News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
If sufficient signatures are gathered, the matter will be placed on the November 5, 1996 general election ballot.
Under current law, annexations can be made by majority consent of the council.
The Committee to Save Sisters has appeared at several city council and planning commission meetings, primarily objecting to elements of the city's comprehensive plan, currently under study. Specifically, members of the group oppose development of Pine Meadow Ranch, now a pasture that lies on the other side of Pine Street from their homes.
Virginia Groom, a spokesman for the committee, said the petition idea was begun "because we weren't being paid attention to...and we're not getting any cooperation from either elected or appointed (city) officials."
Asked why the committee wishes to control annexations by election, Groom said, "We would like to pick and choose what areas are to be annexed."
In criticizing the proposed Pine Meadow Ranch development just outside the western city limit, they have argued that the development is not necessary and will burden the city's transportation system.
The Pine Meadow Ranch property lies in an area that has been in the city's urban growth boundary for a number of years. It has been held in a reserve zone that would require a zone change before the development could proceed.
The zone change was approved by a county hearings officer. The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners has decided to uphold the zone change. It is to be made official July 17 at a commission meeting and there will be a 21-day period to appeal the decision before the state land use board of appeals, according to Liz Fancher, attorney of P.M.R. Development.
Just how the "annexation by vote" plan would restrict the development of Pine Meadow Ranch is not clear. Groom said only that "It is a way to start to get some control."
Steve McGhehey, of P.M.R. Development, said the development will proceed with or without its being annexed to the city. He indicated that developing to county standards and not those of Sisters would be less restrictive.
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 have commercial and high density dwellings only, he said.
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