News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The number of buildable lots in Sisters' Urban Growth Boundary may nearly double in the next five years.
In addition to more than 200 houses planned on Pine Meadow Ranch, two other housing developments are in the works on county land at the edge of Sisters.
Bruce Forbes owns approximately 40 acres adjacent to the Sisters Elementary School and straddling Squaw Creek.
Forbes declined to discuss his plans, but city planner Neil Thompson, told the Sisters City Council Thursday, July 23, that the proposal would include 100 or more residences phased in over the next five years and three or four acres of parks and trails.
Thompson expressed concern about the access to the development, especially since Perit Huntington Road is currently "overstressed." The property might access Highway 20 near the existing elementary school fence, Thompson said.
"Alternate road access or some solution would have to be in place for any subdivision there," Thompson told The Nugget.
The other development would be at the current site of The Pines, a 25-acre parcel owned by Barclay Contractors of Sisters. This would be a planned unit development, according to Thompson, "where open space and neighborhood facilities are held in common to allow clustering and common facilities."
According to developer Eldon Howard, there would be a maximum of 75 units in the development.
"The idea is not to create the absolute highest density you can have," Howard said. "The idea is to do the right thing."
Howard said that planners like clustering because it allows developers to achieve density while allowing for plenty of open space.
Changes at The Pines will occur in the next 18-24 months.
"Whatever happens has to be a vast improvement over what is there now," Howard said. "Those units were only built to last a short period of time and they've long outlived their usefulness."
The development was originally established in the late 1930s by Brooks Scanlon Lumber Company to house logging crews and their families. Housing was brought in by rail from the company's other operations.
The property is currently zoned Urban High Density.
A county public hearing is set for Thursday, August 13, to hear a request to allow single family dwellings and planned unit developments with single family dwellings as conditional uses in that zone.
Those uses would be permitted outright in the City of Sisters residential high density zone.
Final plans for the proposed project will depend on what the county decides will be allowed in the zone, Howard indicated.
There are currently approximately 480 houses in the City of Sisters.
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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