News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Developers of Pine Meadow Ranch are waiting for the green light from Deschutes County hearings officer Karen Green to begin work on a subdivision of more than 200 homes at the west edge of Sisters.
Green's decision, expected to be handed down at the end of February, will weigh concerns about increased traffic on residential streets, the integration of the subdivision into the community and noise and dust from construction.
Doug Sokol, a partner in PMR, says the developers are doing everything possible to address those concerns.
Pine Street resident Gordon Petrie offered written testimony on some of those issues. Petrie testified that the PMR houses planned along Pine Street should face the street. Current plans call for the houses to be set well back and facing away from Pine Street behind a bike path.
"Intended or not, this is a direct insult to the existing residents of Sisters," Petrie said. "It is analagous to 'mooning.'
"This would emphasize the difference between 'new town' and 'old town,' 'rich town' and 'poor town,' 'uptown' from 'downtown,' etc.," Petrie continued. "As shown, the plan has all the indications of an exclusive 'gated' community without the gates."
Sokol disagrees.
"We were in no way trying to set this apart as a gated community," Sokol told The Nugget.
Sokol said the plan for the houses along Pine Street was designed to minimize the impact on Pine Street residents. He said eight houses were taken out of the design, the trees along the street were preserved and park space created between the bike path and the houses.
"Some people would like to see a bike path along the (west edge), but we just can't do it," Sokol said. "We can't put a bike path on the perimeter because it would be right under the noses of the homeowners."
Sokol said residents and visitors will have access to open mountain views from a park at the southwest corner of the development.
Petrie's testimony also raised concerns about the impact of traffic on quiet residential streets.
"The PMR street connection with Pine Street at the south end of the project is particularly bad because it will push a lot of traffic east-west onto narrow St. Helens View and Black Crater Avenue," Petrie wrote. "This intersection should be eliminated."
According to Sokol, the developers will eliminate the intersection, which is offset about 200 feet south of Black Crater, unless the county insists on keeping it there.
"If the county wants it there, we have to put it there," Sokol told The Nugget. "If they don't want it there, we'll take it out."
Sokol said that the street layout reflects the wishes of county planners.
"They had certain ways they wanted to see this grid fit into the existing grid," he said.
Sokol vowed to "do everything we can to minimize the impact" of construction. He acknowledged that the projcet would take six to seven years to complete once it's begun.
But, he said, "the equipment that will be raising dust will be in and out very quickly."
Sokol noted that construction of the residential phases will impact PMR's commercial development and late phases will impact those already built. He said that gives the developers added incentive to mitigate impacts. That mitigation, according to Sokol, will include time restrictions on daily construction activity.
Pine Meadow Ranch is being developed under Deschutes County juristiction according to standards laid out in the Sisters Urban Area Ordinance, in force before the City of Sisters took over direct administration of the area within the urgan growth boundary.
According to city planner Neil Thompson, the city doesn't have much control over the way the subdivision is designed or developed.
"We have very little (input) besides persuasion," Thompson said.
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.
Reader Comments(0)