County mulls Aspen Lakes changes

The owners of Aspen Lakes Golf Estates went before the Deschutes County Planning Commission last week seeking a simple avenue to convert the existing subdivision into a destination resort. Destination resorts must include overnight lodging and amenities designed for visitors.

The Cyrus family is asking for a text change in the regulations that affect destination resorts. County planning staff has recommended denial of the Cyrus' application. Staff argues that "Aspen Lakes is not continuing or expanding an existing use that will have 'no greater adverse impact on the neighborhood.' Instead, this text amendment would change the nature and extent of the existing use."

The staff memorandum further noted that: "Just because it was mapped for a destination resort does not mean the state or county intended to let a subdivision be converted if that subdivision does not currently comply with code requirements... Because the 115 residential lots would be the first phase and have already been sold without the overnight lodging and other destination resort requirements, it already violates that condition."

The hearing was confined to the narrow issue of the text amendment, but there was much more at stake.

"It was a strange meeting in the sense that it was a meeting that concerned a text amendment, and when the proponents of the text amendment provided their argument, they wanted to limit the discussion to the proposed change in text and not discuss the destination resort development," said Derek Cornforth, chairman of the board for the Rim Homeowners Association, the subdivision that is located across the road from the proposed destination resort.

Aspen Lakes Golf Estates owners do not deny that the text amendment will open the door for their development.

"Of course, the text amendment opens a door for us to move forward with the destination resort, and if the text amendment goes down, then we will have to pursue other avenues to go forward.

The text amendment just provides the most direct route for us, because it lays all the cards on the table and gives us the same benefits enjoyed by Eagle Crest when they expanded," said Matt Cyrus, one of Aspen Lakes' owners.

"There were a number of people there, including a group of the people who are residents of the Aspen Lakes Golf Estates, who were there to support us. In general, the residents of the golf estates have been very supportive of our destination resort plans and very few spoke out against the text change," said Cyrus.

Disagreement emerged regarding how long the destination resort has been planned.

"Matt Cyrus spoke at length about how much the family had assisted Sisters and the surrounding community. It was all irrelevant in my opinion and just formed the basis for: 'Trust us. We have done a great job so far, and we would like to finish the job that we started back in 1990 to build a destination resort.'

"This was all contrary to what we were told back in those days," said Cornforth.

Cyrus disagrees: "The biggest opposition theme was that our (the Cyrus family's) desire to create a destination resort was a well kept secret. We find that hard to believe given the fact that our CC&Rs for the golf course estates actually have in two or three places specific references to our intent to convert to a resort."

Other evidence of long-term planning for the destination resort was provided by Cyrus.

"We also have in our open space management plan (filed in 1998) for the piece of property next to the Rim (subdivision) specific language that says: 'It may be subject to future development in accordance with land use approvals relating to the property.' We have had water permitted on that property since 1991. Why would we have gotten a quasi-municipal water permit on the property that was to be left as perpetual open space?"

The open space which has become a bone of contention between the Rim owners and the Cyrus family should not even be a subject of discussion, according to Cyrus.

"The Rim is a separate subdivision that has its own open space as required by the regulations that cover that kind of a development. They have no claim on the open space that is across the road from the subdivision."

The final decision will not be long in coming. The record was left open for three weeks.

There will then be one week for rebuttal. The commission is expected to begin deliberations on April 24.