Resort question goes to commissioners

In a marathon four-hour hearing last Wednesday, the Cyrus family of Sisters made their case to the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners that the county should change its code to make it easier for the family to create a destination resort at Aspen Lakes.

The Cyruses are seeking a simple avenue to convert the existing "cluster" subdivision into a destination resort. Destination resorts must include overnight lodging and amenities designed for visitors. As a destination resort, the developers would also be able to sell as many as 300 new lots for permanent housing.

County planning staff, the county planning commission and the state Department of Land Conservation and Development have all recommended rejecting the Cyrus proposal.

The proposed text change is narrowly crafted to apply very tightly to Aspen Lakes. It would give the developers an exemption from setback requirements and maximum lot sizes that were adopted for destination resorts in 1992. The Cyruses argue that they intended from the late 1980s on to eventually create a destination resort and that the 1992 regulations impede that vision.

Paul Dewey is an attorney representing homeowners at The Rim at Aspen Lakes, who oppose a destination resort at the neighboring Aspen Lakes Golf Course Estates.

Dewey argued that the Cyruses initial development approvals before 1992 lapsed and they had to reapply and did not receive their first plat approval until 1995. That, Dewey says, gave the developers plenty of time to conform to 1992 rules if they were seeking a destination resort.

The Cyruses attorney Tia Lewis emphasized that approval of the proposed text amendment does not mean approval of a destination resort. That would still have to go through a lengthy and rigorous public process.

While Lewis - and Dennis Luke, the commissioner who chaired the hearing - tried to keep the focus on the specifics of the proposed text change, much of the testimony centered around the pros and cons of Aspen Lakes becoming a destination resort.

Matt Cyrus argued that the Sisters country and Aspen Lakes would both benefit from having the visitor accommodations a destination resort would bring.

"We are creating a destination draw," he said. "We just don't have the lodging to accommodate them."

Dewey and others pointed out that the Cyruses plan more than overnight accommodations. Dewey entered into the record a letter to the Oregon Water Resources Department detailing conceptual plans for 300 houses, 150 overnight units and a 100-room hotel.

There are currently 115 homesites in Aspen Lakes Golf Course Estates.

"If (overnight accommodations) was all they really wanted, they wouldn't be here tonight," Dewey said. "The objective here is more development. They could do three, four times more development just on that property."

While the prospect of more development has sparked considerable opposition from neighbors, several current residents of Aspen Lakes Golf Course Estates spoke on behalf of the Cyruses, arguing that the family has been a public-spirited force in the Sisters community for generations and should at least get the opportunity to apply for a destination resort.

The hearing evolved into back-and-forth testimony, alternating pro and con advocates until the opponents outnumbered the proponents.

The City of Sisters weighed in with a unanimous resolution expressing "concern" about the impacts of the possible destination resort on traffic and the character of the community.

"This could be larger than the City of Sisters, two miles away," said Mayor Brad Boyd.

After hearing all the testimony and rebuttals, the Board of Commissioners left the record open for further submissions and rebuttals. A decision is not likely until November.

Even then, it is unlikely that there will be resolution. Any decision is likely to be appealed and the legal wrangling could go on for at least a year.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

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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