News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
People may live a little closer together in Sisters after the year 2000.
City planner Neil Thompson said he expects to see more density of development as soon as the sewer system is completed. That's in line with statewide planning goals.
The state Land Conservation and Development Commission wants to see eight to 12 housing units per acre on average, Thompson said. That could mean even denser development, such as apartments, duplexes or four-plexes, in some areas of Sisters.
"The laws will be in place to allow that - or even to encourage that," Thompson said.
Sisters should have at least a partial sewer system in place in 2000, according to city administrator Barbara Warren. The downtown core area from Adams Street to Washington Street and from Locust to the Three Wind Shopping Center will likely be served first, with the rest of the residences in areas such as Buck Run and Rolling Horse Meadow coming aboard later if more funding is secured.
"We may have to bid the first phase because we're unsure of the dollars for the second phase," Warren said.
A new road network could be in place soon, crossing the Sisters Ranger District compound to link Barclay Drive with Highway 20 next to the Ponderosa Lodge.
Thompson believes that will relieve traffic congestion by allowing residents north of town to get to the westbound highway and the Three Wind Shopping center without coming into the downtown area.
"I think there'll be more industry based in Sisters, so I think more people could live here and work here," Thompson said.
Thompson expects Barclay Meadows Business Park and the Sisters School District's Lundgren Mill property to be brought into the city as industrial land, once traffic concerns are ironed out.
Increasing traffic may lead to a signal change for small-town Sisters, sometime in the next five years.
"We'll probably end up with our first traffic signal," Thompson said, either at Locust Street and Highway 20 or farther west where the new road across Forest Service land intersects the highway.
Thompson expects the city's Transportation System Plan to be completed in 2000.
There are still large parcels that could be subdivided. There are already some 400 home lots slated to come on the market through Pine Meadow Ranch Development Company, The Pines of Sisters, Timber Creek and Coyote Springs.
"I'm curious to see how fast the market will soak up" the available home lots, 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.
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