News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Both sides see a partial victory in an order handed down from the state Land Use Board of Appeals March 14 requiring Deschutes County to reconsider a zone change allowing residential development on Pine Meadow Ranch.
LUBA acted on an appeal by the Alliance for Responsible Land Use in Deschutes County that challenged the county's approval of a zone change that would allow standard and high density residential development on 50 acres of the Pine Meadow Ranch property. An additional 12 acres is zoned for commercial development; that acreage was not part of the appeal.
In remanding the decision to the county for reconsideration, LUBA agreed with one of five arguments raised by ARLU DeCo. LUBA agreed that the county's findings failed to show that changing the designation on the PMR property better served the community's needs than other available properties.
Howard Paine of ARLU DeCo, one of the petitioners in the appeal, called the remand "a partial win.
"We're glad that the county's going to review it," Paine said.
PMR developer Steve McGhehey was satisfied with the scope of the decision.
"I think the outcome is fine," McGhehey said. "I wish it had been a complete win, but we're comfortable that we have enough information for the county to correct the remand."
McGhehey said he can readily add more information comparing other properties to PMR to demonstrate that PMR is the best candidate for annexation and the zone change.
"We feel the county could have had more in that area," he said. "There was more detail that we could have put in and we didn't."
Paine said that ARLU DeCo. would have further input in the county's review of the property comparison.
"(The remand) is correctable," Paine said. "I'd say any provision in there is correctable. But it's going to take some doing."
The appeals board accepted the county's methods in finding that at least 75 percent of the City of Sisters had been developed, a requirement for the zone change.
LUBA also let stand the county's conclusion that other urban area reserve properties did not have to be developed before a zone change could be granted to PMR. The appeals board also let stand county findings that there is a need for more residential development.
LUBA disagreed with petitioners that the county misconstrued the law and made findings not based on substantial evidence when they determined that a "change of circumstances" warranted removing the Urban Area Reserve designation from the PMR property.
ARLU DeCo has 21 days from March 14 to appeal the decision
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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