Citizens try to clear up code questions

The lack of clarity in the Sisters Development Code has created a lot of headaches for the city — including fueling the debate over whether “formula food” restaurants should be permitted in the city.

The Development and Code Update Advisory Committee was created earlier this year to help clarify and update the code. The committee, which met last week, includes 12 citizens who have a broad range of vested interests in the city. The committee members are: Sandy Affonso, Paul Bennett, Brad Boyd, Jeff England, Charles Humphreys, Lon Kellstrom, Piper Lucas, John Rahm, Steve Rodgers, Michele Sims, Jonathan Skidmore and Thomas Tucker.

“It’s a group of citizens who came together voluntarily,” City of Sisters Planning Director Brian Rankin said. “They are pro-, neutral- and anti-drive-thru folks.”

The advisory committee has been given the duty to revamp and revise the entire Development Code, including the codes for residential, commercial and industrial development. Some parts of the code, which have not been updated since 2001, need minor changes and others parts need complete changing, Rankin said.

“There are some relatively minor changes, such as definition and format changes we need done, but there are also policy changes that need to happen like the changes in the standards for drive-thrus,” he said.

Once the advisory committee has completed their work and agreed on most of the proposed changes, it will give its recommendations to the Sisters Planning Commission. The commission will hold numerous public hearings and will make their recommendations to the Sisters City Council. The city council will hold public hearings and will ultimately decide on the final changes to the development code.

One of the more controversial changes to the code will be the modifications to the drive-thru standards. A citizens’ committee was formed last summer to help ease the heated debate in the community over whether more formula food restaurants should be allowed in the city.

Rob Corrigan, a citizen of Sisters, initiated the creation of the committee last summer after the city council voted down a proposed ordinance limiting the number of formula food restaurants in town.

“Things were very polarized and very heated and the letters to editor got extremely hostile and divisive,” he said. “It struck me that there could be a compromise.”

The citizens’ committee, composed of people on all sides of the drive-thru debate, formulated a compromise after months of debate. The group sent the set of recommendations in January for the city council to adopt.

“We put in many, many hours and money with expert help,” Corrigan said. “I hope they can respect that nine citizens put a lot of time and trouble into this.”

The committee’s main recommendations were to define basic rules for the design and construction of drive-thru businesses. The committee recommended that drive-up business do not cluster in one area and that their design be more unique than the traditional box-like construction of many fast food restaurants.

The citizens’ committee’s recommendations on drive-thru standards are now being considered by the Development and Code Update Advisory Committee. Although the drive-thru committee’s recommendations will be considered, Rankin said the development and code committee is not obligated to agree with those recommendations.

“My hunch is that the drive-thru committee’s recommendations will be adopted in some form or another,” he said. “What I’ve looked at is not a radical change to our current drive-thru standards, but this committee can come up with something completely different if they want.”

The advisory committee has not discussed the drive-thru standards yet, but Rankin said they will be discussed at the next meeting.

The committee has tackled other development issues, such as granting developers more explicit flexibility in the code when certain requirements are met. The current code stifles a developer’s creativity, Rankin said.

At last week’s meeting, committee members considered a recommendation to increase the number of rooms and guests a bed and breakfast establishment could have.