News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Two subdivisions proposed for Sisters won preliminary plat approval from the Sisters Urban Area Planning Commission Wednesday, June 16, after the developers addressed concerns about traffic and impact on surrounding properties.
Rick Francis and Mark Ford, developers of Coyote Springs off Locust Street near Buck Run, offered a scaled-back plan for the subdivision, reducing the number of lots from 56 to 46.
The original plan had raised planners' eyebrows with some lots designed smaller than the required 10,000 square feet in anticipation of the sewer.
According to a memorandum from the developers to the city, under the new plan "the average lot size is well over 13,000 square feet with all lots greater than 1/4 acres."
Francis and Ford also addressed concerns raised by residents of the nearby 4th Sister Lodge about subdivision traffic using its driveway.
Since there will be paved access into Coyote Springs from Maple Street and Locust Street, the developers said "it is not anticipated that access (through the driveway) would be necessary for resident and contractor access... we will build an appropriate barrier soon to deter people from using the 4th Sister parking and driveway area."
City planner Neil Thompson noted that the fewer lots and larger lot sizes in the new plan will make it easier to provide a green buffer between the development and the condominiums.
"This gives them more options to mitigate the number of trees they have to cut down," Thompson said.
The planning commission also gave preliminary plat approval to the proposed 22-lot Creekside subdivision along Highway 126 at the east end of Sisters.
That project is a spin-off of Bruce Forbes' Timber Creek subdivision. Bend builder Rob Orton plans to subdivide four large lots approved as part of Timber Creek into 22 lots along a long cul-de-sac. The houses would use a community drainfield on Forbes' property on the north side of the creek.
In a previous hearing, planning commissioners had expressed concern about the combined traffic impact of Creekside, Timber Creek and other developments on the congested intersection of Locust Street and Highway 20.
Orton agreed to a condition of approval requiring that, if Timber Creek cannot get highway access near the Sisters Elementary School ball fields as planned, Creekside will provide a bridge across Squaw Creek, along with the required right-of-way.
Creekside is providing 8.2 percent of its undeveloped land for a walking trail along Squaw Creek.
The trail will belong to the city and it would be the city's responsibility to improve it.
"Some people thought we missed an opportunity to have such an amenity at Buck Run," Thompson told the commissioners.
He said the trail would be a "significant addition" to the city's parks infrastructure.
"I see it as a victory for the city that we at least have the land," he 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.
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