News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
A number of Sisters area residents don't like the idea of the City of Sisters helping Multnomah Publishers acquire approximately 20 acres of Forest Service land for a new company campus.
Several citizens testified against a proposed city partnership with Multnomah to negotiate a land swap with the Forest Service. The acreage lies within the city limits to the north of the Sisters Ranger District compound.
"I cannot understand why the City of Sisters wants to get embroiled in something that is very controversial nation-wide... I think it's poor policy," said Mike Mehring.
Mehring emphasized that he has nothing against Multnomah Publishers and hopes they stay in the Sisters community.
However, he opposes the city's efforts on behalf of a single company.
The city has not officially decided anything yet, according to Sisters Mayor Steve Wilson. The city council was asked by Multnomah Publishers president Don Jacobson to join in the discussions about acquiring the land after Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony declined to discuss a direct land exchange.
Anthony wants the city to determine the interests of the Sisters community in the land in question before any action is taken.
Anthony testified that he has been approached by various entities interested in the Forest Service parcel along Pine Street for hotel expansion, low-income housing, an interagency emergency services complex and other possibilities.
"It's not the role of the Forest Service to determine how the city grows," Anthony said.
If the city desires an exchange, "the Forest Service will weigh trading out (acreage)... for some other land that's in the National Forest that has some higher value for the public," Anthony said.
Multnomah would have to acquire the exchange parcel -- which would need to have the same monetary value as the city acreage -- and make the trade.
Jacobson has said his company needs to have the campus area to accommodate their steady growth. The company now employs about 115 people.
Several Multnomah employees testified as to the positive impact the people employed at the company have on the Sisters community.
Jacobson is seeking a campus-among-the-trees setting for the company, which is why he finds that land more suitable than the Lundgren Mill or Barclay Meadows sites recently brought within the city's Urban Growth Boundary for industrial land.
Howard Paine noted that part of the justification presented to Deschutes County for rezoning Lundgren Mill and Barclay Meadows was that the Sisters Ranger District property was not available for development.
Trapper Point resident Gary Landers testified that those sites, which abut his neighborhood, would be well-suited for a low-density campus that would have less impact on residential areas than higher density industrial development.
Mayor Steve Wilson disagrees, arguing that a campus would eat up a big portion of the city's 20-year inventory of industrial land.
"It would be a poor use of our light industrial land," Wilson said.
Mike Mehring did not buy that argument, noting that "a high-roller" could come in and buy up the entire industrial inventory at any time.
Jacobson acknowledged that he has engaged in some negotiations on the industrial properties, but concluded "feeling that it (the forest land) better suits us."
Jacobson said he had concerns about what would grow up around a campus located on a portion of the open industrial property.
The public hearing concluded what Wilson called the "first round" of discussions on the issue. He said the council would discuss the public hearing input in workshops, develop a course of action and come back for another round of public hearings.
Jacobson told The Nugget that he is under some time pressure and acknowledged that a long, drawn out process may hamper Multnomah's plans. He said he and his management team will "take the temperature" of this process and then decide what direction the company will take.
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)