News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Residents of the Trapper Point subdivision just north of Sisters don't want to see industrial parks crop up on the open land adjacent to their homes.
They turned out in force on Wednesday, December 29, to urge the Sisters City Council and the Deschutes County Commissioners to reject a development agreement that would give developers the green light.
The Sisters School District and Barclay Meadows Business Park have already won approval to bring the land into Sisters' Urban Growth Boundary under light industrial zoning. Each developer owns approximately 30 acres at the north edge of town.
The developers crafted the development agreements with the city and county. They agreed to 50- to 100- foot setbacks and restrictions on use to lessen the impact on neighbors. Each agreed to pay more than $150,000 to mitigate traffic impact generated by the developments.
Opponents argued that industrial development is incompatible with residential neighborhoods; that increased traffic would cause congestion and safety problems on Camp Polk Road; and that the developments would degrade property values.
Bill Boyer of the Alliance for Responsible Land Use in Deschutes County (ARLU DeCo) argued that the approximately 60 acre swath of land encompassing the two developments serves as a buffer between residences and the existing industrial park.
"The existing land creates a 1,300 foot buffer," Boyer said. "What sense does it make to reduce it to 50 feet?"
Tia Lewis, an attorney representing the developers, responded that "this property is not zoned open space. It is private property."
Boyer also expressed concerns about increased traffic running past both Sisters Elementary School and the middle school.
"It is highly likely that the school district would oppose this if they weren't one of the participants," Boyer said.
Other testimony echoed concerns about compatibility and traffic and several Trapper Point residents testified that the proposed developments were damaging their property values.
Some homeowners have put their houses up for sale and seen interest evaporate when prospective buyers learned of the developments, residents testified.
Some local citizens spoke strongly in favor of the developments.
Joel Aylor, a long-time Sisters area resident and businessman, noted that the existing industrial park has brought valued goods and services to the Sisters community and the proposed developments would do the same.
Clifton Clemens, owner of Sisters Eagle Air, said that concerned citizens should be reassured that the developers are local people of good repute.
"You don't need to worry much about these mountains you're building our of mole hills," Clemens said.
"We need more industrial lands so that the boys and girls who graduate and come through our school system have a place to work," he argued.
Some opponents are willing to acknowledge the benefits of more industrial land -- they just abhor the location.
Denny Ebner proposed that the city work to acquire the Forest Service land to the west as a more appropriate location for development. Attorney Lewis was not receptive to the notion, arguing that to acquire the land the city would have to demonstrate that there was no other appropriate property.
"We have appropriate property," she said.
The city and the commissioners have not yet signed off on the development agreement. They left the record open through January 3 and the rebuttal period was to close January 10.
Outgoing commissioner Linda Swearingen expressed some sympathy for the adjacent residents.
"They have a valid complaint about compatibility and I don't think 50 feet (of setback) is enough of a buffer without some kind of strip being rezoned," she said.
Swearingen urged the developers to try to resolve homeowners' concerns, noting that legal challenges could tie the developments up in the courts far into the future.
"It's not likely you're going to be able to build on this property for years," Swearingen 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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