Neighbors riled over 'Sunburst Retreat'

There's a land-use fight under way in the Sisters Country.

All of the elements are present: a newcomer proposing a destination resort with some innovative uses, residents who do not want their way of life impacted, and a complicated county governmental process.

The area in question is located nine miles east of Sisters near Highway 20 and is zoned Multiple Use Agricultural (MUA-10). The applicant, Hank Queen, is proposing a guest lodge, an allowed use for this zone classification.

The business at the guest lodge would be called Sunburst Retreat, and be located at an existing 8,909-square-foot residence at 67155 Sunburst St., with a Bend address.

Deschutes County planning staff has recommended approval of the project, with some conditions.

A May 12 description from Sunburst Retreat says the business will combine massage, fitness training and nutrition counseling to help people do well at such activities as golf.

People will stay for several days at the facility. There is a golf training and practice facility, complete with greens, traps and a water hazard, and a golf simulator screen. Other activities in the proposal are yoga and meditation, ballroom dancing, massage, quilting, a swim spa, pool table and outdoor barbecue.

The retreat has five bedrooms and can accommodate 10 guests. The business plan is to operate nine months of the year for 160 days with revenues of $400,000.

Opponents living in the Sun Mountain area say the project will negatively impact quality of life and property values with increased traffic, road dust and noise.

Queen and his wife, Kareen, moved to Central Oregon in September of 2008. He says they love this area and plan to spend the rest of their lives here.

"We want to maintain the quiet and peaceful setting. It's important to us because we live here too," he said. "We want to be respectful of neighbors."

Queen says the retreat will generate about 900 trips per year from guests, employees and service providers. He has offered to pay $1 per vehicle to the Sun Mountain Road District to offset additional maintenance costs to the district.

The road district voted on June 3 to negotiate the fee with Queen.

Queen has proposed that driving instructions to the guest lodge be limited to certain roads to decrease traffic impacts.

A condition of the permit would require Queen to be responsible for dust control.

County planning staff does not believe noise will be an issue based on the activities at the guest lodge and its distance to neighbors. The report says the closest residence is 395 feet away, with others 1,400 and 1,600 feet away.

Queen pointed out that most of the retreat activities are indoors, except for golf, and that takes place in the back of the property and will involve only four people at once.

He also said they will stop all activities at 10 p.m. and have already reduced outdoor lighting.

Opponents say they were not notified in a timely manner about the project, and only found out about it by browsing on the Internet.

Senior Planner Paul Blikstad said the department has been instructed not to notify property owners beyond 250 feet because whatever distance selected would be arbitrary.

He said notices were sent to seven property owners within 250 feet of the project on April 21. That is 35 days ahead of the hearing, when only 20 days notice is required by code, he noted

The public notice was also printed in the Bend Bulletin.

Blikstad said that word of mouth is an effective notification system in controversial land-use decisions. He said the estimated 50 to 60 people who attended the hearing illustrate the point.

Attendees at the Sun Mountain Road District meeting agreed to consult an environmental attorney to examine their options to stop the project. Others have contacted county commissioners seeking support.

Opponents also claim the structure was built as a guest resort right from the start.

Queen said that is not true.

"We sized the structure to host family and groups to do many of these activities for fun. Now we need to make a profit, since our 401K became a 201K," he said referring to the economic downturn.

Clifford Steele, area resident, said in an e-mail, "...it was never intended to be a single-family residence....It is my contention that the partnership intended this ruse as a way to avoid the obvious issues up front."

A public hearing regarding a conditional-use permit for the project took place May 26. It took three hours for review of the Deschutes County Planning Division staff report and to hear testimony.

The staff report recommended approval of the permit for the destination resort, if specified conditions are met.

Queen has until June 10 to reply to the conditions, as does any other individual or group. Interested parties have until June 24 to comment, but only on any new material submitted by Queen.

The Hearings Officer will then issue a written decision, a process that takes about four to eight weeks, according to Blikstad.

All verbal comment on the project is now closed.

Conditions to which Queen must respond to by June 10 in order to get the conditional-use permit include:

•Approval of the present site plan. Any substantial change will require a new application.

•Any activities limited to overnight guests only.

•All exterior lighting to comply with county codes.

•Clear vision for all driveways.

•Dust control to the greatest extent possible.

•Drinking water requirements met for Oregon Health Department.

•All requirements of the Deschutes County Health Department for the septic tank, meal preparation, overnight lodging and spa.

•A 30-day limit for guests.

•Meal service for guests only.

The county sent notice of the land-use application to numerous public agencies. Issues raised by the agencies were addressed in the conditions of the special-use permit.

Replies were received from the County Road Department, Health Division, Building Division, the Oregon Health Division, the Watermaster's Office and the Cloverdale Fire Department.

Several agencies did not reply.

Opponents are now examining legal options, seeking help from elected officials and writing letters to newspapers.