Lake Creek Lodge plans approved

New cabin under construction at Lake Creek Lodge. photo by Conrad Weiler June 25, 2004 -- Voting 3-0, Jefferson County Commissioners approved changes submitted by owners Gordon and Jeff Jones to their proposed Lake Creek Lodge at last week's meeting in Madras.

These changes come after LUBA (Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals) remanded back to Jefferson County two of the nine challenges filed by the Friends of the Metolius.

The project calls for 23 new cabins to be built on the 41.9-acre site. These would join the existing 16 older cabins already on the grounds. A new meeting hall and improved septic system are also part of the proposal.

LUBA questioned the total buildable space and the definition of tourist rental cabin and whether these met local Camp Sherman land use ordinances.

Under the changed proposal, Lake Creek Lodge will count the covered cabin deck areas as part of total buildable space. Each cabin will have approximately 550 square feet and up to 20 percent of this is under cover. Current county ordinance states decks under 30 inches off the ground are not counted as buildable space.

The cabins will have individual owners. The land will be under ownership of a single owner, Lake Creek Lodge, and all upkeep will be the responsibility of the resort owners.

Under the new changes, cabin owners will have living access to their cabins for a maximum of 120 days per year (30 days per quarter) with cabins left available as rental units for the remaining 245 days of the year. This compares with 180 rental days in the earlier proposal remanded by LUBA.

"Perhaps these are best described as hybrid time-shares," said Mike Morgan, Jefferson County administrator.

Whether these changes will have any effect on future LUBA deliberations is unknown at this point. According to Jacki Haggerty, Jefferson County Counsel, Friends of the Metolius lawyer Bill Kloos has told her there would be a LUBA challenge if the proposed changes are approved by Jefferson County.

Thus, after the county vote, it appears that the 14-month-old proposal will have many more months of scrutiny.

All three commissioners praised the quality of the Lake Creek Lodge proposal.

"I think this is a first-class enhancement for the area," said commissioner Walt Ponsford. "I'd like to put the fears of some Camp Sherman residents to rest."

Chairperson Bill Bellamy said, "I appreciate the flavor of Camp Sherman and feel very safe and comfortable with our decision. It's a matter of interpretation. If these were not tourist rental cabins, this proposal could be built under existing county land use laws."

Jefferson County would receive six percent tourist occupancy tax from each cabin unit. Bob Lovelien, attorney for the Jones brothers, estimates about a 50 percent occupancy rate over the 245 days per year the cabin rentals would be available.