News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The development of 62 acres of Pine Meadow Ranch at the western edge of Sisters is taking shape, and the developers are asking for ideas from Sisters residents.
Steve McGhehey of Pine Meadow Ranch Development Company unveiled a street map and conceptual drawing of the project to the Sisters City Council Thursday, December 5, and announced that the company is "seeking feedback" on the shape of the development.
The project has sparked opposition from some property owners along Pine Street bordering the site and from others in the community who challenge the need for more residential development in the city.
McGhehey and the Sokol family, who have owned the property since the late 1960s, plan to site a 40-room inn, a health club and an assisted living center on the commercial-zoned part of the site. McGhehey said the company will negotiate with individual tenants and that no commercial locations would be built "on spec."
The residential area will include a range of housing options and prices, from townhouses and small homes to larger houses on the perimeter of the site. Up to 240 dwelling units are permitted on the site.
McGhehey said he has already received comments from citizens recommending public restrooms and public places where the mountain view is retained, and he said those ideas will be incorporated into the project. He indicated particular interest in getting input on the siting of several public parks.
"We are very open to ideas," McGhehey told The Nugget, "but the idea that this won't be developed is simply not negotiable."
Opponents have thrown hurdles in the path of the project.
The Alliance for Responsible Land Use in Deschutes County has appealed the county decision to allow residential zoning on about 50 acres of the property to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. A ballot measure passed by city residents requiring approval of over 50 percent of the electorate to annex property may make annexing the project difficult or impossible.
McGhehey told the council that "we plan to, regardless (of annexation), follow the 1880s theme and so forth and have the architecture compliment the city of Sisters."
He argued that, if annexed, the development's water hook-up fees would put about $500,000 in the city coffers and the expanded tax base would add $150,000 in tax revenue to the financially strapped city.
"The idea that this creates a burden for Sisters, I don't understand that," McGhehey said.
Opponents believe that developments like Pine Meadow Ranch impose hidden costs on the community.
"The impact on schools for expansion purposes over time would be enormous," argued Bill Boyer, chairman of ARLU DeCo. He noted that systems development charges do not cover costs for schools.
Boyer also told the council that such developments can artificially create growth.
"Very often developments stimulate as well as accommodating growth," Boyer said. "It's bad theory to be presuming that developments have to be there because the demand is happening and there's nothing we can do about it."
Others at the council meeting argued that the demand is indeed happening, that people are continually moving into the Sisters School District, albeit often outside town.
Robert Shaw, a recent resident of Indian Ford, noted that he and his family would have preferred to have moved into the urban area, but "there was really nothing available within the city limits that suited our needs as a family."
Regardless of the debate the project has sparked over growth, McGhehey said the project is going forward.
Phase One, the commercial portion of the project is projected to get under way next summer.
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.
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