Business seeks city's help to survive

Any business owner in Sisters Country will tell you that staying afloat in hard times is not easy.

Ky Karnecki, owner of the Wild Mountain food stand at the east end of town, is asking the City of Sisters to throw him a lifeline.

Wild Mountain, which offers jerky made from game animals such as elk, and mushrooms Karnecki harvests on the coast, is designated as a seasonal business, operating at the corner of Locust Street and Highway 20 on a 180-day temporary operating permit. That permit ran out December 27, and the city allowed Karnecki to operate through

December 31.

Karnecki is asking the city to extend his permit through the winter and to ask the city's planning commission to consider changing Sisters' code to allow his business to operate year-round.

Currently, in order to make his business permanent, Karnecki would have to develop the property, including installing sidewalks and curb cuts, which Karnecki said he could never afford.

Karnecki acknowledges that he's asking the city to change its rules for him -rules he agreed to when he signed on for a temporary operating permit. For him, it's simply a matter of economic reality forcing his hand.

Previously, on the coast, Karnecki has been able to make enough during the summer to see him through the winter in a modest manner. He got a late start to the season due to wrangling over juniper trees on the property and missed the potentially lucrative rodeo weekend. He says $22,000 he's made this season isn't enough to keep him, after paying his lease and permit fees.

"I thought I'd be able to generate enough income," he said. "That didn't work out."

Now, he says, there are two options. He can go out of business and go bankrupt or the city can allow him to scrape by through the winter.

He believes that with so many businesses struggling in Sisters, a little flexibility is not out of line.

"That's probably reason to help any business in Sisters who is struggling in any way that's reasonable to do so," he told The Nugget.

Sisters Economic Development Manager Mac Hay acknowledges that the Wild Mountain situation creates conflict between the city's desire to be business-friendly and the need to apply rules consistently and fairly to all businesses.

"That's the burning question," he said. "You're looking to standardize the treatment of businesses, and at the same time, you're saying "Is that standardization something that needs changing?' In any organization, you have somebody that doesn't fit the rules. What do you do about that person?"

Mayor Lon Kellstrom has told Karnecki that the city attorney has opined that "there is simply no legal mechanism to take action and permit Wild Mountain to remain open after

December 31."

Kellstrom says there is nothing for the council to decide: It is in the hands of the planning commission, not the council, to recommend whether to change the rules.

But Karnecki wants to plead his case to the council. As of Tuesday, he was on the January 12 agenda to speak before the council during the visitors communication portion of the meeting.

Karnecki emphasizes that he's not asking for a permanent exemption. He wants an emergency exemption to operate through March, when the planning commission can recommend whether a code change is in order to accommodate Karnecki's business model.

That business model requires an open-air market stand where travelers can easily stop and sample the wares. Currently, the only similar business in Sisters is Richard's Produce, which operates seasonally.

Karnecki said he could not get traffic in a conventional storefront.

"My business model would not work," he said. "I'd starve. I could not pay my rent."

Karnecki notes that the city has offered flexibility to others, citing the planning commission and council's approval of code changes that would allow Gutenberg College to site itself in an industrial building.

According to Kellstrom, Karnecki could apply now for another 180-day permit that would carry him through the spring.

That's a gamble, however. The permit would run out at the height of the summer season, leaving Wild Mountain high and dry if there ultimately is no development code change.

Hay notes that, should the planning commission take up the question, one of the things that would have to be resolved is whether the city wants to encourage more businesses like Wild Mountain, and if so, to what degree.

"Okay," he said, "we're letting person A do this: Do we want person B, C, and D and so on to do it? That should certainly be part of the discussion."

Hay thinks the topic is worth exploring.

"I think it's an opportunity for the city to look at their rules and regulations and see if, in fact, it should be changed," he said. "It gives a really good opportunity for discussion."

For Karnecki, it's not an abstract question. He acknowledges that even if he can continue, getting through the winter will be tough - but he doesn't know what he'll do if he doesn't get the chance.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make a living and I have no other opportunity," he said. "I have no choice. I have nothing else. That's why I'm caught between a rock and a hard place."