Ruling expected for Pine Meadow Ranch

A zone change ruling that could permit development of portions of Pine Meadow Ranch is expected April 16.

Commercial and residential development is planned on about 60 acres of the ranch within the Sisters Urban Growth boundary if the zone change request is granted.

The request was made by P.M.R. Development Co. The land, which lies just west of the Sisters city limits, currently is in an urban area reserve zone, a zone designed to limit development or prohibit zone changes until a time when it is deemed appropriate to develop the land under different uses.

Several arguments presented over the course of two public hearings have centered on whether the time has arrived when it would be "appropriate" to bring the land out of its reserve status. The city's comprehensive plan calls for the land to be rezoned only after development within the city reaches 75 percent of developable land.

Opponents argue that the city has not reached 75 percent of development capacity. Proponents argue that it has.

Ted Eady, who lives at Black Butte and says he wants to build a motel in Sisters, appeared in support of the application. He said there is a "tremendous need for housing in the Sisters area." He said there currently is no land available for high-density rental housing.

Eady also blamed low quality housing in the city for the city's "high drug problem," noting that "little run down houses" attract drug users.

Virginia Groom, Sisters, said she represents the Committee to Save Sisters and that she opposes the zone change. She said the owners of Pine Meadow Ranch "want to develop it in a way that is harmful to the residents of Sisters." She said streets will have to be widened to handle additional traffic caused by the development and city services would be burdened to a point that "could bankrupt the city."

She said there are mobile homes and other homes more than 50 years old in the city that can be phased out to make room for development within the city.

Sisters resident Gordon Petrie challenged the 75 percent "build out" claimed by P.M.R. Development. He said P.M.R. Development "counted only platted areas and not non-platted area" to arrive at the 75 percent mark.

Petrie said there are 80 acres of US Forest Service land in the city that could be traded or purchased. He said the applicant has "not proved conclusively that the city is 75 percent developed."

Howard Paine, Indian Ford, argued against county planning staff reports which state that the "Sister Comprehensive Plan map designates the Pine Meadow Ranch for this type of zoning (standard residential and high-density residential.)..." Paine said he purchased a copy of the comprehensive plan less than a year ago and that there "is no designation other than UAR-10 for the subject property."

In rebuttal to the opponents, attorney Liz Fancher, representing P.M.R. Development, said the comprehensive plan maps used by P.M.R. have been updated by ordinance and reflect changes not shown on the maps presented by Howard Paine and indicate the zone change request is in order.

"We want to be consistent with the comprehensive plan and in compliance with what the city wants to do," Fancher said.

Steve McGhehey, of P.M.R. Development, told The Nugget that all development improvements, including streets, water and sewer systems, will be installed at the developers expense before the land would be annexed to the city. He also said any expenses added by the development would be covered by additional tax revenues to the city from homes and businesses on the site.

McGhehey said definitive plans for the development will be done only after the zone is changed and other government agencies such as the state departments of Environmental Quality and Transportation put their approval on the projects.

General planning, however, calls for the development of 12 acres in commercial uses, 14 acres in high density residential and the remaining 36 acres in single -family homes. There also is an adjacent 80 acres, McGhehey said, that can be used to for a sewer drain field.

Ultimately, the development would have between 150 and 200 residences. The initial phase would commercial and high- density dwellings only, he said.

McGhehey said he has worked closely with the Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Quality and both departments have favored the development informally.

Formal approvals would not come before the development of specific plans for sewage treatment and street layout. The development would be on the city's water system, McGhehey said.