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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2022)
Wednesday, February 2, 2022 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon CLASSIFIEDS NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby given that the City of Sisters Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing regarding the applications listed below. The hearing will be held according to SDC Chapter 4.1 and the rules of procedure adopted by the Council and available at City Hall. Prior to the public hearing, written comments may be provided to Sisters City Hall at 520 E. Cascade Avenue, Sisters (mailing address PO Box 39, Sisters, OR 97759) or emailed to eshoup@ci.sisters.or.us. Comments can be submitted until 3 pm on February 17, 2022 and should be directed toward the criteria that apply to this request and must reference the file number. For additional information, please contact Emelia Shoup, Assistant Planner at 541-323-5216 or eshoup@ci.sisters.or.us. The staff report and recommendation to the hearings body will be available for review at least seven (7) days before the hearing. All submitted evidence and materials related to the application are available for inspection at City Hall. Copies of all materials will be available on request at a reasonable cost. Due to continuing COVID-19 concerns, the public hearing will occur virtually, via Zoom. Meeting information, including the Zoom link, will be posted on the Planning Commission Agenda and can be found on www.ci.sisters.or.us/meetings. PUBLIC HEARING: February 17, 2022 at 5:30 pm FILE #: Sun Ranch Lofts / City File no. SP 21-05, SUB 21-02 APPLICANT/Gerald Johnson & Layne Cook Johnson OWNER: LOCATION: 300 E Sun Ranch Drive, Sisters OR 97759, Taxlot: 151004BD00200 REQUEST: The Applicant is requesting approval of a Subdivision of the 1.12-acre parent parcel (Lot 11 in Sun Ranch) resulting into four ±11,000 square feet daughter parcels. The applicant is also requesting approval of a Site Plan Review for four 1,500 SF mixed-use commercial buildings with lofts units. APPLICABLE CRITERIA: City of Sisters Development Code (SDC) Chapter 2.14 3 North Sisters Business Park District; Chapter 2.15 3 Special Provisions; Chapter 2.11 3 Airport Overlay District; Chapter 3 3 Design Standards; Chapter 4.1 3 Types of Applications and Review; Chapter 4.2 3 Site Plan Review; and Chapter 4.3 3 Land Divisions. T H E N U G G E T N E W S P A P E R C L A S S I F I E D S!! They're on the Web at www.nuggetnews.com Uploaded every Tuesday afternoon at no extra charge! Call 541-549-9941 Deadline for classified is Monday by noon SUCCESS: Traffic patrols, enforcement increased in Sisters Continued from page 1 and three deputies to be sta- tioned in Sisters. City staff interacts directly with Lt. Chad Davis, who reports to the sheriff. The deputies are all assigned full-time to Sisters, rather than a variety of deputies rotating through, which was stipulated to cre- ate the kind of community relationships Sheriff Nelson referred to. The DCSO patrol vehicles all carry the City of Sisters logo to foster that community identity. Nelson acknowledged the results of a recent city- wide public safety survey that called out wildfire and traffic as local residents9 top concerns (see <Wildfire, traf- fic top citizen concerns,= The Nugget, January 26, page 1). The Sheriff9s Office plays a secondary roll to fire districts and the U.S. Forest Service in regards to wildfire. In regards to traffic, Nelson sited a near- doubling of traffic stops year- over-year from 2020 to 2021. The year 2020 saw 793 traf- fic stops; in 2021 there were 1,472. He noted that traffic stops don9t equate to tickets; most stops result in a warning. Residents in Sisters have noted a considerably more visible patrol presence on Sisters9 streets and in high- traffic zones. The public survey showed that 74.9 per- cent of respondents believe that the Deschutes County Sheriff9s Office contracted law enforcement service is very or somewhat effective. Asked whether he is satis- fied with that rating, Sheriff Nelson said, <We always try to improve what we do.