News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Two Sisters City Councilors say there is no need to annex 30 acres at the west end of Sisters to accommodate a senior living center. They argue that Sisters has enough land and that growth never pays for itself.
Proponents say that that point of view is wrong, that Sisters will benefit significantly from annexing the land, and by having housing for seniors. They want to see an agreement reached soon so that developers can start going through what is likely to be a lengthy master planning and zone change process.
"I've sat through some of those meetings, and (the project) is being drug down," said Patty Vandiver, a member of the Sisters Business Attraction and Retention Team (SBART) and president of the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce. "Unless the council gets off the stick and moves forward, this is going to be delayed even more."
In Vandiver's view, delay is damaging to a Sisters economy that has been hit hard by recession, especially in the loss of construction industry jobs. She hopes construction of the first phase of the senior living center will be a shot in the arm that will help families stay in Sisters.
"It would employ so many people in this community and help them get back on their feet," she said.
Property owner, Curt Kallberg, said that the project will generate construction jobs for 10 to 15 years as the project is phased in.
"Construction jobs are some of the best-paying jobs in our community and the trickle-down effects on realtors, title companies and subcontractors are huge," Kallberg said. "And those are family wage jobs."
Plans currently call for 42 units in the first phase of the facility, with two additional phases planned, for an eventual total of 80 units.
In addition, developers propose a separate development of single-family dwellings, geared toward people aged 50 and older. Residents of that development would have access to the amenities of the senior living facility, ranging from meals to laundry to landscaping and medical services.
Developers have agreed to a requirement that the first phase of the living center "lodge" be completed before any single-family occupancy permits are issued.
Kallberg is frustrated by opposition from councilors Sharlene Weed and Bill Merrill. He notes that the developers have agreed to 16 units of "affordable" housing, which he says is a significant effort.
"I don't know what the value would be, but it would have to be $2 million in product," he said. "We are totally willing to do it. We're not whining about it."
But he does feel that developers' willingness to work with the city on affordable housing units and a park is taken for granted.
"I don't think it's recognized at all," he said. "I just don't get why people like Sharlene and Bill aren't saying 'Yeah, let's get this thing going.' But they've basically been professional obstructionists."
Weed has a basic objection to annexing the property at all.
"We just don't need the property brought in," she told The Nugget in an earlier interview ("Annexation deal close on McKenzie Meadows," The Nugget, October 14, page 1). "We have an over-25-year inventory of land in the city right now."
She argues that the facility could be built on other land.
But Kallberg says that no one was willing to meet the price that he and his partners, Bill Willitts and the Reed family, were willing to make.
"They cannot buy land in the existing community at $100,000 per acre in a large enough piece to make this work," Kallberg said. "It's the cost of this land that makes this project work."
The project will occupy only a portion of the total 30-acre property. The lodge facility will take up some 6.3 acres; 1.5 acres will be set aside for a potential medical center and nine acres will be set aside for a park. The single family housing will be on the rest of the acreage.
Merrill's objections center around his contention that the costs and benefits of the annexation have not been properly weighed and that the direct and indirect costs of growth are not covered by taxes and systems development charges (see "Changes made to annexation deal," The Nugget, October 21, page 1).
"I want to know what unidentified burdens they're talking about," said SBART's Mac Hay. "If it's unidentified, how do you know it's there?"
Merrill sites increased park and road maintenance costs, along with potential increased costs for fire, medical and police services.
Kallberg points out that the developers are being required to pay the costs to build the park and the city has the option to accept it or not.
"Don't ask for a park if you don't want to maintain a park," he said.
As for roads, Kallberg acknowledged that there will be some maintenance costs, but he says they will be very low for several years, because the roads will be brand new. The city would have to plow the roads for snow.
Fire Marshal Dave Wheeler told The Nugget that any increased fire/medical costs are speculative. There likely would be more calls for service in a senior living facility, he said, but the fire district has the capacity to respond to more call volume than it has now.
Kallberg said the fundamental issue for him is that Sisters needs the kind of facility that is being planned for his property.
"When you get old in this community, you have to leave the community," he said. "I want to die right here. We have the churches right there, we have the shopping right there. It's the ideal location. Sisters has an aging population and we don't take care of them. We're trying to at least provide an option."
Kallberg expressed some frustration with implications that he and his partners are driven by the opportunity for a killing.
"It's still America," he said. "You still have a right to make a profit for effort."
However, he said, the vision for a beneficial use of that property has driven him since he and Willitts and Bill Reed started imagining what could be done on the land. After Reed's death, Kallberg said, he's determined to see a project through.
"The dollar is not the driving force behind this," he said. "It's more our commitment to our friend that we're going to finish this."
Kallberg also bridles at the suggestion that he and Willitts essentially bought the votes for the annexation agreement by supporting Lon Kellstrom, Gerry Bogart and Pat Thompson for city council seats. Those three councilors are clearly in favor of moving forward with the annexation agreement.
"I could see how they could think that, but that was not the intention," Kallberg said of his support of the slate of council candidates. "For economic development for the whole city and a bunch of other reasons, there needed to be a change."
Vandiver said that opponents of growth need to recognize that it is developers who create jobs that allow families to live and work in Sisters, keeping their shopping and tax dollars in the community. Working together insures that development is a good fit for Sisters, she believes.
"We need to work hand in hand with these developers," she said. "Everybody knows that we need to create jobs."
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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