News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
An apartment house is adding 19 living units to the city inventory.
In spite of a weakening economy and in the face of a drop in rural county building applications, residential building is still setting a blistering pace in Sisters.
Permits for 74 residential units have been processed by city planner Neil Thompson since August 2000, up from 38 in 1999-2000 (August through July). That includes 19 living units going up on Adams Street in an apartment complex being built by Hap Taylor.
Thompson said he is "starting to sense softness" in residential growth and believes builders may be "pulling in their horns" a bit due to tightening economic times. But there is no evidence of any real slowdown.
Builders are re-developing residential lots in order to take advantage of higher densities allowed by the sewer. Thompson said he processed three "in-fill" projects for duplexes last month.
Applications for building permits in the rural, unincorporated areas of Deschutes County are down by 7 percent in the period since January 2001, according to Deschutes County Community Development Director George Read.
That's the first sustained period of decline since the 1980s, the planner said. It comes on the heels of the two biggest years of growth in county history.
However, Read cautioned against reading that statistic as an economic indicator, noting that, counting urban areas, the growth rate for the area is virtually the same as last year.
According to Read, the decline in rural applications reflects the workings of Oregon land use laws, which direct growth toward urban areas. In fact, Read noted, the inventory of rural county land available for development will eventually run out entirely, forcing all growth within Urban Growth Boundaries.
"The cities (will) have to grow twice as fast in order to accommodate the growth in Deschutes County," Read said.
Though no statistics were immediately available for the area surrounding Sisters, there appears to be a trend toward more development inside the city limits and the UGB.
Several new subdivisions are in the works, which will offer dozens of residential lots.
Commercial and industrial growth in Sisters is static. Thompson processed three applications for commercial uses over the past year. That's down from six last year, but the numbers are so small as to be statistically insignificant. Thompson processed two industrial applications this past year; there were none last year.
"Commercial and industrial permits are never very high," Thompson noted.
Expected growth in those sectors has not materialized quickly. Thompson believes investors and business people are waiting to assess the impact of the sewer and development at Pine Meadow Ranch.
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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