News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Work has begun on a 19-unit apartment complex on Adams Avenue
in Sisters.
Sisters' planning commission gave the go-ahead to Hap Taylor on Wednesday, March 21, to build a 19-unit apartment complex on Adams Avenue in Sisters.
The complex is made up of three buildings: one containing 12 units; one containing six units; and the third housing a public Laundromat with a manager's apartment above. Planners granted a conditional use permit and a variance to allow more than four units in each multiplex.
Some neighbors raised concerns about the impact of the apartments and Laundromat on the neighborhood.
"My only objection is just to do with how this project addresses the neighborhood, which I am a part of," said Henry Rhett, who lives on Adams Avenue.
He asked whether the Laundromat hours would be restricted.
"I really haven't given it much thought," said developer Hap Taylor. "I would guess that the Laundromat would be open till 10 p.m. or so... 9 p.m. We don't want to have it open 24 hour hours; that just invites problems."
Planning commission member Deb Kollodge, who lives across the street from the project, criticized the design for not being oriented toward Adams Avenue. The apartment entrances face south toward a courtyard and alleyway (behind Cascade Fitness) where most of the development's 56 parking spaces will lie.
"It looks like you're excluding the neighborhood...," she said. "It almost has a barracks look."
There is access from Adams Avenue into the courtyard, but no direct entrance from that side into the units themselves.
Taylor said he was agreeable to putting false doors on the Adams Avenue frontage to improve the neighborhood feel, but he does not want to allow direct access from Adams Avenue.
Kollodge emphasized that she approved of the design's compliance with the city's western theme -- required of all commercial buildings, including apartments.
The design, by Steele Associates Architects, has impressed planners and neighbors, according to city planner Neil Thompson.
"This is an excellent example of the theme. I've had nothing but good comments," Thompson said.
Thompson told the commission that, "The applicant plans to put in four of the period street lights that we've put up in other parts of the city."
Those lights are not required, he noted.
Thompson told the planning commission that the development will not have a serious traffic impact, since it is on the city street grid with many options for movement through different intersections.
"It won't affect any of those intersections adversely," Thompson said.
Thompson asserted that the development's estimated 171 car trips per day traffic load is statistically insignificant.
However, Kollodge believes they will still be noticed in the neighborhood.
"A section that used to house four people is going to house 40 or 50 people. I think it's going to have a significant impact," Kollodge said.
Audience members concurred with that view.
"It seems you're taking Sisters and moving it into a city like Portland or Salem," said one man who identified himself as a frequent visitor to Sisters.
Planning commission member Dorro Sokol observed that the apartment units would serve the lower end of the housing market, something that has been hard to achieve in Sisters without a sewer system.
"One of the things we've been trying to do is to have affordable housing," said Dorro Sokol. "That means you're going to have a lot all together or you can't do it."
Thompson acknowledged that the city has no mechanism to define what "affordable" is or to ensure that housing stays that way.
Despite misgivings expressed by Kollodge and the neighbors, the site plan, conditional use and variance were approved unanimously.
"It's just a change that's going to be overwhelming to our community, to our neighborhood," Kollodge said. "But I can't say I'm against it."
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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