= The Sheriff9s Office does not set speed limits. Nelson acknowledged that the City of Sisters is strongly consid- ering a reduction in speed limits. A recent traffic safety audit recommended reducing speed limits across Sisters to 20 mph. Nelson said that patrol deputies will adjust their patrol response to whatever limits the City sets. <When it comes to speed limits, I9ll leave that to the local community,= he said. Nelson said that the cur- rent contract provides suf- ficient law enforcement coverage even as Sisters is poised to grow, with the new Sisters Woodlands develop- ment adding some 359 new housing units in the com- ing years. However, he said, if the City of Sisters wants more deputies on hand as the community gets more popu- lous, he is open to that dis- cussion. He also noted that DCSO is doubling the size of the Community Action Target Team (CATT), which can conduct focused patrols in areas where problems are identified 4 including traffic issues, vandalism, and illegal drug activity. Interest in law enforce- ment as a career has taken a hit in recent years, due to an intense social and cultural climate. In 2020, DCSO con- ducted three back-to-back recruiting drives. Nelson acknowledged that recruiting for DCSO continues to be a challenge, though he cited some improvement. <We9re actually having higher success rates in filling open positions,= he said. However, he said, <The interest in going to work in a law enforcement agency appears to be down.= Nelson also said that there is a 75 to 80 percent <wash- out= rate for recruits either in the background check or the field-training phase of recruitment. <And that9s a good thing,= he said, <because you want the best people in this difficult work.= Maintaining the Deschutes County Jail is a manda- tory element of the Sheriff9s Office9s role. According to information provided by DCSO, the jail is 12 sworn positions short of full staffing of 93 sworn deputies. Some citizens have expressed con- cern that the staffing shortfall raises safety concerns for both staff and inmates. < We 9 r e a d e q u a t e l y staffed,= Nelson told The Nugget. <I know very few agencies that ever reach full staffing, because it9s fluid.= COVID-19 safety has complicated operations, with the jail required to reduce capacity to meet proto- cols. Nelson said that there are options when staffing becomes an issue. He said DCSO can call back retired staff or transfer patrol depu- ties into the jail. <Forced release (of inmates), that9s an option I9d rather use as a last resort,= he said. (Editor9s note: The Nugget will more closely examine how the Deschutes County Jail operates in coming weeks.) Sheriff Nelson, who was appointed to the position of Sheriff by retiring Sheriff Larry Blanton in 2015 and ran for the office success- fully in 2016, has come under heavy media scrutiny in recent weeks. Oregon Public Broadcasting ran a lengthy piece on Dec. 14, 2021, depicting what it called <a culture of retaliation= in the Sheriff9s Office. In 2016, Nelson was chal- lenged by then-DCSO Deputy Eric Kozowski, who alleged cronyism, workplace harass- ment, and retaliation. Nelson won the election with 55 per- cent of the vote. Kozowski was fired in 2018, after mul- tiple internal affairs inves- tigations, characterized in the OPB story as focused on <minor violations.= Kozowski sued Nelson and Deschutes County. In August 2021, a fed- eral jury awarded Kozowski more than $1 million, finding that Nelson retaliated against Kozowski for running against him. Bend police officer Scott Schaier also questioned Nelson9s leadership and the culture of DCSO in an unsuc- cessful 2020 bid for the office. In interviews with The Nugget, Nelson has consis- tently argued that multiple personnel issues portrayed by opponents as evidence of turmoil in the Sheriff9s Office are actually representative of a focus on accountability and transparency, in what he considers to be insistence on aligning with the values of the Sheriff9s Office. 21 One of those values is fis- cal responsibility. A local citi- zen recently asked why <fis- cal responsibility= had been removed from the DCSO mis- sion statement. Queried on that by The Nugget, Nelson acknowledged that he did make that change, instead placing it amongst the values of <Integrity= in the DCSO statement of mission and values. He said that fiscal respon- sibility is based in the values of the individual personnel of DCSO. <Fiscal responsibility is huge to me, but whether you have it in the mission state- ment doesn9t mean you have it or not.= He noted that DCSO strives to use <only what is needed= of the perma- nent funding allotted to the Sheriff9s Office by voters in 2006. <Money is better left in the taxpayer9s wallet,= he said. WHAT’S NEWAT SISTERS RENTAL? Browning & Stealth GUNSAFES SUDOKU SOLUTION Starting at $1340 for puzzle on page 20 541-549-9631 WBarclayDrSisters This ad sponsored by The Nugget Newspaper Mon-Fri: 7 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. www.sistersrental.com
