sisters to look like in the
future.=
The recently completed
Sisters Horizons Vision pro-
vides some direction regard-
ing growth.
Davenport said there are
certain givens to be taken
into consideration, including
needing to address statewide
land-use goals and whether
the City has the infrastructure
to support the growth.
The last comp plan was
completed in 2005, with
input gathered in 2003-04,
just a few years after the
sewers went in. The city has
changed dramatically in the
past decade-and-a-half.
Planning Commissioner
Bob Wright pointed to the
many strategies called for
in the earlier comp plan that
have been instituted, noting
that the general public may
not be aware of much of their
work. They want to review
what has been done that
worked and see how they can
do even better.
The commissioners all
agreed, <We need to have
everyone on board to be
able to provide for what9s
coming.=
What is coming (or is
already here) is the reality
that Sisters is not going to
have sufficient buildable land
to meet the PSU population
projections.
Planning Commission
Vice Chair Jeff Seymour
said, <We need to give the
community time to accept
the changes [that are com-
ing]. We must be open and
transparent with the public
to help them understand the
needs and our decisions.=
The open house on May
2 is an opportunity for citi-
zens to educate themselves
on the facts. There will be
display boards showing vari-
eties of housing options, a
zoning map, buildable lands
inventory map, and current
housing map. Staff will pro-
vide a brief presentation,
including an explanation of
the State building and land
use requirements. The staff,
Planning Commission, and
Housing Policy Advisory
Board want to hear from the
citizens and will be available
to answer questions.
If the City were to <close
the gates= to further growth
(if that was possible), in a
short period of time the city
would become an enclave for
the rich, as no new housing
inflates the prices of avail-
able real estate. And right
now, the focus is on provid-
ing more affordable housing.
The key is for the current
residents to be educated on
the facts and issues, and to
become involved in finding
solutions that will work for
the greatest number.
Scott Edelman, Central
Region Representative for
the Oregon Department
of Land Conservation
and Development, told
the Planning Commission
that Sisters is not alone in
their conundrum regarding
growth. Hood River is in a
similar situation, with the city
bounded by the Columbia
River and long-established
orchards. His advice to the
commissioners is to look at
<what can we do with what
we have.= That may mean
looking at farm and for-
est land, increased building
heights, and more density.
Davenport made note of
the fact that at this point in
time, Sisters has some per-
missive zoning, allowing for
the building of single-fam-
ily detached homes (SFR)
on land zoned multi-family
(MFR). In other words, land
zoned MFR doesn9t have
to have only MFR units;
SFR are also allowed. In
the Village at Cold Springs,
which is zoned MFR, Hayden
Homes was allowed to build
mostly SFR units because of
the permissive zoning. They
still haven9t built the apart-
ments that are part of their
Master Plan, and the City has
had to institute a requirement
that no certificates of occu-
pancy will be granted for
the newest SFR units until at
least half of the apartments
are built.
H a y d e n 9s p r o p o s e d
McKenzie Meadows Village
development would create
the same situation 3 a major-
ity of SFR homes in a MFR
zone. Therefore, the City is
not getting the most out of
the MFR properties.
Density means more peo-
ple, more traffic, and more
demands on infrastructure,
things people fear will down-
grade the quality of life in
Sisters. There are also posi-
tives, like more students for
our schools that are facing
challenges in enrollment.
More people create a larger
tax base, not only for the
City, but all of the special
taxing districts. Growth also
means more business and
more employees for our local
merchants and more afford-
able housing so employees
can live and work in Sisters.
The May 2 meeting is an
opportunity to learn more,
ask questions, and give voice
to concerns and ideas about
growth.
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Planners cleaning up code
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
At their April 18, 2019
meeting, the Planning
Commission reviewed a pro-
posed Development Code
text-amendment application.
There are 12 amendments
that will go before the Sisters
City Council on April 24 as a
single application.
Five of the amendments
were discussed at an earlier
meeting including Master
Plan requirements, dwell-
ing unit definition, childcare
centers in the Downtown
Commercial Zone, minor
variances, and residential
units in the North Sisters
Business Park.
Last week the Planning
Commission reviewed the
seven remaining amendments
with some deletions, addi-
tions, and modifications
approved. Currently, no
building of service stations
is allowed in the Downtown
Commercial Zone. Those
stations currently in that
zone were grandfathered
in and may not make any
changes to their buildings.
Modifications will be made to
allow for renovations to exist-
ing stations. The required
conditional-use permit for
electric charging stations at
the service stations will be
removed.
Some inconsistencies in
the regulations regarding
Urban Area Reserve lands
need to be corrected. Existing
accessory structures such
as cargo containers will be
considered a legal noncon-
forming use but new ones
will only be allowed for
temporary uses. Residential
amenity buildings like club-
houses can be approved as
part of a Master Plan, but if
added at a later date, a site-
plan review will be required.
Clarifying language will
be added to the require-
ments on the phasing of
subdivisions.
The requirement saying a
family member or the owner
must live in either the pri-
mary house or the ADU will
only be required for long-
term rentals. The requirement
for public art to be approved
by the Planning Commission
is being removed.
The Council will review
the amendment package and
any recommended changes
will be sent back to the
Planning Commission.
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