News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The "Committee to Save Sisters" says they have collected 168 signatures from city residents on a letter asking the city council to revise the draft of the Sisters Comprehensive Plan to restrict growth.
"We'd like the town to stay within reasonable limits, what it is now," said John Groom, one of the committee organizers. "Obviously we're going to have growth, but we don't want it to destroy what we have."
The letter, addressed to Mayor Dave Moyer, asks that the plan develop a transportation plan that removes traffic from downtown business and elementary school areas.
The committee also wants the comprehensive plan to include provisions that would prohibit expansion of the Urban Growth Boundary "until it is clear that the rate of growth will fill all vacant land."
City Planner Neil Thompson told The Nugget that he thinks the transportation element of the comprehensive plan accomplishes what the Committee to Save Sisters wants, although he acknowledged that proposed solutions to move traffic off Cascade Street are not as dramatic as some critics would like.
Thompson believes the comprehensive plan's provisions for expanding the city's Urban Growth Boundary are appropriate and conform to state planning goals.
"I think our proposed expansion of the UGB is very modest," Thompson said. He said that planners assume that the state will no longer allow rural subdivisions such as Tollgate and Indian Ford and that future growth will be forced within the Urban Growth Boundary.
Thompson said that projecting an appropriate 20-year Urban Growth Boundary is largely a matter of agreeing on a projected growth rate. And, Thompson said, "they (critics of the plan) doubt my credibility because of my support for Element 15."
Element 15 of the plan allows development of Pine Meadow Ranch that would mix commercial and residential uses in a "traditional neighborhood" design. Advocates of mixed use say that such developments make for pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, enhancing quality of life and reducing dependence on the automobile.
Critics want to eliminate Element 15 from the plan and restrict the development of the 50 acres of Pine Meadow Ranch that front S. Pine Street to standard residential density.
John and Virginia Groom, who live on S. Pine Street, are key organizers of the Committee to Save Sisters, which they said they formed to give a voice to Sisters residents.
"We have no common voice," John Groom said. "We've kind of noted that two or three developers that were aggressive and maybe had a good dog-and-pony show might have more influence than 500 registered voters because we're not organized."
Organizers say the committee does not oppose development on Pine Meadow Ranch per se.
"Its high density that we have a quarrel with," John Groom said.
Steve McGhehey, who is working with the Sokol family to develop the property, told The Nugget that he is basing his development plans on what the current Sisters Comprehensive plan, established in 1979, allows.
According to that plan, the 50 acres in question, which are currently within the Urban Growth Boundary zoned Urban Area Reserve, are proposed for standard and high density residential zoning. Twelve acres of the property from Washington Street to the Highway 20 are zoned general commercial.
McGhehey said he doesn't have a specific design plan prepared yet, but that the development is planned around standard residential densities.
"I think lot sizes in town are what we plan for across from them (S. Pine Street residents)," McGhehey said. "Communication is really a goal. I'm going to develop to what the '79 plan allows. If mixed use is allowed, I think it will be good for the community ... if we can get the mixed use overlay I think it will be a better project."
The committee is also requesting that the comprehensive plan keep existing highway commercial and general commercial zones within their present boundaries and not allow conversion of residential zones to commercial or industrial uses.
Thompson said the city is running out of commercial and industrial land and needs to add more for 20-year projected needs.
Thompson indicated that intense criticism of the comprehensive plan draft has been frustrating.
"I've kind of had a bunker mentality the past two or three weeks because of the attacks it's been taking," he said. "I only wish (the critics) would involve themselves in the process instead of just sniping at it."
The Committee to Save Sisters plans to submit its letter, complete with 168 residents' signatures to the city council before their next work session on the comprehensive plan, scheduled for November 28.
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)