Development code contains troubling restrictions

The Sisters Planning Commission will be conducting a public hearing on Thursday, February 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the Sisters Library to get public input on the proposed changes to the Sisters Development Code. I have found that many of the proposed changes to the development code for the light industrial park (LIP) are not in the best interests of property owners, the community at large, or the fragile economy we are trying to rebuild.

The existing purpose statement for the LIP "encourages mixed-use development." The proposed purpose statement and several of its limiting provisions move in the wrong direction from this sensible mixed-use concept.

Specifically, the proposed code will prohibit offices and retail businesses that are not directly associated with some kind of "industrial" use.

This means that several facilities that now exist or are under construction for surveyors, publishers, architects, engineers, construction managers and a retail liquidation store would become non-conforming uses.

Non-conforming is a polite way to say not wanted, and regulations are drafted to hold a heavy hammer over the property owners' and future occupants' heads, should that non-conforming use be vacated for six months.

Another example of an unwarranted restriction in the proposed code is for child-care facilities. Existing code allows them, while the proposed code would prohibit them. The Duck-Duck Goose daycare facility is located behind my timber yard. It shares a cul-de-sac with several types of manufacturing businesses, whose noise levels are but a fraction of what is generated by the laughing, hooting and hollering of rambunctious children in their fenced playground. Few noise-generating businesses are more suited for inclusion in our safe neighborly industrial park than a boisterous childcare facility.

The reasoning behind the prohibition of many currently permitted uses such as auto-oriented, medical and dental clinics, personal and professional services, retail and trade, business park, mini-storage and warehouse and secondary materials manufacturing is not well supported. Why in the world would we want to choke off such legitimate business activities in an area originally designated for these purposes?

I have been told that city hall does not want to become a sounding board for complaints between businesses. Uses are selected for compatibility and minimizing discord. Yet the problem with this train of thought is the fact that the party making the decision to locate in the industrial park does so knowing that disturbance from machinery and other permitted uses are part and parcel of choosing to locate in an industrial zone.

Another reason given for such a heavy-handed restriction of uses goes like this: "We need to protect and preserve our limited industrial land for industrial uses that will generate family-wage jobs." I believe it is high time we got past the antiquated notion that traditional industrial uses are viable in Sisters or can provide more financial security than other types of modern business activity.

Our remote location away from diverse population centers, efficient transportation, sources of raw materials and reliable low-cost energy provides us with an infrastructure profile that is anything but attractive to traditional industrial companies.

The reality is we have T-shirts, fudge, quilt supplies and fabulous artwork on main street, and niche-market mom-and-pop shops scattered throughout the remainder of our commercial and light industrial lands.

This is not necessarily a bad thing.

Webster's defines industry as "systematic labor for some useful purpose or the creation of something of value." All of the proposed prohibited uses meet this definition and in Sisters hold far more potential for job creation and security than traditional mass-produced widget-based industries.

In my opinion, the smart thing to do is cast a wide net to attract all types of businesses into our community. One way we can do this is by providing prospective businesses with a variety of location options, including a minimally restrictive light industrial zone.