News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The proposed Les Schwab Taylor Tire Center west of Sisters is now in the hands of a Deschutes County Hearings Officer.
County planning staff recommended Tuesday, September 16, that hearings officer Chris Eck approve the site plan for the 12,000-square-foot store, with conditions requiring that all the shop's work take place inside the building.
Sisters area residents turned out in force to testify both for and against the project.
Opponents of the store almost universally lauded the Les Schwab company and praised the Jerry Taylor family's efforts to make the store's design conform to the Sisters 1880s western theme. But they argued that a tire store should be placed in the Sisters Industrial Park, and one opponent contended that the Taylors cannot meet the conditions of approval.
Terry Taylor testified that his family's "sales mix and store type is different from many stores in the company," with well over half of the business dedicated to retail sales and service.
Taylor attorney Liz Fancher argued that there is no specific county zone for a "minor automotive repair, battery and tire shop," and that it is an appropriate conditional use in the general commercial zone. She also noted that there are no light industrial parcels in Sisters large enough to accommodate the proposed store.
Anti-growth activist Bill Boyer testified that the store would go well on light industrial land on the recently annexed Barclay Ranch. Boyer had previously opposed zoning of that land for light industrial.
Fancher noted that the ordinances changing the Barclay Ranch zoning have not been passed by the Sisters City Council, so that land is not available.
Supporters of the project testified that the Taylors would be good neighbors and that the Les Schwab store is a better option than other types of development that are permitted outright in that zone.
"Gas stations would have a greater impact, as would a restaurant or other uses that are permitted on the site," said Sisters area resident Robert Shaw.
Shaw said the Taylor Tire Center "may well represent our best option for development on this site."
But Sisters City Councilor Tim Clasen argued that the Taylors would not be able to live up to the restrictions of general commercial zoning.
"My intent is to show how the proposed Les Schwab Store cannot fulfill their conditions of approval because of the nature of their business," Clasen told the hearings officer.
Clasen believes that the store cannot keep their work "wholly enclosed" inside the building.
Jerry Taylor had earlier testified that they would keep the bay doors down while servicing vehicles, though they believe that is more than what the conditions of approval require.
Clasen submitted pictures from the Franklin Street Les Schwab Store in Bend to prove that the Taylors would have to do some work outside. Hearings Officer Eck did not accept Clasen's photographs into the record, stating that he did not find them relevant.
Eck interrupted as Clasen listed a series of hypothetical situations where the Taylors would have to work outside.
"You could go on all night, I'm sure, with scenarios," Eck said.
Eck said that, if he approved the project, there would be restrictions on operations.
"If they can't meet the conditions, that becomes a code enforcement issue," Eck said. "We just don't need to go into all the scenarios that could cause them to fail to meet the conditions."
Eck left the record open until September 23 so that new evidence could be presented.
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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