Mayor warns of "culture shock"

Mayor Steve Wilson wants city planners to take a second look at Sisters' future.

"We've put in motion a radical cultural change for Sisters as well as an infrastructure nightmare," Wilson told the Sisters City Council at their meeting on February 28.

The council asked planners to take a second look at code requirements and minimum lot sizes.

In the last 10 years, the minimum size of a buildable lot has dropped from 20,000 square feet (due to septic restrictions) to 6,000 square feet. The sewer system has made it possible for multifamily dwellings to be built on these lots, allowing two dwellings to exist on a 6,000-square-foot lot.

Six dwellings could now be built where formerly only one dwelling was allowed.

That means a major change in the appearance of Sisters and in the way of life here, according to Wilson.

The change stems from a 2001 ordinance which reduced the minimum size of a lot from 10,000 to 6,000 square feet. Even though 10,000 square feet was the legal minimum, the need to leave drainfield space meant lots had to be 20,000 square feet or larger.

The goal of the change, said Wilson, was to lower housing costs and lessen urban sprawl by creating more density in Sisters.

While new codes were aimed at newer subdivisions, the change has allowed for lots in older neighborhoods to be partitioned.

The council members stated their concern for established homeowners who bought into these neighborhoods thinking they would maintain the same density.

Another point of discussion concerned the electrical infrastructure. The infrastructure was not designed for such density, nor was it designed for the increased electrical use of current times.