News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Plans to place at least one cell phone tower on the city's sewer treatment facility site south of town have hit a snag.
According to City of Sisters officials, Deschutes County won't change its development agreement with the city concerning the Section 9 land until the state Department of Land Conservation and Development signs off on the move.
The development agreement was part of a complicated transfer of land from the federal government through the county to the city. The agreement allows the Section 9 land to be used only for the sewage treatment facilities.
The city wants to zone part of the land Public Facilities (PF) and move city shops and storage out there.
The city had also hoped to direct wireless telecommunications providers to the site, believing towers would be less obtrusive there than in the downtown core.
The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners had assured the Sisters City Council that they would amend the agreement, but reversed themselves when they realized that cell towers were part of the equation.
According to commissioner Tom DeWolf, "There was a new wrinkle thrown in for me when I read about cell towers. That was the red flag."
DeWolf said the commissioners simply were not aware that the city planned to site cell towers on Section 9.
Mayor Steve Wilson expressed some frustration at a city council workshop on Thursday, November 30. He noted that the city opted out of federal legislation that would have given the land to the city at no cost, but restricting it solely to sewer use.
Instead, the city purchased the land at a cost exceeding $400,000.
"If we were willing to live with those restrictions, we should have just got it from the federal government at no expense," Wilson said.
According to city planner Neil Thompson, the city will now ask the state for an amendment to the exception they originally received to statewide planning Goal 14, which covers urbanization of land outside the city limits. Thompson said that if the state approves the amendment, he expects to have no problems modifying the development agreement.
The amendment process involves a 45-day notice period, which Thompson has initiated, and at least one public hearing in Sisters.
Thompson noted that Spectracite, which has applied to place a 150-foot tower on the site, can go forward with its efforts, contingent upon the completion of the amendment process.
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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