News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Appraisers and surveyors are walking approximately 53 acres of the Forest Service land along Pine Street at the west end of town getting the parcel ready for the auction block.
The sale of the land, which was expected to happen this fall, has been delayed by a couple of months, according to Rod Bonacker, who has been working on the sale for the Sisters Ranger District.
"We still intend to get it on the market by the end of the year," he said.
The Forest Service will use proceeds from the sale to fund a new headquarters in Sisters. The agency has contracted with SERA of Portland to develop a facility design for its new offices and a visitors information center, a work center and staff barracks on 17.5 acres north of Barclay Drive.
The proposal to sell the property prompted a round of negotiations involving the City of Sisters, the Forest Service and Senator Ron Wyden. The Forest Service wants to sell the land for the best price the agency can get. The City of Sisters wants to make sure that this big chunk of land is developed in a way that meets the needs and desires of its citizens.
The City of Sisters had proposed that the Forest Service sell the property to the city, which would ask developers to bid for the opportunity to develop the property based on an agreed-upon community vision. The Forest Service would establish a "floor" price based on an appraisal, and the city and the agency would share any "premium" above the floor price.
Regional Forester Linda Goodman rejected that proposal in favor of a competitive sale.
Since then, there hasn't been much discussion between the parties and the possibility of intervention from Senator Wyden and the U.S. Congress appears to have faded away.
"There's been no interaction with the city in terms of alternative sales procedures," Bonacker said. "That seems to have died off."
That means the parcel will go up for sale under its current public facilities zoning, which could limit the amount a buyer would be willing to pay. The Forest Service had hoped to have some kind of development vision in place before the sale of the property. Bidders are likely to be more aggressive if they have an idea as to what they will be able to do with the property.
Now, it appears that such a vision would have to arise after the purchase.
Mayor Brad Boyd said the city is going ahead with changes to the city's comprehensive plan which would require an owner of the property to create a development master plan that would precede a zone change.
"We'll probably have to have an approved master plan in place before there will be a zone change," he said.
What that master plan will entail will be largely up to Sisters citizens. Boyd said the city will hold a design charrette (workshop) for Sisters citizens on October 6-7 at a location to be determined. In that charrette, citizens can put forth their ideas for the property, including desired public amenities.
That might give both citizens and potential buyers a better idea of what lies in the future before the property hits the auction block.
"I think we'll know a whole lot more in October," Boyd said.
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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