News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters may soon stretch its boundaries, bringing 170 acres of land within the city's urban growth boundary.
The Sisters Urban Area Planning Commission approved a boundary and zoning map at its October 18 meeting that expands the urban growth boundary to include a total of 170 acres of developable land. The commission also passed a statistical appendix to support the boundary and zoning plan.
The map completes the Sisters Comprehensive Plan, which is now before the Sisters City Council.
Four parcels of land were brought within the UGB: 90 acres of land along McKinney Ranch Road near the middle/high school, 30 acres owned by the Sisters School District directly north of the Industrial Park, a 40-acre parcel of the Barclay Ranch property and a 10 acre parcel north of Rolling Horse Meadows.
The 30-acre parcel was zoned for industrial use and a 9-acre portion of the Barclay Ranch that is currently within the urban growth boundary was rezoned as industrial land. Eleven acres of that property was rezoned as a commercial highway zone and the area along Highway 20 at the east end of town was rezoned as general commercial property. The rest of the new lands were zoned as residential property.
The boundary and zoning findings are based on the commission's projection of a 3.6 percent population growth rate in Sisters over the next 20 years. At that rate, according to City Planner Neil Thompson, the city now has a 13-year supply of land available for residential uses and a little over 3 years worth of industrial lands left. State mandates require that a comprehensive plan accommodate projected needs for a 20 year period.
According to the commission's projections, the new zoning and boundaries would be adequate for the next 20 years.
Opponents of the expansion of the UGB argued that the city's population growth projections are too high and that newcomers to the area will continue to live outside the city.
"I know what the name of the game is," said Sisters resident Gordon Petrie. "The name of the game is to bring in as much acreage as possible. Well, who says we need it?"
Petrie argued that the city's current boundaries are sufficient and that Sisters should not bring one more acre within the urban growth boundary.
Proponents of an expanded boundary argued that residential areas outside the city are approaching the saturation point and that the growth that has up to now occurred in the rural subdivisions must in the future be accommodated within the city.
"We cannot create more Tollgates, Indian Fords, Crossroads," said Bill Reed, who owns property among the 90 acre parcel along McKinney Ranch Road that was included in the new UGB map. "That's not going to happen. And that's where most of the growth in the Sisters area has occurred."
Proponents of the expanded UGB have also noted that the 80-acre site of the Sisters Ranger District and the 40-acre middle/high school site are included in the current UGB but are unlikely to be developed in the foreseeable future.
Ted Eady, who plans to develop the Barclay Ranch property, noted that the city risks little in adding lands to the city's inventory. If growth rates slow significantly, Eady asserted, the newly added lands will simply lie undeveloped.
Commissioner Wayne Kimball concurred with that view.
"I don't think we make an error by having more land in the UGB, but I do think we make an error by not having enough," he said.
City Planner Neil Thompson said he was happy to see this last part of the comprehensive plan passed along to the city council.
The plan had been passed up piecemeal; the city council has already conducted two public hearings on the text elements of the plan. With the commission's passage of the map and statistical appendix, the complete plan is now in the hands of the city council, which will hold a workshop on the plan on October 24.
"The back of the train has caught up with the front of the train," Thompson said, "and it's all in their hands now."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
Reader Comments(0)