Letters to the Editor 06/22/2011

To the Editor:

The City of Sisters has been doing a lot of planning to prepare for the future sale of the Forest Service property at the western edge of the city. Planning is a good thing. One of the things coming out of this planning process is the desire to have some large setbacks along the highway side of the property.

Why should the city place the financial burden to provide these setbacks on the shoulders of the developers? If the city was serious about, and committed to, providing these setbacks, the city would agree to purchase the land for these setbacks and thus reduce the cost impact to the developers and make the purchase of the property more viable.

The city's use of zoning codes to impose the large setbacks on the developers is another example of the unfriendly business climate that exists in the state of Oregon.

If the property is sold as one large parcel, it will go to one developer who will monopolize the development of the property according to his or her ideas. If the property is sold as 8 or 9 smaller parcels with an interior infrastructure system in place, the city will have 8 or 9 different developers working on a variety of business models.

One question I have not heard answered is; should there be a seamless transition from the "old town" of Sisters to this "new town" area of Sisters? Should the "new town" area of Sisters have the same look and feel of the "old town" of Sisters that has been cultivated over many years? My vote is for the same 1880s look and feel as the "old town" of Sisters, with a seamless transition.

Dave Marlow

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To the Editor:

In the June 8 edition, Eugene Trahern bemoans Sisters School District's "high emphasis on the arts programs."

I couldn't agree more. The last thing we need in this country right now are creative people who are able to think for themselves and invent the future. Once the Chinese figure out how to do that, what we'll need here are workers who can be good corporate drones.

Tom Bergeron, Professor of Music

Western Oregon University