Business park seeks annexation

Developers of a proposed buisness park at the north edge of Sisters want to be annexed into the city.

The annexation plan for Barclay Meadows Business Park got the nod from the Sisters Urban Area Planning Commission Wednesday, December 16, but the developers still have to file a comprehensive plan amendment to bring the property within the Urban Growth Boundary.

The commissioners also recommended a zone change for the property from exclusive farm use to light industrial, as proposed in the city's draft comprehensive plan update.

According to city planner Neil Thompson, the developers plan to ask the Sisters City Council to place an annexation measure on the March 9 ballot. That measure would be an authorization to annex the property once it is inside the UGB.

Developers Jack Rinn, Arnie Swearens and Peter Storton are following the city's annexation ordinance more closely than previous applicants have, Thompson noted, providing information about their general land use plans and the potential impact of the development.

"This is the first time we've utilized the ordinance, at least as it was intended," Thompson said.

Previous annexation requests have gone directly to the city council, which is allowed by an exception in the ordinance to place measures on the ballot without asking the developer for advance information.

Thompson told The Nugget that the developers are still planning to use the exception to ask the council to place the measure on the March ballot instead of holding the vote in May as the ordinance requires.

But they "feel they are following closer to the spirit of the ordinance, providing the public hearing and the information," thompson said.

Rinn testified that the park will fill an urgent need for light industrial land in Sisters.

Plans for Barclay Meadows Business Park call for 34 lots from 20,000 to 40,000-square feet, to be sold for light industrial uses.

"We see them as small businesses, that's why there's a lot of small lots," Rinn told the commissioners.

Commissioner Dorro Sokol pressed for information on what types of buinsesses Rinn was seeking or getting inquiries from.

Rinn responded that "we have toyed with the idea of calling (one street) Publishers' Way..."

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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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