City weighs changes to code

City officials are trying to quell the public outcry over changes to neighborhoods allowed by the Sisters Development Code.

In a workshop on Wednesday, February 12, City Planner Neil Thompson proposed changes to the development code, all addressing issues that residents have raised over density and the changing character of Sisters.

"It went as well as I could have expected," said Thompson after the meeting, which was held at the Sisters Fire Hall.

A public hearing on the proposed changes will be held at the city council meeting on Thursday, March 27. It is likely that these changes will be adopted in that same meeting.

Thompson and members of the council said that they are open to public input and discussion on the matter prior to the public hearing in March. It is their goal that the citizens' demand for a swift process in changing the development code is met.

Thompson proposes that single-family attached townhomes, duplexes and triplexes be allowed only in the Multi-Family Residential subdistrict.

When asked later if the blending of duplexes and single-family homes in new neighborhoods went against the desires of local residents, Thompson said, "No, I think a mixture of housing types is healthy for a community."

Thompson proposed an increase in minimum lot sizes for duplexes from 6,000 to 7,500 square feet and for townhomes from 3,000 to 3,750 square feet.

Thompson also proposed to make the 25 percent affordable housing credit less intrusive by implementing a practice already used in the Development Code called lot-size averaging.

"This is intended to clarify that a density bonus is not a reduction in the minimum lot size... but a 25 percent bonus or increase in the number of unit [sic] allowed," Thompson stated in his proposal.

Within the current framework of the Development Code, a 9,000-square-foot lot could be partitioned into two 4,500 square foot lots using the affordable housing credit. Under Thompson's proposal partitions for affordable housing would be limited to creating an average of 8.75 units per gross acre.

Thompson hopes that with this method, the character of existing neighborhoods will be maintained while allowing affordable housing to exist in the city.

Commissioner Bill Merrill expressed some concern that the citizens are not being properly represented. He proposed that a task force be constructed of community members to review the entire development code and determine a common vision for the City of Sisters.

Mayor Dave Elliott argued that the city must solve the existing problem before reexamining the entire code.

"Right now we are hemorrhaging," said Elliott, "We need to apply a bandage to the problem."